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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 06, 2006 Spam on the Rise (Again) Washington State Sees First Spyware Settlement MySpace to Screen for Sex Offenders Microsoft Set to Release Test Version of Book Search Hackers Take Down Naval War College Site SPAM ON THE RISE (AGAIN) According to spam-filtering company IronPort Systems, spam doubled from last year to this year, now representing more than 90 percent of all e-mail traffic. Much of the increase is attributable to image spam, which quadrupled over the same period of time and now accounts for between 25 and 45 percent of all spam. With image spam, text is converted to graphics, which can be read by individuals who receive them but not by spam filters on the lookout for words and phrases that can identify a message as spam. The recent rise in spam comes after the passage in 2003 of federal legislation intended to limit junk e-mail and a prediction by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates that same year that the problem of spam "will be solved by 2006." CNET, 6 December 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-7355_3-6141262.html WASHINGTON STATE SEES FIRST SPYWARE SETTLEMENT The state of Washington has reached its first settlement under a new law designed to root out spyware schemes. The attorney general's office had accused Secure Computer LLC of defrauding consumers by telling them their computers were infected with spyware and then selling them a tool to remove it. According to authorities who conducted an investigation into Secure Computer's actions, computers said to be infected were not, and the tool for which consumers paid $49.95 did not remove spyware from computers that were genuinely infected. Under the terms of the settlement, Secure Computer agreed to pay $725,000 in legal costs for the state, $200,000 in civil penalties, and $75,000 in restitution to an estimated 1,145 consumers who bought the company's products. Although Secure Computer appears to have gone out of business, Paula Selis of the Washington Attorney General's office said that Paul Burke, president of Secure Computing, pledged to honor the payments outlined in the settlement. Internet News, 5 December 2006 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3647261 MYSPACE TO SCREEN FOR SEX OFFENDERS Social networking site MySpace said it is developing tools that will compare data for its 135 million members to published lists of sex offenders. A total of 46 states publish such lists, which include 550,000 registered sex offenders. MySpace's new tool will cross-reference names of users registered to use its site with names on those lists. The tool will also seek to identify matches using date of birth, height, weight, and ZIP code. MySpace staff will review matches to try to determine whether they are accurate; if so, those users will not be permitted to use the site and may be referred to law enforcement officials. Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, welcomed the announcement, saying, "ItÂ’s not a panacea, but it makes a whole lot of sense." New York Times, 6 December 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/technology/06myspace.html MICROSOFT SET TO RELEASE TEST VERSION OF BOOK SEARCH Microsoft is set to release a test version of its competitor to Google's controversial book-scanning project. Unlike Google's program, Microsoft's Live Search Books, which goes online December 7, is only scanning out-of-copyright books or those whose copyright owners have given explicit permission. By contrast, Google is scanning in-copyright books, though only books out of copyright will be available on its site. One of the features of the Live Search Books took will allow users to access and search the full texts of books included in the program. When Microsoft's site goes live, it will include texts from the British Library, the University of California, and the University of Toronto. Books from three other institutions will go online in early 2007. BBC, 6 December 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6213260.stm HACKERS TAKE DOWN NAVAL WAR COLLEGE SITE A hacking attack on the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, has disabled the institution's site for more than two weeks. On November 16, officials at the college discovered the intrusion and took the network offline. Since then, staff have been investigating the incident, evaluating damage, and implementing stronger security measures. Doug Gabos, spokesperson for the college, said that when that work is finished, the network and the institution's Web site will be restored, though he did not offer an estimate about how long that would take. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 5 December 2006 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Hackers_War_College.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, 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] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. 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