Security
Port
A Security Port Blog
Parents Critical to Security |
03/29/2007 | |
Parents who would never leave their
kids unattended in New York City don't think twice about
giving their children computers with high-speed Internet
connections and Web cams, said Flint Waters, Wyoming's
leading investigator of online child exploitation
crimes.
Those who investigate and
prosecute such crimes say no matter how effective law
enforcement is, parents need to educate their kids about
Internet safety.
complete article
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Children Cannot Be Protected from
Porn |
03/28/2007 | |
The American Civil Liberties Union and
Focus on the Family agree on little. But both say it
will be difficult for U.S. lawmakers to craft new
legislation to keep children away from online porn after
a judge last week ruled a 1998 act unconstitutional.
|
Prepare for Emergency |
03/27/2007 | |
A new website Prepare for Emergency has launched.
The site is designed to help people dealing with
emergencies.
Preparation for any emergency is
half the battle. This site will help guide visitors
through dealing with emergencies. Whether you are facing
an impending hurricane, just encountered a tornado or
medical emergency this site will provide you some
assistance. |
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An ICANN Task Force has recommended
some changes to the domain registration process that
would allow registrants to more easily shield their
identities. A report released by the Task Force on Whois
Services suggests that registrars make it easier for
domain name owners to shield their identities.
The Task Force is recommending
that domain name owners be permitted to list third-party
contact information instead of their own. Administrative
and technical contacts would be no longer displayed
within the whois system, with their information being
supplanted by an "operational point of contact."
|
Dating Bill for Background
Checks |
03/27/2007 | |
"Don't you have an expectation when you
pay $30 to find true love that it won't turn out to be a
sex offender?" asked Democratic Rep. John Bradley,
according to STLToday, during a hearing in Illinois for
the Internet Disclosure and Safety Awareness Act. The
Illinois House Judiciary Committee shot down the bill
(HB 563) this week which was introduced in February by
Bradley. It would have required online dating sites
offering services to citizens of the state to disclose
whether or not they perform background checks on their
members, and aimed to provide a feeling of safety among
those users, armed with the knowledge that the other
members were not criminals or sex offenders.
Dating Background Check
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New
Picture of Identity Theft |
03/26/2007 | |
When a criminal can pick up a fake
identity, complete with credit card information, for
under twenty bucks, it's clear that the identity theft
market has become an efficient place to do business. A
recent survey claimed that nearly 9 million adults in
the US were victims of identity theft in 2006, and the
problem caused losses of $50 billion. In testimony to
Congress this week, Associate Deputy Attorney General
Ronald Tenpas painted a grim picture of the organized
criminal networks behind the scams.
Identity Theft
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Security Survival |
03/26/2007 | |
There’s no surefire way to completely
eliminate the risk of information leakage in a blogging
environment. Due diligence requires an approach that
involves defense, detection and deterrence:
Security Survival
|
A
Lesson in Security |
03/25/2007 | |
InformIT covered the Mid-Atlantic
Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition where
college students are handed insecure networks that they
have to lockdown and keep running, all while a team of
hackers attempt to gain access any way they can. As can
be expected, the hackers provided several amusing
moments - and all in the name of
education!
complete article
|
Blogger Hacked |
03/24/2007 | |
Google's blogger.com is being hijacked to
spread malware through fake blogs, a security vendor
warns. |
Washington Times Reports Terrorists
Driving Busses |
03/23/2007 | |
Members of suspected extremist groups have
signed up to drive school buses nationwide, federal
authorities said yesterday in a law-enforcement
bulletin, but the FBI said there was no reason for
parents or children to be concerned.
"There is
no threat, there is no plot," FBI spokesman Richard
Kolko told The Washington Times. "Parents and children
should feel safe in riding the nation's school buses.
They have nothing to fear." He said the FBI had no
information leading it to conclude "there is any reason
for concern."
Terrorists and Busses
|
Michigan is Offering Biometric
Security Degree |
03/22/2007 | |
Biometric security, which identifies
people based on unique personal characteristics -- has
become more common since the terror attacks of Sept. 11,
2001. Government agencies and private businesses are
investing in biometric devices that grant or block
access after scanning fingerprints, eyes, facial
features or vocal patterns. |
The
FBI Internet Complaint Center |
03/21/2007 | |
The FBI Internet Complaint Center released
statistics from January 1 to December 31, 2006. They
received 207,492 complaint submissions. These filings
were composed of fraudulent and non-fraudulent
complaints primarily related to the Internet and
included many different fraud types to include auction
fraud, non-delivery, and credit/debit card fraud, as
well as non-fraudulent complaints, such as computer
intrusions, spam/unsolicited email, and child
pornography.
|
|
Alarm solutions directory including
security alarms, burglar alarms, companies, emergency
response solutions and fire alarms. more on Alarm
Tools |
Cryptographer Solves Psychic
Challenge |
03/20/2007 | |
In January, James Randi secured a
mystery item in a specially designated locker in his
Florida office, and challenged clairvoyants everywhere
to use their remote viewing skills to divine its nature
and claim a million dollar prize.
As usual with Randi's contests,
there's weren't a lot of takers in the professional
psychic biz. But for perhaps the first time in the
history of the supernatural challenges issued by the
79-year-old skeptic, there was a winner of sorts.
Cryptographer Matt Blaze and a colleague correctly
identified the contents of Randi's black box from a
thousand miles away, using only the powers of their
minds.
complete article
|
Sweden Invades Privacy |
03/19/2007 | |
Sweden's government presented a
contentious plan Thursday to allow a defense
intelligence agency monitor e-mail traffic and phone
calls crossing the nation's borders without a court
order.
The government insists only
a fraction of the electronic communication will be
affected, but critics worry that the program, designed
to combat terrorism and other threats to national
security, is too far-reaching.
complete article
|
Accounts Frozen Due to Fraud |
03/18/2007 | |
Regulators obtained an order freezing
$3 million in assets contained in a Latvian banks U.S.
trading account after the account was allegedly used in
a "pump-and-dump" scheme involving 15 different public
companies, the Securities and Exchange Commission
said. |
Chinese Net Monitoring |
03/17/2007 | |
The Chinese government took steps during
2006 to increase its control and monitoring of Internet
access by the country's growing Internet population, the
U.S. Department of State said in a human-rights report
released on Tuesday. |
Walmart Pressured on Security |
03/17/2007 | |
Democratic presidential rivals Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama joined seven other U.S.
senators on March 2 to urge WalMart, the nation's
largest importer, to drop opposition to a bill that
would require scanning all U.S.-bound cargo containers
for possible terrorist nuclear bombs.
|
Pirated Software Seized |
03/15/2007 | |
Business Software Alliance (BSA) has
seized pirated software from Adobe, Autodesk, McAfee,
Microsoft and Symantec, valued around $2.1 million from
India, in 2006. The BSA and its members conducted raids
in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore
and Hyderabad. |
DRM
Advisory Board |
03/14/2007 | |
Aladdin Knowledge Systems, the leader in
Software DRM, strong authentication, and content
security solutions, today announced the formation of the
Aladdin DRM Advisory Board.
Aladdin now invites
DRM experts, technology and software thought leaders, as
well as select customers, to sit on ADAB for a one-year
term, contributing valuable insight and recommendations
for the direction of the software DRM market and tools
for success. ADAB members will also provide vital
feedback to Aladdin management regarding the
market-leading HASP family of software DRM solutions
which are consistently ranked the most commonly used
software protection, licensing and distribution products
worldwide. |
Potential Security Issues in
Software |
03/13/2007 | |
Experts say security problems are
inevitable in software, which has grown more complex and
isn't always built with adequate attention to potential
problems. But Web applications, both relatively new and
extremely popular, appear to be headed for a period of
worsening malicious attacks and programming fumbles
until software makers fully grasp the security issues
and respond to them. |
Navajo Trackers for Illegals |
03/12/2007 | |
A fresh footprint in the dirt, fibers
in the mesquite. Harold Thompson reads the signs like a
map.
They point to drug smugglers,
10 or 11, crossing from Mexico. The deep impressions and
spacing are a giveaway to the heavy loads on their
backs. With no insect tracks or paw prints of nocturnal
creatures marking the steps, Mr. Thompson determines the
smugglers probably crossed a few hours
ago.
“These guys are not far
ahead; we’ll get them,” said Mr. Thompson, 50, a
strapping Navajo who follows the trail like a
bloodhound.
complete article
|
No
Credit Card for Illegals |
03/10/2007 | |
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.,
introduced legislation Monday that would prevent illegal
immigrants from receiving credit cards from American
financial institutions. The Photo Identification
Security Act seeks to require "secure forms of
identification" in order to obtain credit.
complete article
|
|
A security expert has cracked one of
the U.K.'s new biometric passports, which the British
government hopes will cut down on cross-border crime and
illegal immigration.
The attack,
which uses a common RFID (radio frequency
identification) reader and customized code, siphoned
data off an RFID chip from a passport in a sealed
envelope, said Adam Laurie, a security consultant who
has worked with RFID and Bluetooth technology. The
attack would be invisible to victims, he
said.
"That's the really scary
thing," said Laurie, whose work was detailed in the
Sunday edition of the Daily Mail newspaper. "There's no
evidence of tampering. They're not going to report
something has happened because they don't
know."
complete article
|
Afghan Insurgent Dressed as
Woman |
03/08/2007 | |
Afghan soldiers have captured a Taliban
leader who tried to flee a security operation in the
south dressed in a burqa |
WordPress Hacked |
03/08/2007 | |
Bloging software organisation WordPress
has warned that hackers posted compromised versions of
its open source software after breaking into one of the
servers behind its website. |
Image Crack Down |
03/07/2007 | |
The Bush administration has accelerated
its Internet surveillance push by proposing that Web
sites must keep records of who uploads photographs or
videos in case police determine the content is illegal
and choose to investigate.
Image Crack Down
|
National ID Rules |
03/06/2007 | |
Homeland Security officials released
long-delayed guidelines that turn state-issued
identification cards into de facto internal passports
Thursday, estimating the changes will cost states and
individuals $23 billion over 10 years. The move
prompted a new round of protest from civil libertarians
and security experts, who called on Congress to repeal
the 2005 law known as the Real ID Act that mandates the
changes.
Rules for National ID Revealed
|
Do
Video Games Create Killers? |
03/06/2007 | |
Do video games kill? The jury is still out
on whether violent video games lead to violent behavior
in children, but a new study asserts that killer games
do not make killer kids. |
McAfee Security Podcast |
03/05/2007 | |
McAfee has launched a twice-monthly
podcast series about topics related to computer and
Internet security, starting with a discussion of the
Nordea Bank phishing incident, and information
disclosure |
Prison Security Issues Brought to
Light |
03/04/2007 | |
The Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort
Madison still suffers from security flaws that could
make it vulnerable to the type of escape that occurred
in November 2005 when two dangerous convicts fled the
maximum-security prison, according to a federal security
audit.
|
Legislature to Make Companies
Responsible for Security Breaches |
03/02/2007 | |
Massachusetts considers bills that would
make retailers and merchants responsible for security
breaches. As more details emerge about the recently
disclosed security breach at TJX Companies , lawmakers
in Massachusetts are considering new laws that would put
the onus for paying for such breaches on retailers and
merchants, rather than banks and credit unions.
|
Keeping Your Kids Safe |
03/01/2007 | |
Check to see if there are child predators,
convicted offenders or rapists in your area. This is a
handy online tool, enter your address and a map of the
work places and homes of convicted criminals will show
you the locations of the offenders.
http://www.familywatchdog.us/
|
Added Risk to Self Checkout |
02/28/2007 | |
The Stop & Shop Supermarket chain
announced Feb. 17 that thieves had tampered with
check-out lane computers and had stolen account and
personal identification numbers from customers' credit
and debit cards at two of its stores in Rhode Island.
|
Pirate Extradited |
02/27/2007 | |
In one of the first ever extraditions for
an intellectual property offence, the leader of one of
the oldest and most renowned software piracy groups last
week was extradited from Australia to appear in a US
district court.
The defendant is charged with one
count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright
infringement, and one count of criminal copyright
infringement. |
Tackling on Campus Piracy |
02/27/2007 | |
Cracking down on college students, the
music industry is sending thousands more complaints to
top universities this school year than it did last year
as it targets music illegally downloaded over campus
computer networks.
A few schools, including
Ohio and Purdue universities, already have received more
than 1,000 complaints accusing individual students since
last fall — significant increases over the past school
year. For students who are caught, punishments vary from
e-mail warnings to semester-long suspensions from
classes. |
Banning Terrorists from Purchasing
Domains |
02/26/2007 | |
Cybercrime Law reports on bill A5026/S63
in the New York State Legislature which would make it a
crime under New York State law to knowingly sell domain
names to terrorist organizations.
|
Top
Piracy Schools Rival Party Schools |
02/26/2007 | |
Forget party schools: The RIAA lists the
top piracy schools in the US:
Ohio University -
1,287 Purdue University - 1,068 University of
Nebraska at Lincoln - 1,002 University of Tennessee
at Knoxville - 959 University of South Carolina -
914 University of Massachusetts at Amherst - 897
Michigan State University - 753 Howard
University - 572 North Carolina State University -
550 University of Wisconsin at Madison - 513
University of South Florida - 490 Syracuse
University - 488 Northern Illinois University - 487
University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire - 473
Boston University - 470 Northern Michigan
University - 457 Kent State University - 424
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - 400
University of Texas at Austin - 371 North Dakota
State University - 360 Indiana University - 353
Western Kentucky University - 353 Seton Hall
University - 338 Arizona State University - 336
Marshall University - 331
complete article
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