From: Mark Neely <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Net-Alert 20 September, 1999 If you have any questions, comments or other feedback concerning Net-Alert articles, contact the Editor at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Previous editions of Net-Alert are available at http://www.onelist.com/arcindex.cgi?listname=net-alert Subscription and unsubscription details are available at the end of this newsletter. ____________________ Contents: ## Cholera the next viral outbreak ## Reach out and bug someone ## Windows backdoors and the NSA ## HERF guns: fact or fiction? ## When Harry allegedly met Sally ## Cyberstalking no laughing matter ## Data loss in perspective ## More Microsoft hoaxes ## Send a copy of Net-Alert to a friend. ____________________ Cholera the next viral outbreak Following in the footsteps of the Melissa macro virus is the Cholera virus. Although, unlike Melissa, it relies on an executable program ("setup.exe") to cause infections, it propagates in much the same way. Once your system is infected, the virus scans your hard disk for email addresses that it can send copies of itself to. The unsuspecting recipient receives a short email containing only a smiley face ":)" with an attachment (setup.exe). ____________________ Reach out and bug someone Mobile phones are becoming such an essential business - and lifestyle - tool that they rarely register on our reality perceptors. Like traditional telephones, mobile phones are practically ubiquitous and no one would question their presence in an office or business environment. But that may soon change. Newer models now incorporate several interesting features that can be put to uses unanticipated by their inventors. For instance, many models now offer a completely silent mode of operation - no beeping or ringing when there is an incoming call or message. Others can be configured to automatically answer incoming calls - handy for taking hands-free calls while driving. But the combination of these features can transform the humble mobile telephone into a remote-controlled bugging device. Want to know what your colleagues talk about when you leave a meeting to make some photocopies? Leave your mobile phone behind and call it from reception. When it automatically and silently answers the call, it will broadcast the conversation in the meeting room back to you. Thanks to increasingly longer standby battery life, you could even discretely place the mobile phone in a meeting room days or hours before it is scheduled to take place. If this worries you, then you probably don't want to know how mobile phones could also be used to track someone's location (while, of course, bugging them). Lauren Weinstein, moderator of the Privacy Forum, covered these risks and others in a recent article. URLs: Privacy Forum Web site http://www.vortex.com/privacy Article - Cell Phones Become Instant Bugs! http://www.vortex.com/privacy/priv.08.11 ____________________ Windows backdoors and the NSA There has been considerable news coverage recently concerning allegations that Microsoft Corp. deliberately inserted code into their Windows 2000 operating system that would allow the US National Security Agency (NSA) unregulated access to computers using that operating system. While such allegations make for interesting stories, to date no conclusive proof has been offered that such a backdoor(s) exist. However, you can bet that a number of researchers are now looking. ____________________ HERF guns: fact or fiction? HERF (High Energy Radio Frequency) guns - weapons that use radio frequencies to "kill" computer systems by disrupting their internal hardware components - have been well documented, in conceptual terms at least, for some time. In the battlefield of the future, computer systems, not soldiers or weaponry, are likely to be the deciding factor in victory. Computer systems will aid battlefield communications and logistics, suggest tactics and keep track of friends and foe. This has led many strategists to speculate that the next arms race won't involve building nuclear or biological missiles, but rather designing weaponry that can "nuke" computer systems. Why send in troops to take over and then disable an enemy's telecommunications infrastructure, for example, if you can stay at home and simply lob a missile that will do the same thing? It appears that the race has well and truly begun. David Schriner, an ex- US Navy engineer, successfully demonstrated a machine that crashed two computers at a recent InfowarCon '99 conference. URL: ZD Net article http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2331772,00.html ____________________ When Harry allegedly met Sally Computer mediated communications, such as IRC and Web-based chats, offer participants the chance to escape from the mundane reality of their daily lives and enter the realm of fiction and facade. Ordinarily this is harmless fun, but sometimes it can lead to embarrassing encounters (or worse). Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed The Turing Game, based on the principles of the Imitation Game, developed by the brillient British mathematician, Alan Turing. They claim that the game can unmask imposters - people who pretend to be a different race or gender. Participants in the game are assembled into panels. They are then asked to pretend to be a member of some group, such as women. Some will be women, others will be men. All will try to "prove" that they are women. The remaining game participants form the audience, who are given the chance to ask the panel questions, the answers to which are analysed for signs of race, gender and cultural markers. URL: The Turing Game http://www.cc.gatech.edu/elc/turing/ ____________________ Cyberstalking no laughing matter US Vice President Al Gore released a report, prepared by the US Justice Department, criticising US law enforcement agencies for underestimating the magnitude and severity of online stalking. Gore is expected to recommend sweeping changes to state laws, in an effort to crack down on the use of the Internet to transmit threatening or harrassing messages. From the Press Release: According to the Department of Justice, less than one third of the states have anti-stalking laws that explicitly cover stalking via the Internet, email, pagers, or other electronic communications. While the general stalking statutes in some states may cover cyberstalking, the report calls on all states to review their laws to ensure they prohibit and punish stalking via the Internet and other electronic communications. The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office estimates that e-mail or other electronic communications were a factor in approximately 20% of the roughly 600 cases handled by its Stalking and Threat Assessment Unit. According to a 1998 national DOJ survey of traditional (offline) stalking, one out of every 12 women (8.2 million) and one out of every 45 men (2 million) have been stalked at some time in their lives. URLs: Dept. of Justice Report http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/cyberstalkingreport.htm Press Release http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov .us/1999/9/16/6.text.1 LA Times article http://www.latimes.com/HOME/BUSINESS/t000082754.html ____________________ Data loss in perspective Net-Alert's primary focus is to warn users of threats posed to them (and their computers) by "hackers", viruses, scams, hoaxes and privacy abuses. As you read the contents of Net-Alert from week to week, you might be forgiven for thinking that even switching on your PC constitutes a risk. While computer criminals do pose a threat, and viruses are real, recent studies have revealed that most instances of data loss resulted not from virus infections or computer vandal attacks, but from good old user error. 88% of the participants in one survey reported that accidental deletions of computer files by users caused the most problems, while only 3% considered viruses to be a major problem. Interestingly, it seems that we humans are slow to learn from our mistakes. Another study revealed that a mere 29% of users learn from their first mistake; the bulk of users (71%) are multiple offenders, with as many as 24% reporting up to six accidental deletions According to a press release on the topic: Compounding the problem, research indicates that anywhere from 50 to 80 percent of data loss customers who regularly back-up their data find backups less than adequate at the critical moment. "Backup methods assume that the hardware and storage media are in working order, that the data is not corrupted, and that the backup is recent enough to provide full recovery," says Daniel W. Oexeman, a spokesperson for Ontrack Data Recovery. "Unfortunately, this is all too often not the case." Making matters worse, human error is playing a growing role in backup shortcomings. 1-for-All Marketing found that 50 percent of these failures trace back to human error in either not backing up or restoring properly while a variety of media situations, on the other hand, accounted for only 26 percent. The moral of this story? It may not be enough to perform daily backups of essential data. Companies and individuals need to reconsider their backup policies and implement strategies that more accurately reflect their users' data access patterns and general IT skills. URLs: InternetWire report http://game.internetwire.com/technews/tn/tn981250.htx Chicago Tribune report http://www.chicago.tribune.com/tech/specialreport/article/0,266 9,ART-34595,FF.html ____________________ More Microsoft hoaxes Microsoft Corp. is warning customers about an email hoax currently doing the rounds. The message, purportedly from [EMAIL PROTECTED], contains an trojan horse attachment that copies your password and login details. The full text of the hoax email is as follows: "From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Microsoft Announcement Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 23:37:05 +0200 To All Microsoft Users, We are excited to announce the Microsoft Year 2000 Counter. Start the countdown NOW. Let us all get in the 21 Century. Let us lead the way to the future and we will get YOU there FASTER and SAFER. Thank you, Microsoft Corporation" As mentioned previously in Net-Alert, Microsoft does not distribute software updates via email. URL: Microsoft announcement http://www.microsoft.com/y2k/hoax/hoax2.htm ____________________ Send a copy of Net-Alert to a friend. Forwarding this newsletter to friends and colleagues is encouraged, providing the message is forwarded in its entirety, including the copyright notice. ____________________ If you received this copy of Net-Alert from a friend, you can subscribe by visiting the following URL: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/net-alert or by sending a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________ Net-Alert is copyright (c) Mark Neely 1999. Forwarding this message to friends and colleagues is encouraged, providing the message is forwarded in its entirety, including this copyright notice. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- Share your special moments with family and friends- send PHOTO Greetings at Zing.com! 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