[iwar] [NewsBits] NewsBits - 01/30/02 (fwd)

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2002-01-30 21:05:06
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 21:05:06 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [iwar] [NewsBits] NewsBits - 01/30/02 (fwd)
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January 30, 2002

Confiscated PC Reveals Terrorist Focus On Water Supply
The FBI's National Infrastructure Protection
Center (NIPC) said it has uncovered evidence
that terrorists may have planned attacks on
water supply systems in the United States and
abroad. According to a bulletin issued by the
NIPC Tuesday and labelled as of "high"
importance, a computer, owned by an individual
with indirect links to Osama bin Laden, was
found to contain several software programs
used for structural engineering of "dams
and other water-retaining structures."
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174079.html

Australian Man Banned From Giving Advice On IRC
In what is believed to be a world first,
Australia's financial watchdog has taken
a Brisbane man to court over his messages
posted in real-time on an Internet relay
chat (IRC) channel. In a display of Internet
know-how, the financial services regulator
also persuaded the court to halt the man's
use of specific meta tags on his Web site.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174054.html

SEC: 'McWhortle' scam a hit with investors
Securities and Exchange Commission officials
said on Wednesday that their orchestrated
Internet hoax campaign received 150,000 hits
over three days in an investor awareness
project that cost taxpayers about $50. Using
tactics from actual online stock scams, SEC
officials created a fictitious company called
McWhortle Enterprises Inc. and wrote a press
release hyping an initial public offering.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1747828l.htm
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-826434.html
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0102/013002td1.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/01/30/investing.hoax.ap/index.html
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16069.html
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/invest/2002/01/30/web-hoax.htm

DVD hacker vows to keep challenging ruling
Eric Corley, the central figure in the ``DVD
Hacker'' case who was barred by a court from
posting online how to make copies of DVDs,
vowed Wednesday to keep fighting the copyright
law the ruling was based on, and which he says
oppresses more and more people each day. ``We
have every intention of continuing to challenge
this ruling because this is such a vital issue,''
Corley said.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/037533.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/01/30/dvd-hacker.htm

Top Security Sites Easy Prey To Script Attacks
Web sites operated by several leading Internet
security organizations are vulnerable to an
old but serious security flaw known as the
cross-site scripting (CSS) attack. A cursory
survey today revealed that the corporate home
pages of security software vendors including
Network Associates, Kaspersky Lab, Trend
Micro, SonicWall, and Command Software,
were all susceptible to CSS attacks.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174076.html

Software bug blamed for Australian radioactive spill
Amec Engineering has laid the blame for
a radioactive spill on faulty software,
but refuses to name the company concerned.
Amec Engineering, designer of the Beverly
uranium processing plant in Western
Australia, has blamed buggy software
for a radioactive spill at the site
last December, confirming early suspicions
that computers played a role in the accident.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2103388,00.html
http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1104-825848.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-826124.html

Watchdog: MS Passport lets crooks in
A privacy group on Tuesday asked state law
enforcement authorities to examine software
giant Microsoft's Passport online identity
service, saying it exposes consumers to
fraud, junk electronic mail and identity
theft. The Electronic Privacy Information
Center sent a letter to all 50 state
attorneys general, asking them to protect
consumers against what it called Microsoft's
unfair and deceptive trade practices because
the federal government has failed to act.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-825340.html

Analyst: Microsoft Passport Investigation 'Premature'
Microsoft said user information is not shared
with any third parties and that the Passport
system does not place personal information
at risk. An Internet advocacy group has urged
U.S. state attorneys general to take immediate
investigative action against Microsoft's
Passport suite of services, charging the
software company with improperly collecting
personal user information and placing that
information at risk online.
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16072.html

Pentagon reviews responses to call for anti-terror technology
Defense Department officials are reviewing more
than 12,000 responses to their broad appeal last
fall for new technological ideas to help combat
global terrorism. The undersecretary of Defense
for acquisition, technology and logistics and
the interagency Technical Support Working Group
jointly issued a Broad Agency Announcement
(BAA) on Oct. 23, seeking concepts that
could be developed within 12 to 18 months.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0102/013002td2.htm

Video Forensics: Grainy to Guilty
The image is haunting: Two clean-cut, cool
faced terrorists stride through an airport
security checkpoint just hours before
hijacking the first of two airplanes that
crashed into the World Trade Center.
Captured on a surveillance camera at the
Portland, Maine, airport, the grainy analog
image of Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz Al-Omari
was digitized, enhanced and released to the
public in hopes of jogging the collective
memory for information about the infamous duo.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,50036,00.html

Payback time! How to catch a hacker
A new service from McAfee will soon let
you discover whether anyone is hacking
into your system, and if so, let you
submit that information to the malicious
user's ISP or local law enforcement
officials. The project, known as
HackerWatch.org, is an ambitious attempt
by McAfee, a division of Network Associates
best known for its antivirus products, to
create an interactive anti-hacker community
online. But will it make a difference?
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-825844.html

Reject the Corporate Secrecy Grab
Industry's push for new exemptions from the
Freedom of Information Act is unnecessary
and dangerous. In the name of improving cyber
security, corporations are pushing for
exemptions to the U.S. Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) that are unnecessary and dangerous.
These will result in crucial information being
suppressed without improving security.
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/56

On a digital privacy crusade
Newsmakers David Holtzman is on a crusade
to change the way the digital world defines
privacy. Best known as the former chief
technology officer of Network Solutions,
the 45-year-old former cryptographic
analyst with the U.S. Navy during the
Vietnam War oversaw the growth of the
commercial Internet from 500,000 domain
names to more than 20 million. He watched
in amazement as technology made it easier
for marketers to collect and distribute
vast amounts of data--everything from the
value of homes and stock options to arrest
records and death certificates.
http://news.com.com/2008-1082-826241.html

Castles Built on Sand: Why Software is Insecure
We have all heard reports of vulnerabilities
being discovered in various software. But what
actually makes software more or less secure
than the rest of its competitors? Theoretically,
all software starts in the same place - with
the very first sketch on somebody's napkin over
dinner. It grows from there; the environment
in which it is developed, who controls the
project and most importantly who works on
the project all contribute to the outcome.
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1541

When a secured site is not so secure
You probably won't find a bigger fan of PayPal
than me. The company's financial intermediation
service allows secure Internet transactions
between strangers--such as eBay vendors and
buyers--without an exchange of private
financial information, such as credit card
numbers. I think that's an excellent service.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-825076.html

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