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London, Friday, May 31, 2002
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INFOCON News
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[News Index]
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[1] Ridge speaks out on restructuring homeland security agencies
[2] Virus warning: SQL worm trumps Nimda and Code Red
[3] Hackers Crack Copy Protection CD's
[4] Japan space hackers nabbed for spying
[5] (UK) Govt freezes e-tax filing
[6] FBI agent blames outdated technology for failure to prevent terror
attacks
[7] Securing Privacy Part Four: Internet Issues
[8] Notorious hacker hits TheNerds.net
[9] The next hacker target: instant messaging
[10] Low-tech solution to password problem
[11] FBI director unveils plan for agency overhaul
[12] FBI and CIA coming on-line with new powers
[13] (AU) 'Spammer' punished for war hang-up
[14] Hacker 'King Kimble' handed fraud conviction
[15] (UK) Cypherpunks aim to torpedo RIP key seizure plan
[16] Scientists set to unveil anti-terrorism ideas in late June
[17] Congressional panel issues information security report
[18] EU set to weaken Net privacy regime
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News
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[1] Ridge speaks out on restructuring homeland security agencies
By Katherine McIntire Peters
The White House is poised to recommend reorganizing federal agencies to more
effectively control people and goods at U.S. borders and help local police,
firefighters and health care workers respond after terrorist attacks. The
recommendations are to be included in the homeland security strategy, which
is being developed by the White House Office of Homeland Security. Homeland
Security Director Tom Ridge discussed some of his thinking over lunch with
editors and writers at National Journal Group, including Government
Executive's Katherine McIntire Peters.
Q: Thousands of people enter this country illegally every day. Most just
walk across the border. This is after a decade of spending billions of
dollars to increase staffing, equipment and intelligence on the border. How
big a concern is that to you when you look at homeland security
vulnerabilities, and what is a realistic way of dealing with it?
A: We have 5,000 miles of border with Canada and 2,500 miles of border with
Mexico. If you add the coastline, we've got about 95,000 miles of
unprotected navigable border. That openness, that size, is obviously a point
of vulnerability where we know we need to enhance security.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0502/053002kp1.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[2] Virus warning: SQL worm trumps Nimda and Code Red
An internet worm that attacks Microsoft's SQL Server database has caused
more attacks in the past week than last year's most notorious worms, Nimda
and Code Red.
http://www.silicon.com/bin/bladerunner?30REQEVENT=&REQAUTH=21046&14001REQSUB
=REQINT1=53664
----------------------------------------------------
[3] Hackers Crack Copy Protection CD's
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:17 p.m. ET
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Some music fans are trying to fake out CD copy
protection technology with the stroke of a felt-tip pen.
The tactic is being used in Europe, where Sony is trying out a copy
protection method. That model won't be coming to America, the company says.
The crack in the copy protection is the talk of the town on Internet message
boards, though Digital Audio Disc Corporation, Sony Corp.'s CD manufacturing
unit, is not amused.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Felt-Tip-Hackers.html?ex=10235
08800&en=06d4d4bcbe8392c0&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVER
----------------------------------------------------
[4] Japan space hackers nabbed for spying
TOKYO, Japan (AP) --Three workers at a major Japanese aerospace company have
been arrested for allegedly hacking into the computer network of Japan's
space agency to spy on a rival company.
http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/05/30/japan.spacehackers.ap/in
dex.html
----------------------------------------------------
[5] Govt freezes e-tax filing
By Drew Cullen
Posted: 31/05/2002 at 08:50 GMT
Oh dear. The Inland Revenue suspended its online tax-self assessment service
yesterday after users complained that they could see the tax returns of
other people when they logged on to the site.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/23/25522.html
http://money.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/05/31/nrev31.xml
&sSheet=/money/2002/05/31/ixfrontcity.html
----------------------------------------------------
[6] FBI agent blames outdated technology for failure to prevent terror
attacks
>From National Journal's Technology Daily
A lack of modern computer technology was a key reason the FBI failed to
prevent the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a special agent from
the Chicago field office who on Thursday became the second agent in two
weeks to accuse officials at FBI headquarters of mismanagement and
obstruction of terrorism-related investigations.
Robert Wright, who has investigated money laundering linked to terrorism,
said FBI management "intentionally and repeatedly thwarted and obstructed"
his attempts to identify terrorists and their financial backers. He argued
that management problems have rendered the bureau incapable of protecting
Americans against terrorist threats.
"Knowing what I know, I can confidently say that until the investigative
responsibilities for terrorism are transferred from the FBI, I will not feel
safe," said Wright, who called for the creation of a new anti-terrorism
agency.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0502/053002td2.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[7] Securing Privacy Part Four: Internet Issues
by Scott Granneman
last updated May 29, 2002
This is the fourth and final installment in a series devoted to protecting
users' privacy on the Internet. So far in this series, we've examined
privacy issues concerning hardware, software, and e-mail. In this article,
we will look more generally at our usage of the Internet. The Internet
offers all of us unparalleled access to information, but it also brings with
it unique threats to our privacy. This article will examine some of the ways
you can protect yourself.
http://online.securityfocus.com/infocus/1585
----------------------------------------------------
[8] Notorious hacker hits TheNerds.net
'Zilterio' strikes for the fourth time in 8 months
By Bob Sullivan
MSNBC
May 29 - A notorious online extortionist using the name "Zilterio" has
struck again. This time, some customers of TheNerds.Net, an electronics
retailer, received e-mails from [EMAIL PROTECTED], indicating their credit
card data had been stolen from the site. This is the fourth Web site in 8
months attacked by someone claiming to be Zilterio - in the past, the
extortionist demanded $50,000 in exchange for silence.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/759029.asp
----------------------------------------------------
[9] The next hacker target: instant messaging
By Robert Vamosi
ZDNet Reviews
May 30, 2002, 4:45 AM PT
COMMENTARY--You'd better keep an eye on your handy instant messenging app,
according to security software and advisory firm Internet Security Systems
(ISS).
Why? Now that companies are getting better at stopping e-mail viruses, says
Dan Ingevaldson, director of R&D at ISS, instant messengers are the next
obvious target for malicious code and viruses in the future. Also, most
popular chat apps do not use a secure layer for text messages, meaning that
anyone could intercept and read IM chats outside your corporate firewall.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-928415.html
----------------------------------------------------
[10] Low-tech solution to password problem
Could this card be answer to the password puzzle?
A British inventor has come up with a low-tech answer to the problem of
having a secure password.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2006000/2006940.stm
----------------------------------------------------
[Great words, but actions speak louder than words. WEN]
[11] FBI director unveils plan for agency overhaul
By Tanya N. Ballard
FBI Director Robert Mueller announced plans Wednesday to hire hundreds of
new agents, replace outdated computer systems and create new offices in an
effort to reorganize the 94-year-old agency and shift its mission to
preventing terrorism.
Mueller unveiled a 19-item list of the FBI's future priorities, headed by
protecting the country from terrorist attacks and guarding against
espionage. He outlined actions the agency will take to address those
priorities, including shifting agents from drug, white-collar crime and
violent crime investigations to counterterrorism operations and hiring 900
agents with foreign language, technology, engineering and science skills by
September. The FBI will also collaborate more aggressively with other law
enforcement agencies, Mueller said.
"We have to do a better job recruiting, managing and training our workforce,
collaborating with others, and-critically important-managing, analyzing and
sharing information," Mueller said. "In essence, we need a different
approach that puts prevention above all else."
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0502/052902t1.htm
http://online.securityfocus.com/news/456
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/reorg529temp.htm
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/speeches/speech052902.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[12] FBI and CIA coming on-line with new powers
By Thomas C Greene in Washington
Posted: 30/05/2002 at 10:59 GMT
The FBI has assumed new powers to investigate people and organizations not
even suspected of crime, with blessings from the US Department of Justice
and its terror-terrified Lord Protector John Ashcroft.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/25508.html
----------------------------------------------------
[13] 'Spammer' punished for war hang-up
By Jamie Berry
May 30 2002
An anti-war protester who jammed phone lines at Liberal Party offices around
Australia before last year's federal election has been ordered to do 60
hours of community work.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/05/29/1022569792822.html
----------------------------------------------------
[14] Hacker 'King Kimble' handed fraud conviction
Kim "Kimble" Schmitz, German hacker, shameless self-publicist and one-time
backer of Letsbuyit.com, has been convicted of insider dealing.
http://www.silicon.com/bin/bladerunner?30REQEVENT=&REQAUTH=21046&14001REQSUB
=REQINT1=53698
----------------------------------------------------
[15] Cypherpunks aim to torpedo RIP key seizure plan
By John Leyden
Posted: 29/05/2002 at 15:10 GMT
Privacy activists plan to undermine forthcoming UK Government regulations on
the surrender of encryption keys through the release of an open-source
cryptography project, called m-o-o-t.
The Home Office hopes to publish a much delayed draft Code of Practice for
part three of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act, which deals
with procedures for law enforcer to gain access to encryption keys or
plain-text versions of scrambled messages, next month.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/25499.html
----------------------------------------------------
[16] Scientists set to unveil anti-terrorism ideas in late June
By Bara Vaida, National Journal's Technology Daily
The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute
of Medicine and National Research Council plan to publish a list of
recommendations on how the Bush administration can best use the nation's
scientific and technical resources to counter terrorist threats.
Lewis Branscombe, co-chairman of the National Academies Committee on Science
and Technology for Countering Terrorism, said the plan currently is being
reviewed and likely will be released June 24 or June 25-shortly before the
administration is expected to produce its broader strategy on homeland
security.
"What we've tried to do is identify technologies that can be deployed
immediately and technologies where research and development should be
focused ... that could take one to three to four years" to be ready for
deployment, Branscombe said at a press briefing hosted by King Publishing on
Wednesday.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0502/052902td1.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[17] Congressional panel issues information security report
>From National Journal's Technology Daily
Congress' Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday issued a compilation of
essays titled "Security in the Information Age" heavily focusing on cyber
security and critical infrastructure protection.
"We must be better aware of our vulnerabilities and develop viable
strategies to detect, deter, and counter both physical and cyber-based
threats to our people and infrastructures," said Chairman James Saxon,
R-N.J.
Saxon said the reports grew out of the interest that committee member Sen.
Robert Bennett, R-Utah-who selected the contributors-had shown in the
subject.
"In bringing us an exciting new era of technology, the information age has
also given us a new set of security challenges," Bennett said. "The primary
message of today's report is that we must think differently about national
security in the new networked world."
Contributors to the report include Undersecretary of State Kenneth Juster,
Microsoft security chief Scott Charney and John Tritak, director of the
Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0502/052902td2.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[18] EU set to weaken Net privacy regime
Paul Meller The New York Times
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Records could be kept longer
BRUSSELS The European Parliament is expected to back a new law on data
protection in a vote on Thursday, despite fierce opposition from civil
rights groups, telecommunications companies and Internet service providers.
In December, the 15 EU governments inserted a clause into the draft law
calling on telecoms companies and ISPs to lengthen the time they retain
information on their customers' log of phone calls or e-mail and Internet
connections. The proposed law calls for the companies to keep such
information beyond the one- or two-month period it normally is held for
billing purposes, to assist police investigations. Existing European
data-protection laws rule that so-called traffic data should be stored for
no longer than the billing period. The current laws also place greater
restrictions on law enforcement officials' rights of access to such data.
http://www.iht.com/articles/59491.html
http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=20569
----------------------------------------------------
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Copyright 2002, IWS - The Information Warfare Site
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Webmaster & Principal Researcher
IWS - The Information Warfare Site
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