_________________________________________________________________

                      London, Tuesday, September 10, 2002
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                                INFOCON News
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                            IWS - The Information Warfare Site
                                    http://www.iwar.org.uk

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                               IWS Sponsor

IQPC Defence Conference: Information Operations 2002 25-26/09/02

Information Operations 2002: Analysing development in defensive and
offensive information operations, critical infrastructure protection,
information assurance and perception management.

September 25 - 26, 2002. London, UK (Pre-Conference Masterclass:
24th September 2002)

Information Operations 2002 Conference Web Site
http://www.iqpc-defence.com/GB-1826

    _________________________________________________________________


          ----------------------------------------------------
                              [News Index]
          ----------------------------------------------------

[1] White House cybersecurity chief defines cyberthreat
[2] (UK) Firms urged to remain vigilant in virus battle
[3] 9/11: How the wired world was affected
[4] Security pros: Our defences need work
[5] Americans favor homeland agency even as trust in government drops

[6] Study criticizes White House computer export policy
[7] Archaic computer systems hamper war on terror
[8] Microsoft's G-man - Former federal prosecutor tackles security
[9] Philippines cracks phone hacking ring
[10] Cyber Security: Ghosts of September

[11] FEMA launches Web site on Sept. 11 response
[12] Computer forensics specialists in demand as hacking grows
[13] Cybercrimes
[14] Va. man sentenced for hacking into UF system
[15] Intel announces computer security technology

[16] Ban on outsourcing targets may not apply to Defense
[17] Microsoft identifies source of Windows 2000 attacks

    _________________________________________________________________

                                News
    _________________________________________________________________


[1] White House cybersecurity chief defines cyberthreat

By DAN VERTON
SEPTEMBER 06, 2002

Richard Clarke, chairman of the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection
Board, recently spoke with Computerworld reporter Dan Verton about the nature
and potential of the threat to the nation's critical infrastructure and what he
sees as his biggest challenges with respect to national cybersecurity.
Excerpts from the interview follow:

Q: Can you briefly explain the cybersecurity threat for those who still may not
be sure who or what the enemy is?

A: There's a spectrum of threats out there, some of which we experience every
day. That spectrum runs from [individuals] who simply vandalize Web pages to
those who conduct nuisance denial-of-service attacks. That's on the low end,
which is usually conducted by young hackers -- so-called script kiddies.

http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,74
033,00.html

         ----------------------------------------------------

[2] Firms urged to remain vigilant in virus battle

Anti-virus experts say some sectors of the UK industry still aren't taking email
viruses seriously enough.
New research from Message Labs suggests one in every 24 emails received by
retailers is infected.
Their run-down cites entertainment and local government as other sectors still
suffering a deluge.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_666878.html?menu=news.technology

         ----------------------------------------------------

[3] 9/11: How the wired world was affected

By John Geralds in Silicon Valley [06-09-2002]

Privacy groups talk of the erosion of civil liberties

While the first anniversary of 11 September will be marked by moments of silence
and readings by the governor of New York, it will also be remembered as a time
when world governments moved to restrict privacy, boost surveillance and outline
civil liberty issues.

Shortly after the events of that catastrophic day, previous proposals by a large
number of countries that responded to the threat of terrorism were reintroduced
and new policies were drafted to extend police surveillance powers.

http://www.infomaticsonline.co.uk/News/1134853

         ----------------------------------------------------

[4] Security pros: Our defences need work

09:16 Tuesday 10th September 2002
Robert Lemos, CNET News.com

Despite widespread cyberterrorism anxiety, corporations have only made modest
gains in security over the past year
Though most corporate security professionals see network protection as critical,
they have only made modest gains in securing their companies, according to a
report published on Monday.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t278-s2122000,00.html

         ----------------------------------------------------

[5] Americans favor homeland agency even as trust in government drops
By Tom Shoop

While Americans' overall trust in government has fallen from the very high
levels reported after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, they still favor creation
of a new Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security to prevent future
attacks.

In a CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll conducted last week, 60 percent of respondents
said Congress should pass legislation to create the new department. Just 29
percent opposed the idea.

Eighty percent of the respondents said they had a "fair amount" or a "great
 deal" of confidence that the federal government can protect citizens from
future attacks.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0902/090902ts1.htm

         ----------------------------------------------------

[6] Study criticizes White House computer export policy

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government failed to screen requests by thousands of
immigrants in the United States seeking permission to work with sensitive
technology that hostile nations could use to develop new weapons, congressional
investigators found.

The study released Monday by the General Accounting Office, the investigative
arm of Congress, was the second within weeks to criticize the Bush
administration's oversight of U.S. export restrictions on technology, such as
the latest generation of powerful computer chips.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2002-09-09-computer-exports_x.htm

GAO Report:

Export Controls:  Department of Commerce Controls Over Transfers of
Technology to Foreign Nationals Need Improvement.  GAO-02-972,
September 6.

http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-972

         ----------------------------------------------------

[7] Archaic computer systems hamper war on terror

By Jim Puzzanghera
Mercury News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - After Richard Colvin Reid was arrested for allegedly trying to
detonate explosives in his shoes on a U.S.-bound airliner in December, federal
officials never searched electronic transportation incident reports to determine
if this was a new pattern of terrorist activity.

The reason is simple and distressing: The Department of Transportation's
computer system doesn't allow those reports to be searched by key words like
``shoe'' and ``bomb,'' a function most computer users take for granted.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4033433.htm

         ----------------------------------------------------

[8] Microsoft's G-man - Former federal prosecutor tackles security
2002-09-03
by Cydney Gillis
Journal Business Reporter

REDMOND -- In his small, barren office at Microsoft, Scott Charney counts off on
his fingers what needs to be done to protect computers from being hacked.

It's a set of lists, really, each with more questions than Charney can answer.
But, first and foremost, his job is to see that employees of the world's largest
software company -- and hopefully its customers -- never allow another ``Code
Red'' to attack computers.

http://www.eastsidejournal.com/sited/story/html/103888

         ----------------------------------------------------

[9] Philippines cracks phone hacking ring

09 September, 2002 19:31 GMT+08:00

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines said on Monday it had cracked a 100 million
peso ($1.9 million) computer hacking ring that had gained access to telephone
company lines and sold off cheap phone calls.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to show she is tough on crime, paraded three
arrested men, including two Jordanian brothers, before the media at the national
police headquarters in Manila.

http://asia.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=TGQQUM32YIGYWCRBAE0CFEY?ty
pe=technologynews&StoryID=1425730

         ----------------------------------------------------

[10] Cyber Security: Ghosts of September

By Michael Singer

By the time the second plane was headed for the World Trade Center last year,
U.S. Internet security experts were on high-alert looking for signs of online
terrorist activity.

Fortunately, officials with CERT Coordination Center and the National
Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) reported no major denial of service
(DoS) attacks, viruses or worms unleashed on American Web sites that fateful
day. In fact, the only reason the Internet was slow at all during September 11,
2001 was in part due to a glut of people frantically rushing to their favorite
news sites.

Since then, more focus has been put on cyber security and strengthening the
Internet from attacks than any other time during the history of the Internet.

And now that 12 months have passed, American corporations have spent billions on
cyber security and still a sampling of the country's top IT professionals is
almost certain that some type of online attack is on the horizon.

http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/1459451

         ----------------------------------------------------

[11] FEMA launches Web site on Sept. 11 response
By Raya Widenoja

Federal front-line responders to the Sept. 11 attacks now have their own Web
site, telling the stories of their efforts.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency launched the new Web site Thursday to
commemorate the tragedy and "share with America how FEMA and the federal
government on behalf of all America responded" to help the victims and assist in
the recovery effort after the attacks, said Cindy Ramsay, a public affairs
specialist at FEMA.

"The work that began on Sept. 11 and continues today could not have been done
without your support," FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh wrote in a message to online
readers posted at the site. "Others, like those profiled in this report, may
have literally picked up the pieces. But it was your prayers that picked them up
and kept all of us going during the dark days after the horror."

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0902/090602r1.htm

         ----------------------------------------------------

[12] Computer forensics specialists in demand as hacking grows

By Suzanne Monson
Special to The Seattle Times

Dick Tracy had it easy.

Today's real-life crime-fighters battle villains more sophisticated than those
the comic-book character ever faced - and these modern-day crooks often set
their sights on threatening business, government and national security using
computers.

That's why it takes more than a simple high-tech wristwatch to beat computer
crime. It takes cybersleuths - experts trained in Information Systems (IS)
security, or computer-program protection, and the more advanced skills of
computer forensics.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134531230_forensics08.h
tml

         ----------------------------------------------------

[13] Cybercrimes
It's the next big threat to business security
Pamela Griner Leavy   Staff Writer

Riad Sleit called his Tampa and Sarasota staffs together following the events of
Sept. 11 and urged the 58 digital imaging systems and technical consulting
employees to get back to business.

"If we sit here and feel sorry for ourselves we play into the hands of the
people who did this," Sleit, branch general manager for Savin Corp., a Ricoh Co.
Ltd. firm, recalls telling the staff. "We have to go out there and drive
business as usual. That's the least we owe this country."

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2002/09/09/focus1.html

         ----------------------------------------------------

[14] Va. man sentenced for hacking into UF system

By LISE FISHER
Sun staff writer

A Virginia man will spend 16 months in a federal prison for hacking into the
computer system at the University of Florida astronomy department and causing
thousands of dollars in damage.

Sentenced Tuesday by Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Paul, James Francis
Babiak, 21, also was ordered to pay $33,970 in damages to UF and $6,260 to
Tidewater Community College in Virginia, where Babiak once worked.

Babiak entered a guilty plea in January in two cases of fraudulent activity
connected with a computer.

Prosecutors had charged Babiak with hacking into college computer systems both
in Virginia and Florida over the past two years.

http://www.gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=GS&Date=20020906&Catego
ry=LOCAL&ArtNo=209060365&Ref=AR&Profile=1007

         ----------------------------------------------------

[15] Intel announces computer security technology
MATTHEW FORDAHL
AP Technology Writer

SAN JOSE, Calif. - In the latest attempt to protect digital information from
viruses and hackers, Intel Corp. will integrate advanced security features into
its microprocessors and other hardware.

The security features, announced Monday at the Intel's conference for
developers, will be implemented in processors as early as next year, said Paul
Otellini, Intel's president and chief operating officer.

Code-named LaGrande Technology, the features will create a "vault" in which data
is safely stored and processed. Intel also will secure the pathways within the
computer, such as between the vault and the display or keyboard.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/4038363.htm

         ----------------------------------------------------

[16] Ban on outsourcing targets may not apply to Defense
By Jason Peckenpaugh

Legislation that would prevent agencies from setting numerical targets for
outsourcing federal jobs may not apply to the Defense Department, a Defense
official said Monday.

Both the House and Senate versions of the Treasury-Postal Appropriations bill
contain language that would block the Office of Management and Budget from using
numerical targets to make federal agencies hold public-private job competitions.
OMB has told agencies to compete or outsource 15 percent of their commercial
jobs by October 2003, although it has acknowledged that some agencies may fall
short of this target.

But the Defense Department could still set job competition targets because the
department receives no funding from the Treasury-Postal bill, meaning it is
exempt from the legislative ban, according to Joe Sikes, director of competitive
sourcing and privatization at the Pentagon.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0902/090902p1.htm

         ----------------------------------------------------

[17] Microsoft identifies source of Windows 2000 attacks

By ComputerWire
Posted: 10/09/2002 at 07:27 GMT

Microsoft Corp is blaming users' failure to apply listed security measures for
an "unexplained" surge in attempted hacks against Windows 2000-based servers.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft yesterday said it has determined a spate of
hacks against Windows 2000-based servers do not exploit product-related security
vulnerabilities. Neither do attacks appear viral or worm-like in nature, as had
been suspected.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/27036.html

         ----------------------------------------------------



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The source material may be copyrighted and all rights are
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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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