FW: Security In The News - February 25, 2004

[Howell, Paul]

Title: Message

 

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Subject: Security In The News - February 25, 2004

Security In The News
LAST UPDATED: 2/25/04
This report is also available on the Internet at http://news.ists.dartmouth.edu/todaysnews.html ,

Homeland Security & Infrastructure Protection

Deal awarded for DOD, FBI security plan

Federal Computer Week, 2/23/04

CIA to issue cyberterror intelligence estimate

Computerworld, 2/24/04

Homeland Security rolls out tactical response network

Government Computer News, 2/24/04

Cybercrime-Hacking

Jihad accuses U.S., Israeli groups of wrecking its Web site

Haaretz, 2/21/04

Cybercrime Costing UK Business Billions

Reuters, 2/24/04

Politics-Legislation

Companies Form Computer Security Lobby

Washington Post, 2/25/04

Cyber-Security Coordination Lacking, Senators Contend

Washington Post, 2/25/04

Governors Press for Limits on Internet Tax Ban

Reuters, 2/23/04

Korea Sharpens Teeth to Deter E-Mail Spam

The Korea Times, 2/24/04

Malware

Netsky.B infections spread

ZDNet, 2/24/04

New MyDoom Virus Packs a Wallop

Wired News, 2/24/04

Also - Reuters, 2/25/04

Technology

AMD, Microsoft pair up for security

news.com.com, 2/25/04

Is security getting any easier?

news.com.com, 2/24/04

Vulnerabilities & Exploits

E-mail snarls bank in privacy inquiry

Miami Herald (AP), 2/23/04

Best Practices & Risk Management

Who's Afraid of Chinese Pirates?

Business Week, 2/24/04

Leak prompts Microsoft to audit Windows code

Computerworld, 2/24/04

eBay UK Launches 'Protection Plan' to Attract Users

Reuters, 2/25/04

Group wants to integrate physical, IT security

Government Computer News, 2/25/04

Government moves toward standards for unified security

Government Computer News, 2/25/04

Homeland Security & Infrastructure Protection

Title: Deal awarded for DOD, FBI security plan

Source: Federal Computer Week

Date Written: February 23, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Knowledge Consulting Group has received a $21.4 million contract from the Defense Department to develop a security plan for Defense's Counterintelligence Field Activity and the FBI's (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Foreign Terrorist Tracking Force. This will mean updating the two organizations' security guidelines, identifying potential holes--including those exploited by spies and moles--and providing support. The Defense Department has always had security guidelines, but seeks improved preparedness after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0223/web-dodfbi-02-23-04.asp

Title: CIA to issue cyberterror intelligence estimate

Source: Computerworld

Date Written: February 24, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Defense Department will release the first and classified National Intelligence Estimate on the threat of cyberattacks against critical infrastructures. Officials briefed congressional members on the estimate during a testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security. Amit Yoran, director of the National Cyber Security Division at DHS, was unable to answer questions about cyberthreats from terrorist groups and nation-states, relying on supporting testimony from John Malcolm of the Justice Department and Keith Lourdeau of the FBI's Cyber Division. Mr. Lourdeau described one incident in which hackers told the National Science Foundation they had cracked the life support network at a South Pole research station, and threatened to shut it down; the two hackers were arrested in June 2003. Mr. Malcolm urged the Senators not to let certain provisions of the Patriot Act expire, arguing that nation-wide search warrants are necessary for crimes involving telecommunications.

http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,90448,00.html

Title: Homeland Security rolls out tactical response network

Source: Government Computer News

Date Written: February 24, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Speaking at the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN), an upgraded version of the Joint Regional Information Exchange System, developed in conjunction with the Defense Intelligence Agency. Secretary Ridge said that the HSIN would allow police to "receive and share tactical information, quickly piece together the puzzle and see if an incident poses a threat." Homeland Security plans to expand the system to all fifty states, the five territories, tribal governments, and major cities. The system will first carry sensitive information for law enforcement, to be later upgraded for information classified as secret.

http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25062-1.html

Cybercrime-Hacking

Title: Jihad accuses U.S., Israeli groups of wrecking its Web site

Source: Haaretz

Date Written: February 21, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad has accused American and Israeli groups of breaking into the website of its military wing, al Quds Brigades. Islamic Jihad released the statement to the Associated Press, but did not identify which groups it believes were involved. Islamic Jihad and Hamas have been responsible for most suicide bombings in Israel, and both are designated as terrorist organizations by the US State Department.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/396688.html

Title: Cybercrime Costing UK Business Billions

Source: Reuters

Date Written: February 24, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

A police survey of 201 British companies finds 83% of businesses have suffered some sort of cybercrime in 2003, costing over £195 million ($356 million) in lost productivity and damage to public image; Len Hynds, head of the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), estimates that the total cost for all United Kingdom business may add up to billions. The financial sector proved to be the most popular target of cybercriminals, reporting £60 million ($112 million) in damages. Most major banks have been hit by some form of phishing scam. 77% of businesses reported suffering a virus attack, while 17% reported criminal use of the Internet, mostly by employees.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=4425312

Politics-Legislation

Title: Companies Form Computer Security Lobby

Source: Washington Post

Date Written: February 25, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Eleven of America's top computer security companies have formed the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) to lobby Congress regarding cybersecurity regulations. The CSIA stresses that it is wary of government regulation of security, but believes that some requirements could improve security of critical information infrastructures, possibly under already existing laws. The CSIA intends to develop standards for documenting and reporting security threats, citing the confusion antivirus companies often cause by giving viruses different names. The alliance will also seek clarification of several recently enacted laws on network security. The CSIA includes Bindview, Check Point Software Technologies, Juniper Networks subsidiary Netscreen Technologies, PGP Corporation, RSA Security, and Secure Computing Corporation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3455-2004Feb24.html

Title: Cyber-Security Coordination Lacking, Senators Contend

Source: Washington Post

Date Written: February 25, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Senators Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) and Diane Feinstein (D-California) criticized federal efforts to protect critical infrastructures from terrorist and cyber attacks during a Senate subcommittee hearing. Mr. Kyl expressed frustration over the lack of a comprehensive analysis of vulnerabilities, citing the increase from 84,000 intrusions in 2002 to 137,000 in 2003 as reported by Carnegie Mellon. Amit Yoran, director of the National Cyber Security Division at the Department of Homeland Security, said his agency takes an integrated approach to cybersecurity rather than look at vulnerabilities in isolation. Sen. Feinstein asked whether Mr. Yoran issued any directives to other federal agencies, to which he responded that he works closely with them. Ms. Feinstein expressed concern that the Bush administration's approach of leaving security to the private sector, which holds 80% of critical infrastructures, would prove ineffective. Former White House cybersecurity advisor Howard Schmidt defended the private sector as being best equipped to determine security solutions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3314-2004Feb24.html

Title: Governors Press for Limits on Internet Tax Ban

Source: Reuters

Date Written: February 23, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Three US state governors--Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, warned that congressional plans to permanently ban taxes on Internet access could cost states billions in annual revenue. As many activities such as shopping, telephone services, and music sales migrate to the Internet, many states find their budgets taking a hit. The governors suggest extending a temporary tax ban while regulators find new ways to make up for lost revenue. After the original tax ban expired in October 2003, many in Congress sought to make the ban permanent, to extend it to cable and DSL (direct subscriber line) access, and to overturn several state taxes that already existed. Others have proposed a temporary extension instead, similar to the governors' proposal.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=4419321

Title: Korea Sharpens Teeth to Deter E-Mail Spam

Source: The Korea Times

Date Written: February 24, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

South Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication has announced plans for increased law enforcement and technology efforts to battle spam. The government will spend W10 billion ($8 million) to develop new technologies over three years until 2007 to track down and block spammers. As spam spreads from e-mail to pop-ups and mobile text messages, the government will impose new requirements on marketers; for example, mobile users must opt-in for text messages before marketers can send advertisements to phones. South Korea will also cooperate with foreign governments to establish anti-spam guidelines and swap blacklists. According to e-mail filtering service MessageLabs, South Korea has a rate of spam higher than the world average of 62.7%, with spam accounting for four out five e-mails. The Ministry of Information and Communication estimates that the average user received 29.1 unwanted e-mail ads per day in 2003, with 8.4 being either illegal or obscene.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200402/kt2004022518461111810.htm

Malware

Title: Netsky.B infections spread

Source: ZDNet

Date Written: February 24, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Netsky.B continues to spread since its appearance on February 17, 2004. E-mail management firm MessageLabs says it has intercepted more than 1.3 million e-mails with the virus, and believes the infection is growing; in the 24 hours before February 24, MessageLabs stopped more than 10 times as many Netsky.B worms as MyDoom worms. Symantec rates the worm as severe. The virus spreads over e-mail and requires the recipient to open the file attachment before it can infect a machine. Once on a machine, though, it scans the hard drive for e-mail addresses and uses its own SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) engine to mail itself to those addresses. It also plants itself in shared network folders using a variety of names.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5163968.html

Title: New MyDoom Virus Packs a Wallop

Source: Wired News

Date Written: February 24, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

A new variant of the MyDoom worm. MyDoom.F, is spreading over e-mail. While MyDoom.F is not as infectious as its previous variants, it carries a more dangerous payload; MyDoom.F deletes files from infected machines as well as opens a backdoor to enable attackers to later access and control the machine, possibly for a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack or to serve spam. The worm deletes an apparently random selection of Word documents, images, audio and video files, and Excel spreadsheets. The worm has no deactivation date, and will launch a DDoS attack between the 17th and 22nd of each month, with a one third chance it will attack the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America)--otherwise, it will target Microsoft. Antivirus experts believe the author is not the person who wrote the original MyDoom virus, but someone who used source code disseminated by the Doomjuice worm.

http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,62401,00.html

Also - http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=4433752

Technology

Title: AMD, Microsoft pair up for security

Source: news.com.com

Date Written: February 25, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) has announced that it has included features in its Athlon 64 and Opteron processors to help guard against malware infection. The features will be activated by Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2, due for release in the middle of 2004. AMD also unveiled its Alchemy Au1550 processor for networking gear, such as wireless access points, with built-in security engine. As businesses begin demanding tighter security, chipmakers such as AMD, Intel, Transmeta, and Via Technologies have begun building security features into hardware. AMD's Athlon 64 and Opteron guards against buffer overflow, often exploited by major worms.

http://news.com.com/2100-7355-5164755.html?tag=cd_top

Title: Is security getting any easier?

Source: news.com.com

Date Written: February 24, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

A panel of experts at the RSA Conference noted that while governments and corporations are improving their security capabilities, security issues will not go away. Paul Kocher of Cryptography Research argues that there is always room for human error, even among technologically knowledgeable individuals. Ronald Rivest notes that many proposed solutions do not match how user like their computers to work. Digital rights management, while popular with Hollywood, may only annoy consumers. Mr. Rivest suggests charging fees for unsolicited e-mail in the war against spam, but Bruce Schneier of Counterpane Security notes that a lot of spam comes from unwitting drone computers. Mr. Rivest also pointed to electronic voting as an emerging issue. Adi Shamir notes that no major cryptographic systems have been broken in past year, and no new ones developed.

http://news.com.com/2100-7355-5164431.html?tag=cd_top

Vulnerabilities & Exploits

Title: E-mail snarls bank in privacy inquiry

Source: Miami Herald (AP)

Date Written: February 23, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Missouri state investigators are examining whether Southern Commercial Bank compromised the privacy of over 40,000 customers by e-mailing personal data to an independent computer programmer. The e-mail included account numbers, Social Security numbers, and addresses of customers. State regulators are concerned that the e-mail could be used for identity theft, either by the programmer, or someone who accesses the programmer's computer or intercepts the e-mail. Eric McClure, commissioner of the Missouri Division of Finance, warns that anyone who knowingly shares customer data faces federal criminal charges and up to five years imprisonment. Rick Henderson, the programmer who received the data, says he was shocked the bank sent it to him, and that he contacted state regulators afterwards. Mr. Henderson no longer has the information, as he deleted the e-mail while rebuilding his computer.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8019815.htm

Best Practices & Risk Management

Title: Who's Afraid of Chinese Pirates?

Source: Business Week

Date Written: February 24, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Edward Newman, founder and chief executive of Xybernaut, plans to enter into partnerships with Chinese technology firms despite the risk of intellectual property theft. Xybernaut researches and develops wearable computer equipment, such as tablet computers and eyeglass displays, holding over six-hundred patents. The Business Software Alliance regularly names China as one of the top piracy countries; as much as 90% of software sold in China is counterfeit. Even Chinese firms fall victim to piracy. Mr. Newman was hesitant when a partner suggested doing business in China, but connected with Hong Kong-based Softbank Investment International, and met with government officials in Beijing. Officials assured Mr. Newman that they were cracking down on intellectual property theft--even the Business Software Alliance has lauded Chinese efforts. Mr. Newman plans to move cautiously; if one product is stolen he can pull back to protect others and use his international patents to keep the pirated product from spreading to other countries.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2004/tc20040224_1878_tc058.htm

Title: Leak prompts Microsoft to audit Windows code

Source: Computerworld

Date Written: February 24, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Microsoft is auditing source code for Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 that was leaked on the Internet early in February, looking for any vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit. Microsoft reviewed its code before its original release, but has decided to take advantage of new auditing tools to improve its review. Security experts warn that the code leak could result in more attacks against Windows systems, however, many of the problems with the older code have been fixed in patches and service packs. While some organizations are concerned the code leak could mean more security updates, others say they have worked patches and security updates into their business process.

http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,90431,00.html

Title: eBay UK Launches 'Protection Plan' to Attract Users

Source: Reuters

Date Written: February 25, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

The United Kingdom division of online auction house eBay will offer customers a buyer protection program insuring them for up to $464.50 in damages for goods purchased through PayPal. Geoff Iddison of PayPal Europe says the program is designed to attract customers who may be hesitant to join in online commerce out of fraud concerns; fraud is increasing in western Europe as more Europeans shop online. PayPal research shows that a third of users are reluctant to spend over £50 ($93.60). PayPal's primary aim for 2004 is to extend its business throughout Europe.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=4433739

Title: Group wants to integrate physical, IT security

Source: Government Computer News

Date Written: February 25, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

The Open Security Exchange (OSE), an industry group announced at 2003's RSA Conference, is developing interoperability standards to bring together the usually separate worlds of physical and information technology security. The group, consisting of Computer Associates, GemPlus Card International, HID Corporation, and Tyco's Fire and Security Software, will submit specifications for its Physical Security Bridge to IT Security to the Security Industry Association for its Open Systems Integration and Performance Standards initiative. At 2004's RSA COnference, OSE plans to announce a partnership with the Liberty Alliance for wireless authentication, and to release a paper on credentials management and smart cards a few weeks thereafter.

http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25072-1.html

Title: Government moves toward standards for unified security

Source: Government Computer News

Date Written: February 25, 2004

Date Collected: February 25, 2004

Federal agencies are developing common physical and information technology standards to work across and between agencies. Keith T. Hughes, director of the Interagency Security Committee, speaking at the RSA Conference, says that all federal buildings will have to have an infrastructure for smart cards. Judith Spencer outlined the work of the Federal ID Credentialing Committee on common federal credential criteria. Each agency will be responsible for issuing it own credentials and access policies. Such credential efforts rest on the work toward a Federal Bridge Certificate Authority to enable agencies to authenticate credentials issued by other agencies.

http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25064-1.html


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