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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2004 Report Shows File Swapping Holding Steady Spyware Rampant, Users Unaware Judge Issues Restraining Order on Spyware Microsoft Revives Sender ID IBM to Issue Security Alerts REPORT SHOWS FILE SWAPPING HOLDING STEADY A study conducted by the University of California at Riverside and the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis indicates that P2P traffic is not on the decline, contradicting other reports that suggested a decrease in file sharing after the recording industry began filing lawsuits against users of P2P networks. Unlike earlier studies, which typically measured traffic on the major P2P services, the new study monitored data packets on major Internet service providers and measured the percentage of all traffic that was for P2P services. Researchers said that based on their analysis of Internet traffic between August 2002 and January 2004, file sharing is not decreasing and remains a significant portion of all Internet traffic. Michalis Faloutsos, one of the researchers involved in the study, said users involved in file trading are increasingly trying to mask their activities. He noted that those involved in the new study are working to expose those who would hide their file trading and to provide an accurate picture of the level of file trading. Jonathan Zittrain of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School complimented the new study but noted that the recording companies' tactic of flooding networks with bogus files tends to skew the data. Wired News, 25 October 2004 http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65427,00.html SPYWARE RAMPANT, USERS UNAWARE Results of a recent study highlight the lack of awareness among a wide majority of home computer users about malicious code and the tools they could use to protect their computers against it. The study was carried out by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), which is promoting October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Technicians from AOL and NCSA went to the homes of more than 300 computer users and inspected their systems. Among the study's more alarming findings were that 80 percent of home computers are currently infected with spyware and that 90 percent of users with infected machines were completely unaware of the infection. Authors of the report's findings also noted that close to 60 percent of home users do not know the difference between a firewall and antivirus software and that two-thirds of users do not have a firewall installed. Although 85 percent of users had antivirus software installed on their computers, only one-third had updated it within the previous week. Of the computers studied, 20 percent had active viruses. CNET, 25 October 2004 http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-5423306.html JUDGE ISSUES RESTRAINING ORDER ON SPYWARE A federal judge has issued a restraining order against notorious spammer Stanford Wallace, forcing him to disable spyware programs that secretly track users' actions and flood their computers with pop-up ads. Wallace, who in the 1990s headed one of the most prolific spamming companies, is the target of the first action taken by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against spyware purveyors. The FTC also alleges that Wallace sold consumers bogus tools that supposedly detect and remove spyware. Wallace's attorney said his client wants to use the Internet in "lawful and proper ways" and "looks forward to an opportunity to establish exactly what advertising practices are allowable." Laura Sullivan, attorney for the FTC, described the judge's order as "relief for consumers" while the case is being resolved. A hearing in the case has been scheduled for November 9. San Jose Mercury News, 25 October 2004 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/10010269.htm MICROSOFT REVIVES SENDER ID Microsoft has breathed new life into its Sender ID technology, which is designed to help Internet service providers (ISPs) filter junk e-mail, after criticism of the technology and rejection by a standards body left Sender ID foundering. Sender ID represented the merger of Microsoft's development efforts and a somewhat different antispam protocol called Sender Policy Framework, both of which endeavor to identify spam by exposing fraudulent return addresses in e-mail. The technology community was not receptive to Sender ID, however, because it was based on proprietary Microsoft technology. Furthermore, the standard was not accepted by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Microsoft has made changes to the technology and narrowed the scope of its patent application in an effort to persuade ISPs to use the protocol, and at least one, America Online, has decided to begin testing Sender ID after having dropped it last month. In addition, Microsoft will resubmit Sender ID to the IETF. Reuters, 25 October 2004 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=6601973 IBM TO ISSUE SECURITY ALERTS IBM will begin releasing monthly security reports called the Global Business Security Index to give corporate customers a snapshot of current threats to computer networks. The reports will be based on data collected from 2,700 IBM employees and about 500,000 sensors in 34 countries. The sensors are applications that monitor attacks and attempted attacks against networks. The new reports will be part of IBM's Security Threats and Attack Trends service, which is available for about $10,000 a month and resembles the DeepSight Threat Management System offered by Symantec. Analysts said such tools are valuable for network administrators to anticipate threats and minimize the damage they cause. Observers noted, however, that the computer security industry is locked in a cycle of announcing vulnerabilities and then working frantically to patch them before hackers exploit them. New York Times, 25 October 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/technology/25ibm.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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