_________________________________________________________________ London, Friday, December 13, 2002 _________________________________________________________________
INFOCON News _________________________________________________________________ IWS - The Information Warfare Site http://www.iwar.org.uk _________________________________________________________________ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe - send an email to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" with "subscribe infocon" in the body To unsubscribe - send an email to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" with "unsubscribe infocon" in the body --------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------------- [News Index] ---------------------------------------------------- [1] Critics say Defense 'total information awareness' impractical [2] Northcom cultures 'need to share' [3] Washington-area lawmakers vie for Homeland Security headquarters [4] DOD offering homeland expertise [5] Burbano takes on homeland job [6] Tech Sniffs Employee Offenders [7] Now it's the World Wide 'Wanted' Web [8] E-fraud costs retailers millions [9] Therminator to watch for cyberattacks [10] Contractor says tech industry must rise to information security challenge [11] Sprint pushes tougher security policy for vendors [12] Top spammer hit by junk mail blitz [13] (UK) Police charter will boost fight against cybercrime [14] MyDomains.com hit by denial-of-service attack [15] Aust security experts warn of new hacking target [16] Your Microsoft critical security patches tonight [17] INS sets date for student data [18] Agencies see homeland security role for surveillance drones [19] Bush science advisers contemplate technology transfer _________________________________________________________________ CURRENT THREAT LEVELS _________________________________________________________________ Electricity Sector Physical: Elevated (Yellow) Electricity Sector Cyber: Elevated (Yellow) Homeland Security Elevated (Yellow) DOE Security Condition: 3, modified NRC Security Level: III (Yellow) (3 of 5) _________________________________________________________________ News _________________________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------------- [1] Critics say Defense 'total information awareness' impractical By Shane Harris Security advocates and technology experts threw cold water on a controversial Defense Department plan to create a new counterterrorism system that would use information technology to sniff out clues to a possible terrorist assault and identify attackers before they strike. The critics said the system, currently being researched by the Pentagon, would violate civil liberties, undermine commerce and probably wouldn’t work. Charles Peña, a policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, said it’s statistically unlikely that the system could predict and pre-empt attacks and also avoid targeting innocent people as suspected terrorists. He said that if the system—which theoretically would analyze relationships among transactions such as credit card or airline ticket purchases—were applied to the entire population, almost as many people would incorrectly be identified as terror plotters as would be correctly fingered. That scenario would make the technology useless, said Peña, who argued against spending millions of dollars to develop it. The Total Information Awareness (TIA) system is managed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon’s main research and development unit. It would use data retrieval, biometric identification and other technologies to analyze information in databases. DARPA has not yet said what databases would be searched, but controversy has engulfed the project amid fears that private purchases and travel patterns might become the subject of government inspection. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1202/121202h1.htm ---------------------------------------------------- [2] Northcom cultures 'need to share' BY Dan Caterinicchia Dec. 11, 2002 Just a little more than two months since its official start, the Defense Department's Northern Command is suffering many growing pains, not the least of which is attempting to mesh defense, law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security cultures into a "need to share" information environment. Air Force Maj. Gen. Dale Meyerrose, Northcom's chief information officer, said the DOD and national security structure operates in a "need to know" environment, while the federal, state and local law enforcement communities are focused on a "need to prosecute." However, he said that neither of those approaches works for Northcom, which is responsible for ensuring homeland defense capabilities and supporting civilian authorities when directed by the president or secretary of Defense. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1209/web-north-12-11-02.asp ---------------------------------------------------- [3] Washington-area lawmakers vie for Homeland Security headquarters By Jason Peckenpaugh Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., called on the Bush administration Wednesday to locate the headquarters for the new Homeland Security Department in Washington. Norton’s move came amid signs the White House may be considering whether to base the new agency in the Washington suburbs. The department’s location will have a critical effect on Washington’s economy, Norton said at a press conference with Washington Mayor Anthony Williams. The department will absorb anywhere from 15,000 to 18,000 federal employees who now work in Washington, and moving these workers to the suburbs could damage the city, she said. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1202/121202p1.htm ---------------------------------------------------- [4] DOD offering homeland expertise BY Dan Caterinicchia Dec. 11, 2002 It is not the Defense Department's job to push technological solutions on local emergency workers or the 22 federal agencies that make up the Homeland Security Department, but DOD certainly can use its experiences in information sharing, collaboration and networking to serve as models for the new department, according to a panel of military experts. Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Kellogg Jr., director of command, control, communications and computer systems for the Joint Staff, said DOD can serve as a reference in tying together disparate systems based on its decades of work connecting overseas combat commands that include representatives from all military services. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1209/web-dod-12-11-02.asp ---------------------------------------------------- [5] Burbano takes on homeland job BY Colleen O'Hara Dec. 11, 2002 ... updated 12:30 p.m. Fernando Burbano, former chief information officer at the State Department, has taken on a new role within the department as a senior adviser on homeland security. Last week Burbano became a senior adviser for homeland security in the deputy secretary's homeland security office within the State Department. It is a new office Burbano said, created to work on and coordinate homeland security issues within the department and to serve as a liaison with new Homeland Security Department. Burbano said he is working with ambassador Ted McNamara on this effort. No replacement for Burbano has been named, but in the meantime Bruce Morrison, deputy CIO for operations, is acting CIO. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1209/web-burbano-12-11-02.asp ---------------------------------------------------- [6] Tech Sniffs Employee Offenders By Michelle Delio | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1 02:00 AM Dec. 13, 2002 PT NEW YORK -- There are no bodies, bones or blood to analyze. No pondering over a piece of decaying evidence that was once part of a human being. But the forensics software on display at this year's Infosecurity 2002 tradeshow is enough to spook corporate employees everywhere. Computer forensics applications are typically used to investigate computer crimes and to preserve digital evidence so it's usable in court. But these applications aren't just for law enforcement officials anymore. Computer forensics software is helping stop corporate crime before it happens. http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,56826,00.html ---------------------------------------------------- [7] Now it's the World Wide 'Wanted' Web By TODD R. WEISS DECEMBER 11, 2002 Content Type: Story Source: Computerworld Forget about the wanted posters in your local post office. The FBI is now going after the criminals on its "10 Most Wanted" list using pop-up banner ads on the myriad Web sites owned and operated by the Terra Lycos Inc. network. In an announcement today, the U.S. attorney's office in Boston and the Boston office of the FBI announced that the first-ever FBI Most Wanted banner ad has been placed on the Lycos home page; it's a wanted poster seeking Boston organized crime figure James "Whitey" Bulger. Previously, Web users could see the Top 10 list only by going directly to the FBI home page. The list has been online since 1995. Bulger, who is being sought on charges including murder, racketeering, extortion and money laundering, has been on the list since August 1999. A $1 million reward is being offered for information that leads to his capture. http://www.computerworld.com/developmenttopics/websitemgmt/story/0,10801 ,76654,00.html ---------------------------------------------------- [8] E-fraud costs retailers millions By electricnews.net Posted: 13/12/2002 at 12:58 GMT Internet fraud will cost US on-line retailers $500 million this Christmas, as fraudsters devise more sophisticated scams to obtain credit card information. Research firm Gartner said on Wednesday that an estimated $160 million will be lost this holiday season to fraud and approximately $315 million will be lost in sales due to suspect transactions. Gartner said its survey found that on-line merchants did not think they were getting the help they needed from credit-card issuers to prevent fraud. The company advised on-line merchants to use real-time checks to look for fraudulent activity based on patterns of fraud abuses. The research firm said that suspect transactions should be weeded out for manual review and money for chargebacks should be collected from card issuers. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/28559.html ---------------------------------------------------- [9] Therminator to watch for cyberattacks BY Dan Caterinicchia Dec. 13, 2002 To create better protection for the nation's computer networks, the National Security Agency and the Defense Department have signed an agreement with Lancope Inc. to build Therminator, an advanced information security tool. Therminator will produce a graphical representation of network traffic that allows information security workers and network administrators to recognize the impact of cyberattacks in real time. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1209/web-nsa-12-13-02.asp http://www.nsa.gov/programs/tech/factshts/20020305-2.htm ---------------------------------------------------- [10] Contractor says tech industry must rise to information security challenge >From National Journal's Technology Daily Vance Coffman, chairman and CEO at Lockheed Martin, on Thursday said that as the information technology industry moves to address homeland security, it will be challenged continually to examine ways that it uses information for security, and must "rise to meet that challenge." That can be done by providing "just the right information, at the right time, to the right people, in the right way—without threatening people's individual liberties," he said in prepared remarks. Speaking to the Northern Virginia Technology Council, Coffman called for a fused, governmentwide information system on border activity. He also called for increased defense spending in order to address new needs. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1202/121202td2.htm ---------------------------------------------------- [11] Sprint pushes tougher security policy for vendors By DAN VERTON DECEMBER 12, 2002 Content Type: Story Source: Computerworld NEW YORK -- Sprint Corp. is crafting a policy that would require all software vendors that wish to sell their wares to the global telecommunications company to first conduct a series of security tests and then provide Sprint with the results of those tests. That's the word from Sprint Chief Security Officer Robert Fox, who spoke yesterday at the Infosecurity Conference & Exhibition here. "We're working on a new policy for software vendors that will say, 'Before you deliver your software to Sprint, you need to run certain tests and tell us the results,'" said Fox. "There are holes in Microsoft [software, for example,] you can shoot a cannon through. It's only fair that they tell us." http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/xsp/isptelecom/story/0,108 01,76687,00.html ---------------------------------------------------- [12] Top spammer hit by junk mail blitz By Iain Thomson [12-12-2002] Spam generator targeted by fed up web users One of the world's most prolific generators of spam has received a taste of his own medicine. Alan Ralsky, described by London-based spam trackers Spamhaus as last year's top sender of junk mail, has complained of harassment after internet users signed him up to a deluge of unsolicited mail from all over the world. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1137552 ---------------------------------------------------- [13] Police charter will boost fight against cybercrime Business organisations have welcomed plans by the UK's National High-Tech Crime Unit to give guarantees of confidentiality to businesses when they report hacking, virus attacks and other computer crimes. The unit's confidentiality charter, launched this week, follows long-running concerns that businesses are failing to report computer crimes because they fear that bad publicity will damage both their reputation and their share price. "We certainly welcome any moves to help business tackle computer crime. Small businesses in particular need all the support they can get to cope with this growing problem," the Institute of Directors said. http://www.cw360.com/bin/bladerunner?REQSESS=qh14L06Q&REQAUTH=0&2149REQE VENT=&CARTI=118184&CARTT=1&CCAT=2&CCHAN=22&CFLAV=1 ---------------------------------------------------- [14] MyDomains.com hit by denial-of-service attack The shutdown of up to 600,000 websites of MyDomain.com and NamesDirect.com customers this week was caused by a massive Denial of Service (DoS) attack. The company released a statement outlining the circumstances, stating "about 3am Pacific, a Denial Of Service attack/ HUGE influx if DNS queries bombarded our main co-lo facility in Seattle". http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1105-977114.html ---------------------------------------------------- [15] Aust security experts warn of new hacking target By Jeanne-Vida Douglas, ZDNet Australia 13 December 2002 While the security risk posed by poorly encrypted, or unprotected, wireless local area networks (WLANs) are widely known, security experts are warning of potential leaks from a new source - wireless LAN bridges. According to Ross Chiswell, CEO of wireless networking reseller Integrity Data Systems, companies who have been careful to protect their WLANs from attack may be at risk when using wireless bridges to transmit information between buildings. "Some of the cheaper wireless bridges are still using the IEEE protocols, which are as easy to read as any other WLAN infrastructure," Chiswell said. "It doesn’t make that much of a difference if there is a firewall at each end, because the traffic can still be intercepted". http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/communications/story/0,2000024993,20270 671,00.htm ---------------------------------------------------- [16] Your Microsoft critical security patches tonight By John Leyden Posted: 12/12/2002 at 17:15 GMT Microsoft last night released three sets of security patches, the most important of which aims to address flaws in Microsoft Virtual Machine (VM) which it admits could enable system compromise. The VM patch is designed to address eight vulnerabilities, the most serious of which would enable an attacker to gain control over a user's system. That's possible because of a vulnerability that means an untrusted Java applet could access COM objects. Microsoft VM is a virtual machine for the Win32 operating environment and ships with most versions of Windows as well as in most versions of Internet Explorer, so many millions of users are potentially affected by the problem. Attack scenarios are all too familiar. To exploit the flaws an attacker would create a Web page that, when opened, exploits the desired vulnerability, and either host it or send it to a victim as an HTML mail. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/28546.html ---------------------------------------------------- [17] INS sets date for student data BY Judi Hasson Dec. 12, 2002 The Immigration and Naturalization Service has issued a final rule requiring colleges and universities to begin reporting information about foreign students electronically on Jan. 30, 2003. The program is part of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) that is being implemented to keep track of foreign students who receive visas to study in the United States. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1209/web-ins-12-12-02.asp ---------------------------------------------------- [18] Agencies see homeland security role for surveillance drones By Richard H.P. Sia, CongressDaily An increasing number of federal agencies are pursuing plans to use pilotless surveillance aircraft to help patrol the Mexican and Canadian borders, protect the nation’s major oil and gas pipelines and aid in other homeland security missions. Incoming Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., said in an interview Tuesday that he will ask President Bush to explore the possible deployment of such aircraft, known as unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, by civilian agencies responsible for homeland security. The drones would be similar to those used in high-profile missions by the CIA and U.S. military to target suspected Taliban and al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan. But unlike many of the UAVs deployed overseas, such as the one that fired a missile at a carload of suspected terrorists in Yemen last month, the drones flown for homeland security operations would not be armed with weapons, only cameras or sensors, several federal officials said. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1202/121202sia.htm ---------------------------------------------------- [19] Bush science advisers contemplate technology transfer By Teri Rucker, National Journal's Technology Daily Determining just how effective the federal government is in translating its new discoveries into private-sector successes can be difficult because it is so hard to measure, but the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) wants to sort it out so it can craft a list of "best practices" that federal labs and universities can follow. "It is hard to come to a consensus on how technology transfer is doing," Mark Wang, associate director of RAND's Science and Technology Policy Institute, said on Thursday at a RAND forum. It is difficult if not impossible to put a dollar value on some research because it can be decades before the benefits are realized in the marketplace, he said. That means policymakers should develop more meaningful metrics, with the understanding that "one size does not fit all," said Bruce Mehlman, assistant secretary for technology policy at the Commerce Department. "We've got to measure what we value and not value what we measure," Mehlman said, cautioning that policymakers should be careful not to skew the research toward short-term efforts because they are easier to quantify. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1202/121202td1.htm ---------------------------------------------------- _____________________________________________________________________ The source material may be copyrighted and all rights are retained by the original author/publisher. Copyright 2002, IWS - The Information Warfare Site _____________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ‘Information is the currency of victory on the battlefield.’ GEN Gordon Sullivan, CSA (1993) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wanja Eric Naef Principal Researcher IWS - The Information Warfare Site http://www.iwar.org.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Join the IWS Infocon Mailing List @ http://www.iwar.org.uk/general/mailinglist.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To subscribe - send an email to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" with "subscribe infocon" in the body To unsubscribe - send an email to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" with "unsubscribe infocon" in the body --------------------------------------------------------------------- IWS INFOCON Mailing List @ IWS - The Information Warfare Site http://www.iwar.org.uk