Thursday, December 2, 2004

Surpriv: RFID Surveillance and Privacy: NSF-Funded RFID Research Vecna Technologies, Inc. in Maryland received an SBIR grant from the NSF to study, "Improving Infection Control Through RFID-Based Patient Tracking": 8:58:33 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Study: Linux "Most Breached" OS (TechWeb). TechWeb - A security firm endorses OS X and BSD as the world's most secure operating systems, and it names Linux as the most common target of successful online attacks. [Yahoo! News: Technology - Apple/Macintosh] 8:54:34 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Managers misuse tech to control workers, study says. Managers with outdated notions about controlling workers are misusing technology to monitor and micromanage employees, according to a new report. [InfoWorld: Top News] 8:51:10 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

EU moves closer to biometric passports. The European Union (E.U.) is on track to begin including biometric identifiers in the passports issued by its member nations. The biometric data is also expected to include, by 2008, fingerprints, though E.U. officials are debating whether the fingerprint data should be made obligatory. [InfoWorld: Top News] 8:49:20 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Former cybersecurity czar: Code-checking tools needed. Software vendors need automated tools that look for bugs in their code, but it may be a decade before many of those tools are mature and widely used, said the former director of cybersecurity for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). [InfoWorld: Top News] 8:48:05 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Antispam screensaver downs two sites in China. "Make love not spam" site has taken two sites offline, a Web traffic monitoring firm says. [CNET News.com] 8:46:28 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Microsoft files lawsuits against smut spammers. Microsoft said today it has filed seven lawsuits against defendants it accuses of sending hundreds of thousands of spam e-mails with sexually explicit content. [Computerworld News] 8:44:16 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Apple releases security update to Mac OS X. The stylish technology seller patches 17 flaws in various components of the Mac operating system. [CNET News.com] 8:42:56 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Automating Spam Reporting in Australia. ozmanjusri writes "The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) and a local ISV have teamed up to test an automated spam reporting system. An Australian software group has produced the SpamMatters plugin for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook express to allow single-click submission of spam to the ACA database. The database is able to process and analyse large amounts of spam and use the information to track down spammers." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online] 8:40:50 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

UK police fingerprint system collapses. Software glitch fingered [The Register] 8:39:00 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Corporate PCs 'riddled with spyware'. Now we're all 0wn3d [The Register] 8:34:33 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Lycos Anti-Spam Screensaver Brings Down Spam Sites. ChairmanMeow writes "According to BBC News, the screensaver released by Lycos Europe that targets spam websites has been a bit too successful at targeting spam sites, bringing down two sites, with a third responding intermittently, and raising concerns that the screensaver amounts to a DDoS attack against spam sites. Of course, spammers deserve to be punished, but will DDoS attacks against spam websites help to curb the problem of spam?" While the screensaver allegedly throttles back when a site slows, it would seem it's being a bit overzealous. [Slashdot] 7:48:38 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Gator's EULA Gone Bad Gator has recently taken steps to portray itself as a model citizen among what it calls "adware" companies. Gator proudly announced support for California's new anti-spyware law. (But see my criticism of the law as ineffective.) Earlier this year, Gator hired a former FTC staff attorney to serve as Gator's chief privacy officer, participated (PDF) in the FTC's spyware workshop, and even joined CDT's "consumer software working group" committee. (See recommendations document (PDF) signators list, final page.) Has Gator turned over a new leaf? For insight, I turned to Gator's license agreements, to see how Gator currently presents itself to ordinary users. It's not often that I sit down to read Gator's license agreements. At 5,936 words, the license stretches to 63 on-screen pages as presented by the current Kazaa installer (bundling Gator). (See screen-shots of the Gator license as presented in June 2004, then requiring 56 on-screen pages.) Here are some notable sections of the license: 3:54:27 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Gator's EULA Dissected. theVP writes "Ben Edelman has recently written up his disassembly of the Gator EULA. He has come across some interesting finds, including the fact that their EULA states that you can't remove their software via 3rd-party means, as well as prohibiting the use of packet sniffers or intercepting the data coming from their software." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online] 3:52:06 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Doctor's office installing WiFi hotspot in waiting room - possible security risk? The Star-Telegram in Texas reports on a doctorâo[dot accent]019s office where theyâo[dot accent]019re installing a wireless hotspot in the waiting room. While we agree that this is probably a great thing for patients (we love our hotspots, we do), it might not be such a hot idea to be making IT infrastructure available to the public (even if you really try to secure it and keep it separate from your backend operations). Securing closed systems without wireless is tricky enough. Throw wireless in, and you may be opening the door to HIPAA problems. 3:49:41 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Tech Firm To Acquire Intelligence Contractor. SI International Inc. announced plans Wednesday to purchase for $30 million in cash a Columbia company that specializes in technology work for defense intelligence agencies.-The Washington Post By Dina ElBoghdady. [washingtonpost.com - Technology] 1:50:50 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

IDC - Press Release / SpyWare: Combating the New Menace Leads to Explosive New Market Opportunities, According to IDC SpyWare: Combating the New Menace Leads to Explosive New Market Opportunities, According to IDC 01 Dec 2004 FRAMINGHAM, Mass., December 1, 2004 âo[dot accent]013 From a minor annoyance for home-PC users to a major plight on enterprise environments around the world, SpyWare (also known as AdWare, MalWare, ScumWare, and a host of other sordid names) is infecting millions of computers with multiple purposes: stealing personal information, enabling identity theft, tracking users' online activity, and selling the information back to anyone willing to pay. According to new research from IDC, the need to identify and eradicate these parasitic programs will drive AntiSpyWare software revenues from $12 million in 2003 to $305 million in 2008. Although not always malicious in nature, SpyWare still causes significant damage to legitimate software, network performance, and employee productivity. Moreover, it crosses the boundary between security and system management by deluging Help Desks with a siege of employee complaints about pop-up advertisements, applications failures, and poor PC performance. At worst, SpyWare's ability to track keystrokes, scan hard drives, and change system and registry settings is a tremendous personal and enterprise security threat. These activities can lead to identity theft, data corruption, and even theft of company trade secrets. "Today, more malicious SpyWare can easily infiltrate corporate firewalls," said Brian Burke, research manager, Security Products at IDC. "These programs make their way into the corporate Intranet under the guise of less-threatening network traffic and, once in, they can wreak havoc." 1:48:19 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

NEWS.com.au | No to filtering: Coonan (December 1, 2004) THE Federal Government had rejected mandatory filtering of the internet to stop child pornography, Parliament was told today. Communications Minister Helen Coonan said the government had recently reviewed ways of preventing child pornography, including a British-style national internet filtering system but rejected it. Senator Coonan said the study had found such a filter would cost around $45 million a year initially and $33 million a year in later years. She said it also had the potential to choke the internet and drive up costs for consumers and small business. "The biggest issue is not so much the money but such an expensive scheme would not necessarily solve the problem and small to medium ISPs (internet service providers) would be driven out of business for little or no benefit," Senator Coonan said. "What does work is greater information and parental supervision and that is the kind of program that the government is promoting." 1:45:17 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Australia Chooses Education Over Filtering. riprjak writes "The Australian federal government has rejected a call for Internet filtering to 'protect' Australians from child pornography and has opted instead to undertake an education and information campaign to teach parents about the perils of the Internet." [Slashdot] 1:42:55 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

U.S. Govt. Stipulates Free Annual Credit Reports. alue writes "Under the terms of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act, passed last year, and amid growing concerns over privacy and disclosure of sensitive financial data, the three leading credit reporting agencies must provide consumers with a free summary once a year of all credit information on file for that person. Consumers in 13 Western states will be able to grab free online copies of their credit reports starting Wednesday." [Slashdot] 1:40:37 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Spyware Removal is Big Business. prostoalex writes "Just when you thought all the software niches were taken, IDC comes out with the report saying $12 million was spent on spyware removal tools in 2003, and $305 million will be spent in 2008. IDC also estimates two-thirds of PC users out there are infected. Large PC vendors are waking up to the spyware threat, having their call centers overwhelmed with spyware-related calls." [Slashdot] 1:39:00 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

They've Got Your Number. Coming soon to a phone near you: spam, scams and viruses galore. Your text messages, address book and calls could be up for grabs. By Annalee Newitz from Wired magazine. [Wired News] 1:35:07 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

P&G privacy plan tackles data laws - Computing(UK) Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) plans to introduce privacy monitoring software worldwide to deal with varying information laws. The manufacturer of products such as Pampers, Olay and Sunny D, has installed the online monitoring tools in the US, and plans to introduce similar software in the UK, Europe and rest of the world shortly. Automated data privacy auditing software will check P&G's consumer web sites, ensuring they meet data privacy laws relating to cookie regulation, opt-in marketing and advertising to children. Using the WebCentral product from supplier Coast, P&G's data privacy team can monitor its hundreds of web sites, ensure they meet with local legal requirements, and send marketing managers and web design agencies reports on how their site is performing, Susan Welch, P&G's global privacy manager told Computing. 1:32:44 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

KRT Wire | 12/02/2004 | `Black boxes' quietly record accident data, cause privacy concerns To some motorists, though, these black boxes are technological tattletales and sneaky ones at that. Some drivers' rights and civil liberty groups say the black boxes infringe on a car owner's privacy. "There are good uses for this technology, and we need to get the privacy rules of the road ironed out so we can reap the benefit of it without worrying about the dark side," said Jay Stanley, communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union's technology and liberty project in Washington. "Today they're saying these data recorders are recording just a few seconds before the crash. But what's to stop them from extending that? Right now, there's nothing." Although no one knows exactly how many vehicles are equipped with black boxes - which are more formally called event data recorders - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates they are in about 30 million of the 200 million cars and trucks on the road. They are similar to black boxes used in airplanes, which often help investigators determine causes of airline crashes. 1:30:26 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Government Computer News (GCN) daily news - Secure Flight program faces a slow takeoff Despite ambitious plans to begin rolling out the Secure Flight passenger-screening program early next year, the Transportation Security Administration has not yet finalized how the system will work or what information it will use. TSA has ordered airlines to turn over passenger records for tests, which Justin Oberman, chief of TSAâo[dot accent]019s National Risk Assessment Office, said are scheduled to begin âo[dot accent]01Cmomentarily.âo[dot accent]01D The agency plans to bring the system online for the first airlines in early 2005. âo[dot accent]01CWeâo[dot accent]019re fairly confidentâo[dot accent]01D of that schedule, Oberman said yesterday at the e-Gov Instituteâo[dot accent]019s Homeland Security conference in Washington. But Oberman said his office has not yet decided what personal information will be required to match passengers against government watch lists, or whether TSA will be able to run matches against commercial databases to verify identities. He said Secure Flight testing will include use of commercial data. âo[dot accent]01CI think the use of commercial data will be illuminating, whichever way the policy decision goes,âo[dot accent]01D he said. 1:26:49 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Microsoft Issues Special Patch for IE Hole. Users should install the critical fix as soon as possible, software giant says. [PCWorld.com - Latest News Stories] 1:23:59 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Safer Web browsing. Many companies don't properly secure access to public Web sites, placing their networks at risk. Daniel J. Frasnelli, manager of Network Security Technology's Technical Assistance Center, provides tips on improving security awareness. [Computerworld Security News] 1:20:38 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Universities struggling with spyware. Plus: Are you having an identity crisis? [News.com Extra] [CNET News.com] 1:14:09 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Lycos antispam screensaver draws fire. Lycos Europe launched the "Make Love, Not Spam" screensaver, which repeatedly requests information from Web sites advertised in spam, reducing the performance of those sites. [Computerworld News] 1:10:52 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Microsoft releases patch to plug IE vulnerability. Microsoft today released an out-of-cycle security bulletin and patch for a critical hole in Internet Explorer that is already being widely exploited by attackers. [Computerworld News] 1:08:48 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Former Bush campaign official indicted in phone-jamming President Bush's former New England campaign chairman was indicted Wednesday on charges he took part in the jamming of the Democrats' get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002. James Tobin, 44, stepped down Oct. 15 -- two weeks before Election Day -- after the Democrats accused him of involvement. "I am saddened to learn that this action has been taken against me," he said in a statement. "I have great respect for the justice system and plan to fight back to clear my name." In 2002, six phone lines run by the Democrats and the Manchester firefighters union were tied up for 11/2 hours by 800 computer-generated hang-up calls. Federal prosecutors said Tobin and other Republicans had hired a company to make the calls to disrupt the organizations' get-out-the-vote efforts. Tobin was charged with conspiracy to commit telephone harassment and aiding and abetting. He could get up to five years in prison. 12:58:49 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Ohio Law Could Send Spammers To Jail. ej0c writes "We in Ohio are set to save you from Spam. The legislature, with AOL's help, passed a tough anti-spam bill (Reuters). Spam in Ohio, and you'll be in the can for 6 months, with fines of $25,000 per violation, or $2 to $8 per e-mail. Text of the Act." [Slashdot] 12:38:37 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

USC News - Waiting for the Gun A USC biomedical engineer's pioneering brain cell research has led directly to a patented system that is now being rolled out to stem gun violence on the streets of Chicago and Los Angeles. The engineer is Theodore Berger, director of the USC Center for Neural Engineering, whose life's work has deciphered the way in which nerve cells code messages to each other. Berger is also a key researcher in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Biomimetic MicroElectronic Systems Engineering Research Center. A microphone surveillance system now is using his insights to recognize - instantly, and with high accuracy - the sound of a gunshot within a two-block radius. The system can then locate, precisely, where the shot was fired, turn a camera to center the shooter in the camera viewfinder and make a 911 call to a central police station. The police can then take control of the camera to track the shooter and dispatch officers to the scene. The city of Chicago is installing the first five of a planned 80 devices in high-crime neighborhoods, supplementing existing cameras. In Los Angeles County, Sheriff Lee Baca is now soliciting community involvement and participation to deploy 10 of the units in a pilot test, to be followed by more if the results are successful. 12:36:27 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Gunshot Tracking Cameras to be Deployed in LA. apok04 writes "Get out your tinfoil hats (and ski masks). A USC engineer uses his expertise with nerve cells to create a surveillance system that can recognize the sound of a nearby gunshot - and identify the shooter. In a unique pilot program, L.A. and Chicago will deploy test units in high-crime areas. The creator emphasizes that the system cannot recognize voices or words, but his previous research into speech recognition systems suggests otherwise." [Slashdot] 12:33:27 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []