NewsBits for April 17, 2006 ************************************************************ Britons' credit cards being sold online A newspaper investigation has revealed that thousands of Britons' credit card details are being sold online by identity thieves. Conducted by the Times, the research found that at least 400 complete credit card identifications, including three-digit security numbers, are sold in internet chat rooms every day. http://news.monstersandcritics.com/uk/article_1155645.php/Britons_credit_cards_being_sold_online Image stealing by phishers http://www.it-observer.com/news/6104/image_stealing_by_phishers/ - - - - - - - - - - Man Finds Child Porn On Co-Worker's Laptop Computer A Bastrop County man is facing a felony charge of possession of child pornography. Austin police say the images found on his laptop computer are particularly disturbing, and wait until you hear how they found them. It was a co-worker at the man's office in North Austin that made the accidental discovery. Police said he was "freaked out" by what he saw. http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=4772448 - - - - - - - - - - Camp Hill EMT charged in porn case EMT from Camp Hill jailed in porn case In his down time, while not running ambulance calls, Richard D. Wilcox Jr. was downloading child pornography at the Camp Hill Fire Station, police said. http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1145006679139780.xml - - - - - - - - - - 2nd worker in 6 weeks accused of molestation For the second time in less than six weeks, an employee at Children's Hospital stands accused of molesting a patient and amassing a cache of child pornography on his home computer. Incredulous hospital staffers and police announced yesterday that registered nurse Christopher Alan Irvin, 32, was taken into custody Friday afternoon. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060416-9999-1n16child.html - - - - - - - - - - Measure targets child porn laws California is one of only nine states where possessing child pornography is a misdemeanor. But organizers of a statewide ballot measure that toughens overall penalties for sex offenders believe owning child pornography should be a felony. http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_3718431 - - - - - - - - - - Internet merchants fighting costs of credit card fraud Talk about buyer's remorse: A man who had purchased a $4,500 (euro3,700) custom-made engagement ring over the Internet abruptly called off the wedding just days before the big day - then called his credit card company to get his money back. http://news.findlaw.com/ap/ht/58/04-17-2006/d995004692116216.html - - - - - - - - - - Hacked computers receive updated spam tool Computers infected with a well-known piece of malware began downloading a new spam tool Sunday night used by hackers to send unwanted e-mail. Malware writers working as part of the infamous Bagle spam gang began sending a new spamming tool Sunday night to thousands of hacked computers, said Mikko Hypponen, http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/virus/story/0,10801,110599,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Haxdoor Virus Sells Your PC Ever watched the movie WarGames? Well, its about a teenage prodigy who found out a backdoor being installed in the computer system of the Department of Defense, by none other than the person who developed it. With the newly detected Backdoor Trojan too, a hacker can take charge of your PC in true Hollywood style. http://www.it-observer.com/news/6106/haxdoor_virus_sells_your_pc/ - - - - - - - - - - Wells Fargo not required to encrypt data "Police blotter" is a weekly CNET News.com report on the intersection of technology and the law. What: Wells Fargo Bank customers sue after their personal financial data was stolen from a contractor that had not encrypted the information. When: U.S. District Judge David Doty in Minnesota ruled on March 16. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6061400.html - - - - - - - - - - ISP snooping gaining support The explosive idea of forcing Internet providers to record their customers' online activities for future police access is gaining ground in state capitols and in Washington, D.C. http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6061187.html - - - - - - - - - - Survey finds many wireless networks in city not protected It took 10 minutes in a retail parking lot for Cory Michal to get someone's name and credit card number. The technical operations manager for Appleton-based Exceed Security Systems LLC merely used $300 worth of common technology to casually intercept a person's vital financial information as it was transmitted between a retailer and a credit card company. http://www.it-observer.com/news/6107/survey_finds_many_wireless_networks_city_not_protected/ Better and Simpler Wireless Network Security http://www.it-observer.com/news/6108/better_simpler_wireless_network_security/ - - - - - - - - - - McAfee: Open source encourages rootkits Rootkits are becoming more prevalent and difficult to detect, and security vendor McAfee claims the blame falls squarely on the open source community. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/hacking/story/0,10801,110607,00.html Rootkits, Smarter Hackers Pose Growing Security Threats http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1949650,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Symantec Intros Integrated Gateway Security Symantec introduced a new, integrated package of security applications for use with internal e-mail gateways. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1949804,00.asp Gateway to secure transactions http://www.it-observer.com/news/6105/gateway_secure_transactions/ - - - - - - - - - - Force10 Extends High Performance to Security Ten Gigabit Ethernet switch pioneer Force10 Networks on April 17 will try to leverage its expertise in high performance to gain entry into the market for intrusion prevention systems with a new line of high-performance appliances. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1949814,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Future of NIST Although it's less well known than some of the standards and models in place at many businesses today, an emerging framework being used within the federal government could help organizations improve their security, according to information security experts. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,110492,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Cerf: Governments to participate in not dominate, Net Some internet users and administrators see increased input by governments into the public policy aspects of the internet as worrying, but ICANN Chairman Vint Cerf views it as a positive move. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,110598,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft criticized for silent patches Some security researchers took issue last week with little-documented changes made by Microsoft to Windows in the last batch of security updates, but the software giant responded in a blog posting on Saturday that sometimes less information means better security. http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/187?ref=rss Microsoft Patches Causing Breakages, Lockups http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1950095,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Neverfail for Oracle Protect from Downtime The Neverfail Group has announced Neverfail for Oracle Database 10g. The new Neverfail for Oracle Database will enable customers to stay constantly connected to business critical applications through a cluster-class solution. The new product provides users with comprehensive data protection, high availability and disaster recovery at a fraction of the cost of traditional clustering. http://www.it-observer.com/news/6112/neverfail_oracle_protect_downtime/ - - - - - - - - - - Review: Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner More companies than ever are using web applications for their business, yet only a small percentage of websites are tested for vulnerabilities. Through web application vulnerabilities, hackers can gain access to sensitive data such as customers details and corporate data: Gartner study reveals that 75% of cyber attacks are launched on shopping carts, forms, login pages etc.; 8 out of 10 websites have at least one serious vulnerability. http://www.it-observer.com/articles/1115/review_acunetix_web_vulnerability_scanner/ http://www.it-observer.com/tools/38/acunetix_web_vulnerability_scanner/ - - - - - - - - - - QuickStudy: Computer forensics The television series CSI has given millions of viewers an appreciation of the role and importance of physical evidence in conducting criminal investigations. Each week, we see the confluence of fingerprints, DNA tests, autopsies, microscopic examinations and ballistic evidence used to solve a murder or explain the circumstances surrounding an unusual death. http://www.it-observer.com/news/6109/quickstudy_computer_forensics/ - - - - - - - - - - Personal memory device security leaks Flash drives, iPods, camera phones -- you know what your employees carry in. But do you know what they carry out? Proliferating flash drives and other personal memory devices are causing corporate IT managers to rethink data security policies and enforcement. But the balance between corporate security and user convenience has never been more difficult to achieve, because ubiquitous thumb-size drives can hold gigabytes of corporate information. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,110499,00.html How to Stop the Leaks http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,110498,00.html Sidebar: Would Your Workers Pass the Test? http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,110495,00.html Employee Security Training: Beyond Posters http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,110494,00.html - - - - - - - - - - How Security Threats Affect PC Performance Security threats are everywhere - spyware and adware installed inadvertently over the internet, viruses transmitted through email, keyloggers penetrating your firewall, malicious code broadcast over peer-to-peer networks. http://www.it-observer.com/articles/1114/how_security_threats_affect_pc_performance/ *********************************************************** Search the NewsBits.net Archive at: http://www.newsbits.net/search.html *********************************************************** The source material may be copyrighted and all rights are retained by the original author/publisher. 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