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London, Thursday, July 25, 2002
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INFOCON News
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[News Index]
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[1] Al Qaeda cyber alarm sounded
[2] Homeland bill ignites race among national labs
[3] Official: Security won't hurt privacy
[4] Coming Soon: Attack Of The Super Worms
[5] Keeping your cyber self safe and sound
[6] Cyber Service attracting students
[7] WebTV 911 exploit causes confusion
[8] MS goes security patch crazy
[9] Hollywood hacking bill hits House
[10] ICANN moves against VeriSign retired domain land grab
[11] Sir Dystic steps up, clears air
[12] Man indicted in alleged hacking of county's system
[13] War games prepare U.S. for future battle
[14] UK ISP loses key email wiretap case on appeal
[15] A New Spin on the Wireless Web
[16] Congress to turn hacks into hackers
[17] Bush lobbies for flexibility in managing homeland employees
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News
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[Hmmm. FUD FUD. From the article 'Al Qaeda members seem especially interested in
how they might disable the systems that provide electricity to California, Smith
said. If it were to succeed, hospitals could be left powerless, causing patients
to die, and commerce and much other activity would come to a halt, causing
billions of dollars of economic damage.' Stupid example, the last electricity
problems in California were not caused by Al Qaeda & its is unlikely that they
will cause them in future. But most important California managed to survive
without having thousands of people die (I am just curious how the journalist
thinks Al Q is going to do that as most safety critical systems are usually well
protected and off-line). Also the journalist never mentions Scada systems, so he
seems to have no clue what he is writing about. It looks like the people from
Congress have been fed with the latest FUD products of a certain government
agency & the 'neutral' BSA report. To be honest if I were to read them and I had
no clue about IT, then I would be scared too. WEN]
[1] Al Qaeda cyber alarm sounded
BY William Matthews
July 25, 2002
There is a 50 percent chance that the next time al Qaeda terrorists strike the
United States, their attack will include a cyberattack, Rep. Lamar Smith
(R-Texas) warned.
In closed-door briefings for members of Congress, Smith said officials from
federal law enforcement and intelligence-gathering agencies disclosed that al
Qaeda operatives have been exploring U.S. Web sites and probing the electronic
infrastructure of American companies in search of ways to disable power and
water supplies, disrupt phone service and damage other parts of the critical
infrastructure.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0722/web-attack-07-25-02.asp
----------------------------------------------------
[2] Homeland bill ignites race among national labs
By Deborah Shapley, CongressDaily
Any of dozens of government-owned national laboratories could compete to become
the prestigious headquarters lab for the new Homeland Security Department under
compromise language in the homeland security bill to be debated on the House
floor beginning Thursday. But Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, which the Bush
administration first wanted as the lead lab, still could have the inside track
for the role.
The compromise, which emerged from House Speaker Dick Armey's House Homeland
Security Committee markup last week, may hold in the floor debate. And it would
settle a backstage battle that pitted advocates for the Livermore lab-such as
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., who represents a district that contains Lawrence
Livermore-against legislators who want other laboratories to have a chance to
compete for the role.
When the president announced plans for the new department June 6, the entire
$1.2 billion Lawrence Livermore facility was listed as part of the new
department. The administration draft bill submitted later backed off the
transfer, but signaled Livermore as likely to play a leading role.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0702/072402cdam1.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[3] Official: Security won't hurt privacy
BY William Matthews
July 24, 2002
Devising better ways to accurately identify individuals is a key part of the
Bush administration's homeland security strategy, but a senior Bush aide
promised July 23 that high-tech identification systems won't be allowed to
undercut civil liberties.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0722/web-info-07-24-02.asp
----------------------------------------------------
[Quite old news. I remember a talk at HAL2001 which stressed this nearly a year
ago.
Worms do have an attack potential, but so far their programming was rather
'lame',
i.e. we have been lucky so far. I got the slides of the presentation on my HD
and
if I manage to find it I will post it to the list, once I got the permission of
the
author to do so. WEN]
[4] Coming Soon: Attack Of The Super Worms
By Sharon Gaudin
The threat to computer networks from worms is multiplying in both sophistication
and potential for damage, according to security experts.
The industry is on the cusp of an evolution in computer worms -- those malicious
programs that replicate themselves and can spread automatically over the network
from one machine to another, wreaking havoc as they go. And that evolution is
bringing a new breed of problems for network and security administrators.
http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/1432251
----------------------------------------------------
[5] Keeping your cyber self safe and sound
Be careful what you do with that keyboard online
You would not walk around town carrying a placard announcing your name, address,
phone number, yet many people inadvertently share similar information when they
go online.
Unless you take precautions you could find your computer is infected by viruses,
have your personal details shared with all and sundry and find your e-mail inbox
clogged with adverts you never asked for.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2143630.stm
----------------------------------------------------
[Someone at a conference a while ago was critical of the program saying that
everyone would run to the private
industry once they finished their two years, so the program would be rather
limited, but a US government
official made a good point in support of the program (apart from the obvious
ones). He said that this is
likely, but it is not such a bad thing as new well trained InfoSec professionals
will join the private industry
who know how cooperate with the government and hence it will help to improve
imformation sharing, ...
An interesting view point. WEN]
[6] Cyber Service attracting students
BY Colleen O'Hara
July 24, 2002
"Cybercorps to extend to states" [FCW.com, July 23, 2002]
The Federal Cyber Service program, which offers scholarships to undergraduate
and graduate students to study information assurance in exchange for two years
of federal service, could have as many as 200 to 300 students by the end of the
year, said Sujeet Shenoi, professor of computer science at the University of
Tulsa.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0722/web-corps-07-24-02.asp
----------------------------------------------------
[7] WebTV 911 exploit causes confusion
By John Leyden
Posted: 24/07/2002 at 15:44 GMT
A flaw in Microsoft's WebTV units might allow malicious hackers to force the
unit's modem into dialling the emergency services, at least according to US
reports.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/26355.html
----------------------------------------------------
[8] MS goes security patch crazy
By John Leyden
Posted: 25/07/2002 at 11:24 GMT
A plethora of patches from Microsoft wings its way into our in-box this morning.
There are bug fixes for Microsoft Metadirectory Services, SQL Server, Exchange
5.5 and a reissued patch for Media Player. To round things up there's also a
Cumulative Patch for SQL Server 2000.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/26368.html
----------------------------------------------------
[This bill sounds like legal minefield. WEN]
[9] Hollywood hacking bill hits House
By: Declan McCullagh
7/25/02 10:25 AM
Source: News.com
WASHINGTON--Copyright owners would be able to legally hack into peer-to-peer
networks, according to a bill introduced in the House of Representatives on
Thursday.
As previously reported by CNET News.com, the measure would dramatically rewrite
federal law to permit nearly unchecked electronic disruptions if a copyright
holder has a "reasonable basis" to believe that piracy is occurring.
The bill, sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C.,
would immunize groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America and the
Recording Industry Association of America from all state and federal laws if
they disable, block or otherwise impair a "publicly accessible peer-to-peer
file-trading network."
http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/0-9900-1028-20190266-0.html?tag=ats
----------------------------------------------------
[10] ICANN moves against VeriSign retired domain land grab
By ComputerWire
Posted: 25/07/2002 at 08:06 GMT
The Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers may block a controversial
proposed service from VeriSign Inc that would allow the company and its partners
to offer customers chances to register expiring domain names, Kevin Murphy
writes But VeriSign and its allies say that ICANN would be overextending its
mandate if it does try to block the service.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/26363.html
----------------------------------------------------
[11] Sir Dystic steps up, clears air
By Thomas C Greene in Washington
Posted: 24/07/2002 at 01:34 GMT
I've been hanging on to several excellent flames relating to an article called
Security industry's hacker-pimping slammed and another called 'Hacker' security
biz built on FBI snitches, in hopes that Sir Dystic, slammed in a speech at H2K2
by Gweeds (and covered in both), would contact me. He's done so and he denies
flatly any suggestion that he's ever worked for Microsoft, as Gweeds claimed.
His is the first letter posted below.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/26341.html
----------------------------------------------------
[12] Man indicted in alleged hacking of county's system
By ROSANNA RUIZ
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
A Houston man who once showed a Harris County official how easy it was for an
outsider to access a county computer system was accused by a federal grand jury
Wednesday of doing just that.
Stefan Puffer, 33, was indicted on two counts of fraud for allegedly hacking
into the county district clerk's wireless computer system that has been taken
out of operation because of its vulnerability.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/headline/tech/1507766
----------------------------------------------------
[13] War games prepare U.S. for future battle
13,500 troops are training for anything, including a conflict with Iraq: Largest
ever staged
Peter Goodspeed
National Post
Thursday, July 25, 2002
In the largest, most complex military experiment ever conducted, the U.S.
military launched a massive series of war games yesterday, designed to simulate
a worldwide crisis five years from now.
Staged with 13,500 troops from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines in 26
locations in the United States, the three-week-long military experiment, which
will cost about US$250-million, is designed to give U.S. commanders a glimpse of
how they will conduct wars in the future.
Dubbed Millennium Challenge 2002, the joint war-fighting experiment combines
field forces in live ammunition exercises and computer simulations in a variety
of conflict scenarios, ranging from terrorist attacks to full-scale war.
http://www.nationalpost.com/world/story.html?id={80DE25B9-AE1B-44DF-8FC8-E50C004
FA9BD}
----------------------------------------------------
[14] UK ISP loses key email wiretap case on appeal
By John Leyden
Posted: 07/23/2002 at 12:09 EST
A Law Lord yesterday brushed aside concerns from NTL that it might breach the
law in complying with an email wiretap request from the police.
Police have welcomed the ruling as a step in ensuring they get access to
information they need during the course of an investigation, while critics have
warned of a lack of adequate checks and balances guarding against abuse.
http://www.theregus.com/content/6/25712.html
----------------------------------------------------
[15] A New Spin on the Wireless Web
>From the beginning, the Internet had the whole free-form networking thing down.
A packet of data could hop from one node to another all the way to its
destination. Now a band of scrappy startups has figured out a way to mimic this
model - with mesh networks. The technology has the potential to bypass the
telcos and saturate the nation in cheap wireless signals.
It's about time. If the concept takes off, it would be a real alternative to the
chimera that is 3G technology, getting similar performance - always-on,
high-bandwidth communication - using hardware and software that's here now.
Corporate complexes and university campuses are already experimenting with mesh
networks.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.08/start.html?pg=8
----------------------------------------------------
[16] Congress to turn hacks into hackers
By Thomas C Greene in Washington
Posted: 24/07/2002 at 18:17 GMT
If House Hollywood sock puppet Howard Berman (Democrat, California) gets his
way, it will become legal to hack a network in efforts to impede the on-line
illicit trade in copyrighted works.
He's preparing legislation, apparently forced on him by the Hollywood fat cats
he represents and who have lavishly bribed him into docile, purring submission.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/26357.html
----------------------------------------------------
[17] Bush lobbies for flexibility in managing homeland employees
By Keith Koffler, CongressDaily
Signaling the importance he attaches to the issue-and possibly the fear that his
view might not prevail in the House-President Bush summoned lawmakers to the
White House Tuesday, seeking strong "flexibility" for the future secretary of
the proposed Homeland Security Department with regard to agency employees.
Bush met with separate groups of 15 mostly moderate Republican and Democratic
House members.
According to participants, Bush said the new secretary should be allowed to
"transfer" employees from their positions. And he pressed for the right to waive
collective bargaining rules for national security purposes, saying such rules
already apply to existing agencies.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0702/072402cdam2.htm
----------------------------------------------------
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IWS - The Information Warfare Site
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