FW: Security In The News - March 25, 2004

[Howell, Paul]

Title: Message

 

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Subject: Security In The News - March 25, 2004

Security In The News
LAST UPDATED: 3/25/04
This report is also available on the Internet at http://news.ists.dartmouth.edu/todaysnews.html ,

Homeland Security & Infrastructure Protection

Inspector: DHS lacks info sharing standard

Federal Computer Week, 3/24/04

Also - Government Computer News, 3/24/04

Also - NY Times, 3/25/04

Sept. 11 commission cites intelligence agency failures

GovExec.com, 3/24/04

Lawmakers debate future of Homeland Security panel

GovExec.com, 3/24/04

Cybercrime-Hacking

Online Swindlers, Called 'Phishers,' Lure Unwary

NY Times, 3/24/04

Would-be whistleblower indicted for keyboard tap

Security Focus, 3/24/04

Politics-Legislation

Interior Back Online Amid Security Flaw

Guardian Unlimited (AP), 3/24/04

County calls out Diebold execs

Alameda Times Star, 3/24/04

Administration asks for extension on passport deadline

CNN, 3/23/04

Political Smears Thrive Online

PC World, 3/23/04

Tracking tags may get congressional scrutiny

ZDNet, 3/24/04

Malware

Witty Worm Brings Down Webhosting.net

The Whir, 3/24/04

F-Secure gives Linux an antivirus injection

ZDNet UK, 3/25/04

Technology

Wireless networking the focus of public safety communication

Government Computer News, 3/24/04

Vulnerabilities & Exploits

Apache upgrades, plugs three security holes

SearchEnterpriseLinux, 3/23/04

Survey uncovers false sense of data security

vnunet.com, 3/24/04

Homeland Security & Infrastructure Protection

Title: Inspector: DHS lacks info sharing standard

Source: Federal Computer Week

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

A report from the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says that the department has not developed common information sharing procedures or practices to efficiently manage contracts. The inspector reports that it may take five to seven years to resolve management issues and upgrade legacy systems to join the 22 agencies into one organization. Most of the effort has concentrated on support operations, such as finances, contracting, and human resources; the report says such systems have yet to be integrated, and calls for a grant management system. The report praises the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for its "great progress" to defend the nation against terrorism. The report cited technology deployment delays and a shortage of critical infrastructures to support homeland security initiatives as obstacles.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0322/web-dhs-03-24-04.asp

Also - http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25399-1.html

Also - http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/politics/25HOME.html?th

Title: Sept. 11 commission cites intelligence agency failures

Source: GovExec.com

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States has released a report finding that conflicts between Bush administration officials and Clinton administration hold-overs prevented federal intelligence agencies from responding to a flood of threat warnings in the summer of 2001. According to testimonies from senior officials of both administrations, such as Secretary of State Colin Powell and his predecessor Madeleine Albright, evidence in the summer of 2001 pointed to attacks abroad, rather than inside the United States. While officials testified that the government could not have prevented the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, several, such as former security advisor Richard Clarke, said that frustration with the administration's slow pace and disorganization within federal agencies prompted them to resign. Sibel Edmonds, former translator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, says the Bureau had "real, specific" intelligence related to the September 11 attacks before they happened.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0304/032404c1.htm

Title: Lawmakers debate future of Homeland Security panel

Source: GovExec.com

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

Legislators in US Congress are discussing the issues related to creating a permanent Homeland Security Committee, including jurisdiction over the 22 agencies transferred to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and formerly under the watch of other committees. Several committee chairs and ranking Democrats provided written statements to the Homeland Security Rules Subcommittee, which must report to the House Rules Committee by September 2004. By October, the Rules Committee must make a recommendation to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), who will decide by January 2005 whether the Homeland Security Committee becomes permanent. Mr. Hastert supports a permanent panel. However, some legislators, such as Science Committee chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-New York), argues that such a committee would be counterproductive, and disagrees with claims that the 44 oversight committees slow down DHS with numerous requests.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0304/032404tdpm1.htm

Cybercrime-Hacking

Title: Online Swindlers, Called 'Phishers,' Lure Unwary

Source: NY Times

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

EarthLink has tracked a number of people suspected of 'phishing,' or sending e-mails to customers pretending to be from the company in an attempt to trick them into revealing sensitive personal data, such as credit card numbers. EarthLink was able to find about a dozen people, more than half of who were under the age of eighteen. However, Les Seagraves, chief privacy officer for EarthLink, believes criminal organizations are using such scams, with more attacks originating from Eastern Europe, Russia, and Asia. The Anti-Phishing Working Group received 282 reports of phishing scams in February 2004, up from 116 the previous December and 176 in January. The scams are also growing in sophistication.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/technology/24PHIS.html

Title: Would-be whistleblower indicted for keyboard tap

Source: Security Focus

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

A federal grand jury has indicted Larry Ropp, 46, on a single count of endeavoring to intercept electronic communications for installing KEYKatcher, a hardware keylogger, on the computer used by the secretary of the vice president at the insurance company where he was employed, Bristol West Insurance Group. In an interview with SecurityFocus, Mr. Ropp admitted to using the device, but claims he was gathering evidence as a whistleblower on anti-consumer practices. Under California law, insurers must give clients ten days notice before canceling an automobile liability policy. Mr. Ropp says his company began issuing cancellation notices with every bill so that policies expired before the payment due date. Mr. Ropp says he was working with the permission of the California Department of Insurance, but the department denies that claim. Mr. Ropp was found out after he was fired from his job, and he asked a coworker to remove the device for him.

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/8329

Politics-Legislation

Title: Interior Back Online Amid Security Flaw

Source: Guardian Unlimited (AP)

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has granted a request from the Department of the Interior to restore its Internet access, blocking US District Judge Royce Lamberth's order to shut down access to protect records related to American Indian funds from cyber attack. The shutdown disrupted managers' communications, disbursement of funds to states, and schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Mr. Lamberth ordered the shutdown after Interior failed to demonstrate it had addressed security problems in databases on royalties owed from oil, gas, timber, and grazing on American Indian land. Judge Lamberth is presiding over a class action suit alleging that Interior lost, stole, or failed to collect billions of dollars in royalties for Indians since 1887.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3899631,00.html

Title: County calls out Diebold execs

Source: Alameda Times Star

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

Alameda County, California, has lodged a formal complaint with Diebold Election Systems, citing "disappointment and dissatisfaction" with their electronic voting machines and alleging that Diebold was "not adequately performing its obligations." A letter from Alameda County Registrar of Voters Bradley J. Clark demanded a written plan to correct problems from Diebold with ten days. According to the letter, Diebold used poorly tested, uncertified voter-card encoders that broke down at 200 polling places during the March 2, 2004 primary elections. San Diego County also reported break-downs at 560 polling places. Voters had to be turned away when paper ballots ran out. Diebold claims the encoders failed due to battery drainage, but poll workers say they kept the encoders charged. Mr. Clark's letter also referred to programming problems.

http://www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~10859~2038407,00.html

Title: Administration asks for extension on passport deadline

Source: CNN

Date Written: March 23, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

The Bush administration has sent a letter the House Judiciary Committee, asking Congress to extend the October 26, 2004 deadline to issue biometric passports by two years. According to the letter, none of the 27 countries that participate in the visa-waiver program will have biometric passports ready by the original deadline. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge cited privacy concerns, interoperability issues, and production delays as reasons other countries would not meet the deadline. Visa-waiver countries include England, France, Germany, and Japan, and account for 68% of visitors to the United States, excluding Canada and Mexico.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/03/23/biometric.passports/index.html

Title: Political Smears Thrive Online

Source: PC World

Date Written: March 23, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

Political observers in the United States say the 2004 election will be the first in which the Internet will be considered a viable broadcast medium. The Bush and Kerry campaigns have sent e-mails to supporters, asking them to preview video ads used in the campaigns. Brooks Jackson, director of FactCheck.org, notes that e-mails have a multiplier effect, since many will forward them to friends and colleagues. With widespread broadband access, campaigns can run video ads at a fraction of the cost of television advertisements. Internet broadcasting also provides a way around restrictions imposed by the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002. Some doubt whether Internet advertisements will affect the final vote results, but a Pew Research Center report finds that a third of Americans get their political news from the Internet.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,115291,00.asp

Title: Tracking tags may get congressional scrutiny

Source: ZDNet

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), speaking at a Georgetown University conference on video surveillance, said that radio frequency identification (RFID) technology may require federal regulation. Sen. Leahy said the technology could lead to "highly detailed, largely automatic, widespread surveillance of our daily lives." Albertsons, Wal-Mart, and Target plan to use RFID tags to track merchandise from factory to cash register, while the Pentagon is deploying RFID to manage their supply chains. Consumer advocates worry that RFID could be used to track the activities of shoppers in retail stores. Several states--Utah, California, and Missouri--have introduced legislation to address privacy concerns around RFID.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5178859.html

Malware

Title: Witty Worm Brings Down Webhosting.net

Source: The Whir

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

The Witty worm has infected approximately 30,000 computers, including servers at several web hosting companies, according to a SANS Internet Storm Center report. According to Andrew Martin, chief information officer for Webhosting.net, Witty destroyed four Webhosting.net servers, bringing down more than 1,000 websites. Though Webhosting.net has the data on backup servers, the four servers had to be rebuilt from scratch. Customers of C I Host report problems with shared SQL (structured query language) database servers, tentatively linked to the worm, but CI Host has not commented on the issue. Witty exploits Windows servers running Internet Security Systems' (ISS) BlackIce Defender firewall; ISS has released a patch for the BlackIce flaw.

http://thewhir.com/marketwatch/wit032404.cfm

Title: F-Secure gives Linux an antivirus injection

Source: ZDNet UK

Date Written: March 25, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

F-Secure has launched anti-virus software to protect Linux and Samba servers from viruses. There are only around 500 Linux viruses in the wild, but as Linux gains popularity, the virus threat grows. The best known Linux virus is Slapper, which infected vulnerable Apache web servers to recruit a zombie army for distributed denial of service attacks. Central Command offers Vexira to offer virus protection for Linux. Both softwares not only guard against Linux viruses, but also Windows viruses, which Linux machines often pass on to Windows clients. The Yankee Group finds that Linux viruses are harder to detect than their Windows counterparts, and while Linux viruses are a small threat, they can still pose a high risk.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39149895,00.htm

Technology

Title: Wireless networking the focus of public safety communication

Source: Government Computer News

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

Officials of local governments, speaking at a panel on wireless networking at the FOSE 2004 conference, described how they have deployed wireless for public safety workers. Barbara Garrard, chief of enterprise infrastructure for the Montgomery County, Maryland, Technology Services Department, says the county has forty-four 802.11b wireless hotspots deployed, describing wireless as one of the most cost-effective kinds of connectivity. Ms. Garrard warned her audience about "rogue" access points; if management does not deploy a wireless network, employees will, but without addressing security. Joe Ross, wireless program director for the District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Technology Officer, argued for a dedicated public safety spectrum. The District of Columbia is part of a coalition of states and local governments petitioning Congress to allocate an additional ten megahertz of the 700 MHz band for public safety use.

http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25401-1.html

Vulnerabilities & Exploits

Title: Apache upgrades, plugs three security holes

Source: SearchEnterpriseLinux

Date Written: March 23, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

The Apache Software foundation urges users to upgrade to the Apache HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) Server 2.0.49 to address three security holes. The most serious flaw would allow an attacker to deny service by triggering a memory leak in mod_ssl and crash the server. Mod_ssl provides cryptography via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS). The second flaw occurs because Apache does not filter terminal escape sequences from error logs; an attacker could access the logs and insert the sequences into vulnerable terminal emulators. The third flaw does not affect Linux or FreeBSD, but could allow an attacker to deny service to AIX, Solaris, and Tru64 machines by causing a race condition between multiple listening sockets.

http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci956441,00.html

Title: Survey uncovers false sense of data security

Source: vnunet.com

Date Written: March 24, 2004

Date Collected: March 25, 2004

According to the British Department of Trade and Industry's biennial Information Security Breaches survey, three quarters of British businesses are confident in their security measures, even though a third of large companies have experienced attempted break-ins on their websites. 4% of attempts are successful, and businesses rated successful attacks as their most serious breach. Most businesses rely on firewalls to defend their networks, with half using them as their only defense. Andrew Beard, a PricewaterhouseCoopers advisory service director involved with the survey, warns that businesses may not have the right monitoring and intrusion prevention in place, causing them to miss many attacks and giving them a false sense of security.

http://www.vnunet.com/News/1153790



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