[INFOCON] - News 09/19/02
as Members of the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee President George W. Bush today announced his appointment of the 24 individuals to serve as Members of the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee (NIAC). Established by Executive Order 13231, NIAC will make recommendations regarding the security of the cyber and information systems of the United States' national security and economic critical infrastructures. The Committee will also examine ways that partnerships between the public and private sectors can be enhanced to improve cyber security. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020918-12.html [4] A Short History of Computer Viruses and Attacks Compiled by Brian Krebs washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Wednesday, September 18, 2002; 12:00 AM 1945: A moth is found trapped between relays in a computer operated by the U.S. Navy. From then on, problems with computers are referred to as bugs, and the process of removing them is called debugging. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50636-2002Jun26.html [5] White House balks at Senate confirmation for e-gov chief By Jason Peckenpaugh The White House generally supports legislation that would create an e-government chief's position at the Office of Management and Budget, but Bush officials are balking at a provision that requires the official to be confirmed by the Senate. The legislation, known as the E-Government Act (H.R. 2458), passed the Senate in June and is awaiting action in the House. Besides creating the e-government position-which mirrors the current role of Mark Forman, assistant director for information technology and e-government at OMB-the measure also requires agencies to protect the privacy of citizens using federal Web sites and reauthorizes the 2000 Government Information Security Reform Act, which is set to expire Nov. 29. OMB supports these measures, but opposes Senate confirmation for the e-government chief, in part because of the lengthy confirmation process for presidential appointees, said Mark Everson, deputy director for management at OMB. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0902/091802p1.htm [6] Pentagon's anti-terrorism battle takes a covert turn Susan Schmidt and Thomas E. Ricks The Washington Post Thursday, September 19, 2002 WASHINGTON The Pentagon is preparing to consolidate control of most of the global war on terrorism under the U.S. Special Operations Command, according to government sources, signaling an intensified but more covert approach to the next phase in the battle against Al Qaeda and other international terrorist groups. The unprecedented move, discussed by senior Pentagon officials for months, comes in response to prodding by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for the military to take more aggressive steps to capture or kill members of Al Qaeda, many of whom have fled since the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan began last year, the sources said. The Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, which like the U.S. Central Command has headquarters in Tampa, Florida, has been ordered to come up with detailed plans in the next weeks for how it will manage its expanded responsibilities, sources said. http://www.iht.com/articles/71143.html '... Hill also said that between May and July 2001, the National Security Agency reported at least 33 communications indicating a possible, imminent terrorist attack. Asked why intelligence agencies didn't do more about the terrorist threats, Hill said they have complained about a lack of resources and the massive amount of intelligence they were receiving. They were overwhelmed by almost a flood of information, she said. ...' [7] Probe: U.S. Knew of Jet Terror Plots Wed Sep 18,10:20 PM ET By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Intelligence agencies failed to anticipate terrorists flying planes into buildings despite a dozen clues in the years before the Sept. 11 attacks that Osama bin Laden ( news - web sites) or others might use aircraft as bombs, a congressional investigator told lawmakers Wednesday as they began public hearings into the attacks. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storyu=/ap/20020919/ap_on_go_co/attacks_i ntelligence_22 [8] Group says Microsoft isn't living up to antitrust settlement Thursday 19 September 2002 An industry group backed by some of Microsoft's top competitors has sent a letter to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) claiming that the software maker is not living up to the terms of a proposed antitrust settlement deal that it reached with the federal government. http://www.cw360.com/bin/bladerunner?REQSESS=irD17TS2149REQEVENT=CARTI=115902; CARTT=14CCAT=2CCHAN=28CFLAV=1
[INFOCON] - OCIPEP DAILY BRIEF Number: DOB02-148 Date: 19September 2002
OCIPEP DAILY BRIEF Number: DOB02-148 Date: 19 September 2002 http://www.ocipep.gc.ca/DOB/DOB02-148_e.html NEWS U.S. National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace - Links Update Details of the draft strategy were first reported yesterday in DOB02-146. The OCIPEP Information Note regarding the draft strategy can be viewed at: http://www.ocipep.gc.ca/emergencies/info_notes/IN02_006_e.html The draft National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace can be viewed at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/cyberstrategy-draft.pdf IN BRIEF Prime Minister assures that Kyoto will not be lethal for economy While speaking at a Liberal fundraiser in Calgary, the Prime Minister came to the defence of the Kyoto protocol yesterday evening, making assurances that it would not cause any catastrophes in the job market and investment sectors as voiced by several provincial government leaders, particularly Alberta. With the support of Canadian business leaders and oil companies, the Alberta government began a $1.5-million anti-Kyoto public relations campaign yesterday. (Source: thestar.com, 19 September 2002) Click here for the source article Halifax plans to clean up harbour Halifax Regional Council will raise $210 million of the $315 million required to fund the Halifax Harbour Solutions Project. This project aims to construct three sewage treatment plants to process raw sewage before it is dumped in the harbour. The Nova Scotia government has pledged to contribute $30 million to the project and it is hoped that the remainder of the funds will be provided by the federal government. (Source: THE GLOBE AND MAIL, 18 September 2002) Click here for the source article Comment: The clean-up of the heavily polluted Halifax Harbour has been a difficult issue for the Nova Scotia provincial government for the past 20 years. The dumping of untreated sanitary and storm wastewater into the harbour has caused numerous problems, including widespread bacterial contamination and the prohibition of shellfish harvesting in the harbour. The web page for the Halifax Harbour Solutions Project can be viewed at: http://www.region.halifax.ns.ca/harboursol/project_summary.html Winnipeg sewage dumping to be investigated This week's accidental dumping of raw sewage in Manitoba's Red River will be investigated by federal fisheries officials to determine if charges will be laid under the federal Fisheries Act. The act prohibits the dumping of harmful material into a body of water which contains fish. The investigation will focus on whether negligence was a factor in this incident. (Source: CBC Manitoba, 18 September 2002) Click here for the source article Comment: Details of this incident were first reported yesterday in DOB02-147 . Winnipeg residents have been advised to continue using their water and sewer services as usual. Internet cable: Growing popularity in the U.S. According to an U.S. research company, cable modems remain the primary means used by North Americans for connecting to the Internet. The study revealed that 58 percent of high-speed Internet users in the U.S. were accessing the web via cable compared to one third of consumers using digital subscriber lines (DSL) . The research company noted that in Canada, there are more DSL users in central and eastern Canada compared to more cable users in western Canada. (Source: THE GLOBE AND MAIL, 18 September, 2002) Click here for the source article CYBER UPDATES See: What's New for the latest Alerts, Advisories and Information Products Threats McAfee Security reports on BackDoor-AKR, which is a Trojan horse that copies itself to Windows system directory as internat.dic and Windows directory as notepad.jmp. It opens TCP port 3721 to allow a remote attacker to connect to the infected system and perform various tasks. http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_99695.htm McAfee Security reports on Jekord, which is a Trojan horse written in Borland Delphi that reads through the victim's browser history files and cookie data. It may attempt to mail information to its creator. http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_99701.htm Trend Micro reports on VBS_INA.A, which is a VBScript malware that uses Outlook e-mail to propagate copies of the batch file malware, BAT_INA.A. It arrives with the subject line hehe, isn't that fascinating... and the attachment BAT.INA.BAT. http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=VBS_INA.A Vulnerabilities SecurityFocus reports on a remotely exploitable denial-of-service vulnerability in MS Windows XP Professional and .NET Standard Server Beta 3. View the Solution tab for workaround information. http://online.securityfocus.com/bid/5713/discussion/ SecurityFocus reports on a remotely exploitable keystroke injection vulnerability in MS Windows RDP that could allow an attacker to inject maliciously crafted packets into a session. View the Solution tab for workaround information. http://online.securityfocus.com/bid/5712/discussion/ SecurityFocus reports on a locally
