News Archives from 2001 (May 01 - May 31, 2001)
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Amiga
30 May 2001 - Safe v15.7 Released
Zbigniew `Zeeball` Trzcionkowski released his latest freeware virus
dicovering system. Safe informs about attack and removes virus from
memory if possible. The archive is named Safe157.lha, and can be found
on the downloads page, by following the above link.
25 May 2001 - Amiga Show in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)
Press Release from Amiga.info says on July 28 and 29, Amiga.info will be
hosting the Ottawa Amiga Show, the first Amiga show in Canada since May
1998. The location of the show has not been settled, but as soon as that
information is available, we will make it available on our website.
Amiga Inc. has already agreed to have a presence at the show and will be
on hand with announcements, demonstrating what the new OS has to offer
everyone and answer questions. The Ottawa Amiga Show is the first
Canadian computer show that Amiga Inc. has attended in over three years.
* Click here to visit Amiga.info Website
24 May 2001 - Sharp Demonstrates Amiga DE Applications
Amiga Inc. said Sharp demonstrated applications provided by Amiga for the
AmigaDE system on their Zaurus hand-held computer at the 2001 Business
Show in Tokyo, Japan.
17 May 2001 - Safe v15.6 Released
Zbigniew `Zeeball` Trzcionkowski released his latest freeware virus
dicovering system. Safe informs about attack and removes virus from
memory if possible. The archive is named Safe156.lha, and can be found
on the downloads page, by following the above link.
16 May 2001 - Amiga.Org Site News: AO Mailing List Now Available Amiga.Org reports that
Amiga.Org says you can now check up on the latest news, using their new
News Flash mailing list. Built as a one-way broadcast list, Amiga.org is
now using AONEWS as a method to broadcast news stories to your mailbox,
as they happen. Follow the link to find our how to subscribe.
16 May 2001 - Amiga.info Meeting Information
Amiga.org posted the next meeting of Amiga.info will be May 16th, 7pm at
the Royal Oak pub in Ottawa [Ontario, Canada]. That evening we will be
discussing the possibility of having an Amiga show in Ottawa later this
summer. We have some good news too (but you'll have to attend the meeting
to find out what it is). Directions are on the website, which has moved
to a new address: http://www.technomages.net/amiga.info/
13 May 2001 - Built With Amiga Site Not Closing
Keith Blakemore-Noble, owner and operator of BWA website since 1997,
posted on May 10th, 2001, "Good news, folks! I've found someone who is
willing to take over the BWA site, so BWA will continue."
11 May 2001 - VEPatchBrain v1.34 for VirusExecutor Available
Jan Erik Olausen has released a new PatchBrain v1.34, for his viri
checking program VirusExecutor. This brain file can be used with any
VE 2.xx version. For changes since last version, read the readme file.
10 May 2001 - Safe v15.5 Released
Zbigniew `Zeeball` Trzcionkowski released his latest freeware virus
dicovering system. Safe informs about attack and removes virus from
memory if possible. The archive is named Safe155.lha, and can be found
on the downloads page, by following the above link.
10 May 2001 - Report Any Internet Virus Supplying Sites To VHT-DK
Virus Help Denmark asks in a May 9th news item, that if you find any
internet site that spreads Amiga Virus, to please inform them about it.
They have a convenient form you can fill in with the particulars of the
site, and Jan, of VHT-Denmark assures your email WILL be kept a secret.
* VHT-DK Reporting Form for Amiga Virus Spreading Websites
07 May 2001 - VirusExecutor v2.18 Released
Jan Erik Olausen released a new version of his virus killer. The archive
is named VirusExecutor218.lha, and can be found on the downloads page, by
following the above link. For changes since last version, see the readme
file. This version includes VEPatchBrain v1.33.
05 May 2001 - VHT-Denmark News: Amiga Virus Encyclopedia
Virus Help Denmark said on May 3rd, "We have opened the first Amiga
Virus Encyclopedia in the world. The pages will be updated much more in
the future. This Amiga Virus encyclopedia has taken well over 4 weeks to
make. We have a few ideas more for the encyclopedia, and will update the
pages. We have a few problems with the search button, but that will be
fixed also. So if you are looking for information about Amiga viruses,
this is the page to look at.
* Virus Help Denmark - Amiga Virus Encyclopedia
02 May 2001 - Unable To Access Amiga.tm Site
For the last few days, I have been unable to access the Amiga.tm
site run by Tobias Ander. It is this service that has given us our
VHT-Canada redirection of http://vht-can.amiga.tm
01 May 2001 - VirusExecutor v2.17 Released
Jan Erik Olausen released his virus killer that's meant to be easy to use
There's no 'advanced' options in the program that you almost never use
anyway. This doesn't mean that VirusExecutor lacks of power! The archive
is named VirusExecutor217.lha, and can be found on the downloads page, by
following the above link. For changes since last version, see the readme
file.
01 May 2001 - VHT-DK Update: Installer Of Linkvirus BASTARD Found
Virus Help Denmark reports "What we think is the installer of the
"Bastard" link virus has been found. It was on Aminet (and has been
there for about 14 days), but it has been removed now. The archive
'Pointers.lha' (6874 bytes) is the installer for the BASTARD LINKVIRUS."
Follow the above link for virusupdate - file is named vht-dk100.lha.
* Click here for VHT-DK Virus Warning vht-dk100 Readme
* Subscribe online to the VHT-DK Virus Warnings Announcement list.
01 May 2001 - Safe v15.4 Released
Zbigniew `Zeeball` Trzcionkowski released his latest freeware virus
dicovering system. Safe informs about attack and removes virus from
memory if possible. The archive is named Safe154.lha, and can be found
on the downloads page, by following the above link.
Top of Page
Windows
31 May 2001 - DAT / SDAT 4141 McAfee Total Virus Defense Update
DAT File for weekly v4x 4139, and SuperDat File for v4x 4140/4141
are now available on Network Associates website.
Dr Solomon's VirusScan customers download here.
For more information on the use of the dat files, please see the
NAI's readme.txt. or download VirusScan v4.5 Admin Guide.
31 May 2001 - The Deceptive Safety of RTF Files
Kaspersky Lab says a breach in a systems safety is not the biggest
threat of RTF files. The main purpose of this article is to bring to
light the danger awaiting users working with documents in RTF format,
and to recommend the safest means for dealing with such a danger.
30 May 2001 - Macro.def for F-PROT Released
Frisk Software International has a new Macro.def for F-PROT. This version
of Macro.def was last modified/changed on: May 29 2001
* See ftp://ftp.complex.is/pub/ for:
macrdef2.zip 199Kb
30 May 2001 - IE Upgrade Cures Clinic Flaw
MSNBC Bug Of The Day says according to McAfee, upgrading to Microsoft
Internet Explorer (IE) 5.5 from 5.0 will prevent blank pages when
downloading Clinic components.
* Download IE 5.5 from here
24 May 2001 - DAT / SDAT 4140 McAfee Total Virus Defense Update
DAT File for weekly v4x 4139, and SuperDat File for v4x 4140/4140
are now available on Network Associates website.
Dr Solomon's VirusScan customers download here.
For more information on the use of the dat files, please see the
NAI's readme.txt. or download VirusScan v4.5 Admin Guide.
24 May 2001 - Windows 95/98: Getting swamped when searching?
MSNBC Bug Of The Day has an experiment for Windows 95 and Windows 98
users. It will show how "wildcard" searchs differ.
23 May 2001 - Why WordPerfect Is Not So Perfect
MSNBC Bug Of The Day says opening a Corel WordPerfect document in MS
Word 2002 may cause the WordPerfect Graphics Import 8.0 dialog box to
pop up which in turn may hang Word. At the time of this writing, neither
a fix or workaround was available to counter the Word file converter's
inability to convert some WordPerfect Graphics files embedded in
WordPerfect documents.
22 May 2001 - Virus HOAX Coaxes Users to Delete Files
Kaspersky Labs has been receiving many messages from users about a new
alarming and dangerous virus hiding in a SULFNBK.EXE file. Warnings about
the pseudo-virus began spreading towards the end of last week, causing a
real scare amongst users. Contrary to this report, the SULFNBK.EXE file
is absolutely safe, and moreover is a part of the operating system
included in the Windows delivery. It is necessary to convince users that
this type of virus does not actually exist, and we classify this as a
virus hoax.
17 May 2001 - IPE AntiVirus Update Number 1210 Available
Computer Associates (CAI), announced in their May 16th, 2001 Newsletter,
that the new update kit for the signature file used in InoculateIT
Personal Edition AntiVirus (Current IPE version 5.2), has been uploaded
to the Computer Associates web site for you to download.
It is recommended that once you have downloaded and installed an update
that you do a virus scan of all the files on your system and create a new
reference disk for your system.
* InoculateIT Personal Edition Homepage
* InoculateIT Support
17 May 2001 - DAT / SDAT 4139 McAfee Total Virus Defense Update
DAT File for weekly v4x 4139, and SuperDat File for v4x 4140/4139
are now available on Network Associates website.
Dr Solomon's VirusScan customers download here.
For more information on the use of the dat files, please see the
NAI's readme.txt. or download VirusScan v4.5 Admin Guide.
17 May 2001 - Updated .def Files Available for F-PROT
Frisk Software International announced new Sign.def and Sign2.def files
are availble. Also there is the Sign2.zip file which contains only the
file sign2.def without the sign.def file and, as a result, it is quite a
bit smaller than both def files together. Note that this sign2.def file
includes advanced generic detection capabilities which should hopefully
enable F-Prot to find most future variants of the VBS/LoveLetter worm.
The updates are available now at ftp://ftp.complex.is/pub/
* May 17 2001 releases
fp-def.zip 746Kb plus fp-def.asc
* May 17 2001 releases
sign2.zip 119Kb
17 May 2001 - Sri Lankian Patriots Enter the Fray of Virus Writing
Kaspersky Labs warns users about the detection of the latest Internet
worm, "Mawanella", that was created by someone utilizing the virus
writing kit VBS Worm Generator, which is better known as having been
used to spawn the "Kournikova" virus epidemic at the beginning of this
year. They say "Our technical support department has received several
reports of this worm being detected 'in the wild'."
17 May 2001 - LoveLetter worm variant spams spies
Hackers ZDNet says a new email worm, dubbed "VBS/LoveLet-CL" by UK
antivirus company, Sophos, sends out messages from a victim's PC
containing a list of words designed to trigger surveillance systems such
as Echelon, which is the surveillance network that allegedly can scan
e-mails and wireless communications for particular content. To date, the
true capabilities of the system are unknown to all but intelligence
communities.
17 May 2001 - Win ME Compression Passwords May Be Vulnerable
MSNBC Bug Of The Day says for users who have password protected the
Compressed Folders feature in Windows Me and Microsoft Plus! 98, be
forewarned! Microsoft says that data compression passwords can be
recovered by a malicious attacker. Read the bug of the day to find out
how to prevent being exploited.
13 May 2001 - IPE AntiVirus Update Number 1205 Available
Computer Associates (CAI), announced in their May 10th, 2001 Newsletter,
that the new update kit for the signature file used in InoculateIT
Personal Edition AntiVirus (Current IPE version 5.2), has been uploaded
to the Computer Associates web site for you to download.
It is recommended that once you have downloaded and installed an update
that you do a virus scan of all the files on your system and create a new
reference disk for your system.
* InoculateIT Personal Edition Homepage
* InoculateIT Support
12 May 2001 - VirusScan Version 4.x Emergency DATS
Network Associates has EMDATS.ZIP and EMSCAN.ZIP available. These reduced
size DATs should not be used with the full product. These files are not
compatible with the older version 3 or version 2 SCAN!
11 May 2001 - Downloading Programs With Intuit QuickBooks 2001
MSNBC Bug Of The Day says when attempting to download a program or
payroll update for QuickBooks 2001, Error 1002 may erupt using Microsoft
Proxy. Read the bug report for the workaround.
11 May 2001 - Report Any PC Virus Spreading Internet Sites
Virus Help Denmark asks "that if you find an internet site that spreads
PC Virus please inform us about it. We have to try and stop the spreading
of viruses, we know that it is almost impossible, but we must do
something. We will make a list of the internet providers that have virus
pages, and try to have them removed." All you have to do is to fill in
the report form at vht-dk, and you have their assurance that your email
WILL be kept a secret.
10 May 2001 - DAT / SDAT 4137 McAfee Total Virus Defense Update
DAT File for weekly v4x 4137, and SuperDat File for v4x 4140/4137
are now available on Network Associates website.
Dr Solomon's VirusScan customers download here.
For more information on the use of the dat files, please see the
NAI's readme.txt. or download VirusScan v4.5 Admin Guide.
09 May 2001 - F-Prot .def Updates For The VBS/VBSWG.X Virus
Frisk Software International says the new mass-mailing VBScript worm,
VBS/VBSWG.X ("Homepage") - is spreading fast. You can now download the
latest Sign.def and Sign2.def files - with it, F-PROT would also be able
to recognize the virus by name and delete it. Also there is the Sign2.zip
file which contains only the file sign2.def without the sign.def file
and, as a result, it is quite a bit smaller than both def files together.
* Vht-Canada Note: See Virus Warning Page for info on VBSWG.X@mm
09 May 2001 - Updating to Adobe Photoshop 6
MSNBC Bug Of The Day reports that updating to Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1
from here eliminates the problem of the network connection quitting
when running Photoshop 6 in Microsoft Windows 2000.
08 May 2001 - Bug of the Day Front Page at MSNBC
MSNBC Bug Of The Day reports:
* May 8: Editing with Microsoft Word 2002
Complex formatting may be lost without any warning when a Microsoft Word
2002 Rich Text Format (RTF) WordMail message is edited in Outlook 2002,
and then saved. Read the bug report to find out how to prevent the loss.
* May 7: When Text to Speech stops talking
According to Microsoft, the Text to Speech operation may pause in Excel
2002 when attempting to move the Text To Speech toolbar while the
contents of the workbook cells are being "spoken" by Excel. Read the bug
report to find a work around to this behavior.
05 May 2001 - Macro.def for F-PROT Released
Frisk Software International has a new Macro.def for F-PROT. This version
of Macro.def was last modified/changed on: May 04 2001
* See ftp://ftp.complex.is/pub/ for:
macrdef2.zip 198Kb
05 May 2001 - F-PROT and F-PROT for Windows v3.09a Released
Frisk Software International has a new version of F-PROT and F-PROT for
Windows v3.09a. Read more about FP-WIN Anti-virus Program here.
See Download for details on how to get your own copy of F-PROT.
The update has been available since April 5th and May 2nd, 2001 at
ftp://ftp.complex.is/pub/
* Apr 5 2001 releases
fp-309.zip 1272Kb plus fp-309.asc
fp-win_309_trial.zip 6341Kb
* May 2 2001 releases
fp-309a.zip 1276Kb plus fp-309a.asc
fp-win_309a_trial.zip 5457Kb
See update announcement at Virus Help Denmark News
03 May 2001 - IPE AntiVirus Update Number 1200 Available
Computer Associates (CAI), announced in their May 2nd, 2001 Newsletter,
that the new update kit for the signature file used in InoculateIT
Personal Edition AntiVirus (Current IPE version 5.2), has been uploaded
to the Computer Associates web site for you to download.
It is recommended that once you have downloaded and installed an update
that you do a virus scan of all the files on your system and create a new
reference disk for your system.
* InoculateIT Personal Edition Homepage
* InoculateIT Support
03 May 2001 - DAT / SDAT 4136 McAfee Total Virus Defense Update
DAT File for weekly v4x 4136, and SuperDat File for v4x 4140/4136
are now available on Network Associates website.
Dr Solomon's VirusScan customers download here.
For more information on the use of the dat files, please see the
NAI's readme.txt. or download VirusScan v4.5 Admin Guide.
03 May 2001 - Using Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
MSNBC Bug Of The Day reports that according to Microsoft, an add-in in
PowerPoint 2002 may not load or display in the list of add-ins unless the
default Security Level setting is switched from High to Medium. Here's
how to do that: 1) Go to Tools, Macro, Security, Security Level Tab,
and; 2) Choose Medium, and OK.
03 May 2001 - www.vnunet.com News Department
Latest articles:
* Windows XP anti-piracy feature cracked
Crackers have already found a way to get round Microsoft's registration
protection scheme for Windows XP, before the software has even launched
* Pirates steal Microsoft Media Player code
Microsoft has threatened legal action against the software pilferers
responsible for extracting codes from a Windows XP beta version that has
become available on a number of websites.
02 May 2001 - MSNBC TechNews: Microsoft Admits Serious Security Flaw
MSNBC Tech News says Microsoft Corp. issued a widespread warning
Tuesday about a security vulnerability that puts millions of Web
sites at immediate risk. Hackers ZDNet says a hole in Internet
Information Server 5.0, described as serious, could give system
level access to a hacker.
* Click here for Hackers ZDNet Report on Security Hole
* Click here for MS Security Bulletin MS01-023 and patch
02 May 2001 - Virus protection for Intuit QuickBooks 2001
MSNBC Bug Of The Day reports that if the reported error pops up in
QuickBooks 2001 when attempting to access Common Payroll Setup, a
Visual Basic Script e-mail virus may be to blame. Read the bug report
for the error message and a workaround.
01 May 2001 - Crashing With Netscape Communicator 4.77
MSNBC Bug Of The Day reports that Netscape Communicator 4.77 installs the
Beatnik add-in, which is used at Web sites with embedded RMF content by
default. If a computer does not have a sound card and visits one of these
sites, the computer may crash. Netscape says to avoid this by removing
Beatnik from the computer. Do this by following the steps in the bug
report.
Top of Page
Macintosh
20 May 2001 - Power Mac G3 May Lock Up In Photoshop
MSNBC Bug Of The Day reports that a blue and white Power Macintosh G3 may
lock up or redraw the screen "incorrectly" when working in Photoshop,
says Adobe. Read the bug report to find out where to download the ATI
Video Software Update, that should resolve the problem.
10 May 2001 - When Quark XPress 4.11 Crashes
MSNBC Bug Of The Day says according to Quark, QuarkXPress 4.11 for
Macintosh (68k and PowerPC) may crash under these circumstances:
A QuarkXPress library is open, and the user tries to import an Adobe
Acrobat PDF using the PDF Import filter 1.51. Read the bug report in
order to find out how to prevent this situation.
01 May 2001 - Virex Update To Virus DAT For Scan Engine Available
Networks Associates Technology, Inc. has the current Virex Scan Engine
Version: 4131. Includes these Virus Definition files: 4134. For further
information, read the Release Notes for this Virex Virus Update.
Top of Page
Linux
31 May 2001 - LWN User Survey In This Week's LWN Weekly Edition
LWN.net Daily news says "as was mentioned in this week's LWN Weekly
Edition, we are currently running a user survey. We hope to both learn
how to improve LWN, and to get some statistical information to give to
advertisers to help us to pay for this whole thing. We would much
appreciate it if you could help us out. Please consider taking a minute
to fill out the survey and help us out. We much appreciate it.
31 May 2001 - Latest Linux Weekly News Released
LWN.net Weekly Edition for May 31, 2001 has been published. Security
section covers such items as: European Parliament recommends encryption
and Open Source software, new vulnerabilities in gnupg, Webmin, and TWIG.
30 May 2001 - LinuxUser: Issue 11 Special Edition
LWN.net Daily news says LinuxUser has also published their article on how
Microsoft has locked out Unix/Linux clients from UK Government sites.
"The second, and far more serious, issue is that individuals and
organisations not running Microsoft products are prevented from using the
Gateway's authentication service, due to the requirement for proprietary
PKI technologies on the client computer. The site claims that other
browsers do not give proper support for SSL and digital certificates."
A PDF version of this document is also available.
30 May 2001 - LinuxUser: Issue 9
LWN.net Daily news says the online version of LinuxUser, Issue 9, is now
available for download in PDF format. This issue includes a cover story
on Samba, "The NT Killer", and stories on the OSDEM conference, a
comparison on Linux and BSD and real time operating systems.
30 May 2001 - Quarterly CERT summary
LWN.net Daily news says here is the quarterly CERT summary listing the
most significant outstanding security issues on the net. There are few
surprises there - things like the same old BIND vulnerabilities. It's
worth a look, though, to see where you stand with regard to the current
set of problems.
30 May 2001 - IPFilter removed from OpenBSD
LWN.net Daily news says Theo de Raadt sent us an OpenBSD log message
documenting the removal of the IPFilter package from OpenBSD. This action
has happened, of course, as a result of the licensing problems documented
in last week's LWN weekly edition. Anybody who wants the other side
of the story might want to check out IPFilter author Darren Reed's
comments attached to this article in the OpenBSD journal. They speak for
themselves.
30 May 2001 - The RISKS of calculating Pi in binary
LWN.net Daily news says from the RISKS digest we have this bit of
amusement on the dangers of calculating Pi in binary. Among other things,
one risks prosecution for violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright
Act and exposure to nasty cracking software. Be careful out there.
25 May 2001 - Security Holes In Linux 6 Through 7
MSNBC Bug Of The Day reports that several security holes have been found
in the kernel. Red Hat has released an update package for Red Hat Linux 6
through 7. Additional information and links to architecture specific RPMs
are available at: http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2001-013.html
25 May 2001 - Embedded Linux Newsletter for May 24, 2001
LWN.net Daily news says the weekly summary of the Embedded Linux world
has been published by LinuxDevices.com. This past week saw stories on the
Hi-Muse musical appliance, HA support for Hard Hat Linux, and an opinion
piece on why Linux will trounce competitors in the embedded market space.
24 May 2001 - Slackware Users Should Upgrade
MSNBC Bug Of The Day says Slackware is strongly encouraging users of
Slackware Linux 7.1 and current to upgrade sudo. This release fixes a
known buffer overflow vulnerability. Read the bug report to links to
downloads.
24 May 2001 - Latest Linux Weekly News Released
LWN.net Weekly Edition for May 24th, 2001 has been published. Security
highlingts: Code scanners, defacements get too numerous and SDMI
faulters.
17 May 2001 - The Cheese worm: A welcome helper?
Hackers ZDNet says System administrators, worldwide reported signs on
Wednesday that another self-spreading program -- or worm -- had started
to infect Linux systems.
* Click here for MSNBC Story: 'Benevolent' worm hits Linux boxes
17 May 2001 - Latest Linux Weekly News Released
LWN.net Weekly Edition for May , 2001 has been published.
LWN.net says the LWN.net Weekly Edition for May 17, 2001 has been
published. Security: A worm to fix cracked hosts, new vulnerabilities
in CUPS and sendfile, lots of distribution patches.
17 May 2001 - Latest Embedded Linux Newsletter Released
LWN.net says the latest edition of the Embedded Linux Newsletter has been
published. This week topics included a feature article on switching from
Windows to Linux, news on Loki and Nokia bringing Linux games to the
Nokia Media Terminal, and a report on Motorola's upgrades to its Linux
for telecom applications.
11 May 2001 - Embedded Linux Newsletter for May 10, 2001
LWN.net says this weeks Embedded Linux Newsletter has been published.
Topics this past week included discussions on Memora's Servio Personal
Server, Hard Hat's China venture, a ready to use Java stack for embedded
Linux devices, and the free vs patented software debate.
10 May 2001 - Latest Linux Weekly News Released
LWN.net Weekly Edition for May 10th, 2001 has been published. Some of
the Security items are: Immunix 7.0 released with licensing changes,
Turbolinux "spring cleaning", OpenSSH 2.9, new vulnerabilities in cron,
Samba, minicom, and man-db.
03 May 2001 - Latest Linux Weekly News Released
LWN.net Weekly Edition for May 03rd, 2001 has been published.
Top of Page
Miscellaneous
31 May 2001 - Reminder: SULFNBK.EXE is a Virus HOAX!
As Kaspersky Lab reported earlier last week, the virus hoax SULFNBK has
been making the rounds as also witnessed by other anti-virus developers
sending out a warning beacon. It is necessary to convince users that this
type of virus does not actually exist, and we classify this as a
VIRUS HOAX.
31 May 2001 - Hacker Finds Excite@Home Security Hole
MSNBC Tech News says not all hackers are bad--just ask Excite@Home. The
company shored up its online defenses after a hacker, known by the alias
"Adrien Lamo", pointed out a vulnerability in April that allowed access
to the company's internal network and exposed nearly 3 million support
records to the public.
* Infowar Story: Hacker Helps Excite@Home Mend Security Holes
31 May 2001 - Invaders Exploit SETI@home
MSNBC Tech News says SETI@home works as a screen-saver, looking for
telltale patterns within raw radio data and exchanging information with
central computer servers. Some users figured out how to tap into that
data exchange.
30 May 2001 - Frontpage News on Infowar.Com
A couple of interesting security stories:
* Defense Department Agency Confirms Defacements
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) today confirmed that two of
its Web sites were defaced by cyber-vandals late last week.
* SourceForge Server Compromised In Attack
Open-source software development site SourceForge.net is warning many of
its users to change their passwords following an attack early last week
in which intruders compromised one of the site's servers.
30 May 2001 - OpenPGP Alliance Omits PGP Security
The Register reports that the organisation OpenPGP Alliance, formed to
promote compatibility between different implementations of OpenPGP
standard, does not include Network Associates, which is the main supplier
of PGP-based encryption products for business. The OpenPGP Alliance, was
founded by PGP creator Phil Zimmermann. Network Associates, whose PGP
Security division owns the source code and trademark for the popular PGP
encryption package first developed by Zimmermann in 1991. Follow the link
for John Leyden's complete article.
30 May 2001 - Windows Raises Hacking Insurance Prices
Hackers ZDNet says hack attacks prompt underwriter to slap a five to 15
percent premium on insurance premiums for firms using Windows - and IIS
will be next. Linux Weekly news says the economic advantages of Linux are
becoming clearer.
* CNet: Windows users pay extra for hacker insurance
28 May 2001 - MSNBC Technology Front Page
Security and Privacy issues posted at MSNBC Tech News:
* Health site exposed customer info
A government health information Web site exposed information about
thousands of people who asked for pamphlets and brochures about drug and
alcohol addiction. The data made its way out onto the Internet because of
a flaw found weeks ago in popular shopping cart software called PDG.
* Cybercrime pact tightens privacy rules
Stiff criticism from the EU and pressure groups has prompted drafters of
the worlds first treaty against cybercrime, to tighten provisions
protecting privacy online, the final text showed Friday.
* Privacy Web sites launched
Maintaining online privacy has just gotten a little bit easier. The
Internet advertising industry has set up two new Web sites that let
computer users block their personal data from being collected.
25 May 2001 - White House Confirms Third DoS Attack In A Month
Hackers ZDNet says the White House Web site has been hit by its third
denial of service attack this month, which rendered the site inaccessible
for more than six hours on Tuesday.
25 May 2001 - European Parliament Urges Protection Against Echelon
Hackers ZDNet says a major investigation into the communications spy
network says European business and individuals should encrypt all emails,
and that open source software could hold the key.
24 May 2001 - CERT, The Internet Warning System Attacked
MSNBC Tech News says unknown attackers inundated the Computer Emergency
Response Team Coordination Center with data Wednesday, cutting off the
public's access to the organization largely responsible for warning
others on the Internet about computer-security threats.
23 May 2001 - Canadian Web Site "A&B Sound" Hacked
Canoe.ca says CD and movie retailer A&B Sound has shut down its Web site
following a breach of security that exposed the credit card numbers and
expiry dates of some customers.
* A&B Sound Press Release
22 May 2001 - Defacement Mirror Will No Longer Be Maintained
Attrition.org is a non-profit hobby site run by a handful of volunteers
in their free time. They say in part "A 'hobby' is supposed to be
enjoyable. Maintaining the mirror is becoming a thankless chore. With
that, the mirror will no longer be maintained. We've served our time."
* Attrition: Latest Hacked Web Sites
* Attrition down?! Oh my!
22 May 2001 - Roaming Euro in Palm OS
MSNBC Bug Of The Day says according to Handspring, the good news is 3Com
has added support for the Euro currency symbol ($) to the Palm OS. That's
the version the Visor handheld uses. The bad news: the Euro symbol may pop
up in odd places on some older third-party applications. To correct the
problem, request an updated version of the application from the software
vendor.
22 May 2001 - UK Sunday Swoop Nets Software Pirate Ring
Infowar.Com News says a swoop on a local Sunday market in Coleshill,
Warwickshire, earlier this month has netted a major piracy trading ring.
The pirates, a group of traders, were suspected of producing pirated
Playstation and Dreamcast software on a large scale, and selling it to
an unsuspecting public at discount prices.
22 May 2001 - Ex-KGB Expert Unveils New Computer Shield
Hackers ZDNet says the one-time head of KGB overseas code-scrambling and
an ex-director of the CIA rolled out Monday what they called a
revolutionary way of hiding Internet communications from prying eyes and
would-be intruders.
20 May 2001 - Trojan Picks the Pockets of WebMoney Users
Kaspersky Lab unveils a large-scale Internet defrauding scheme. They are
warning users about the detection of the new, exceptionally dangerous
Trojan, "Eurosol." This Trojan steals a users personal account
information from the international finance system "WebMoney."
20 May 2001 - How the Government Will Track You Down
Infowar.Com News reports from the commentary, Be afraid. Be very afraid.
The government wants to use technology to track you down without a
warrant. Do you trust these clowns?
* Full story at yahoo news
17 May 2001 - Flaw Causes Credit Card Chaos
MSNBC Tech News says in April, a devastating bug was found in shopping
cart software called "PDG" that exposed all customer records on about
4,000 Web sites. The FBI issued a public warning directed at the
software's customers, but a small e-commerce Web site named
SawyerDesign.com didn't notice. Within days, computer criminals had a
field day, wracking up thousands of dollars of charges on victims cards
at gambling sites, buying phone cards and downloading pricey software.
Follow the link, for a look at the chaos caused in people's lives by
one simple technology mistake.
17 May 2001 - Court Shows No 'Mercy' For Defiant Software Pirate
Infowar.Com News says a Chicago federal court has shown little lenience
in handing down its guilty verdict against 28-year-old Christian Morley,
a.k.a. "Mercy," for his role in the underground software piracy group
known as "Pirates with Attitudes." According to court documents, Pirates
with Attitudes was a "warez" site that maintained strict access control
via passwords and an intricate IP address registration scheme.
16 May 2001 - What To Do About Visor After A HotSync?
MSNBC Bug Of The Day says the To Do List items may not be readable on
a Handspring Visor device after a HotSync. According to Handspring,
each item may contain characters resembling rectangles, rather than
normal text. Read the bug report to find out how to correct the problem.
14 May 2001 - F-Secure Reports: A Number of HOAXES
F-Secure asks that you please ignore these messages and don't spread
them any further.
* Pay-at-the-pump gas station incident hoax
* Bill 602P hoax
* Money Transfer hoax
* Champagne Lovers chain letter
* Gas Out chain letter
* NEWYORK BIG DIRT and THE FUCKER message hoax
* Cancer chain letter
* Sulfnbk.exe virus hoax
14 May 2001 - Gatewaye Exposes Sensitive Customer Information
Hacker News Network, says Gateway 2000 accidentally allowed their search
engines to publish two Excel spreadsheets that contained very sensitive
information. By searching for "delivery cost" on Gateway's UK website,
the search engine exposed spreadsheets that revealed customer names,
order details and phone numbers of 449 Gateway customers. This example
demonstrates that even with a good search application, misconfiguration
or user negligence will bypass security controls. @stake has a link to
The Register story, or follow the above link.
14 May 2001 - Interpol Posts Advice Against IT Crime on Website
Infowar.Com News says The international police organization Interpol has
stepped up its action against cybercrime with a new section on its Web
site on how to combat malicious computer viruses.
* Click here for Interpol Website www.interpol.int
13 May 2001 - Happy Mother's Day To All Moms
Virus Help Team Canada wishes all the mom's out there, a very happy
Mother's Day, and hope you have a nice one. ;)
11 May 2001 - NAI Reports: SULFNBK HOAX
Network Associates has released a report on a hoax that says "McAfee
AVERT Labs would like to inform you of a new email HOAX." NAI says this
email message is just a HOAX. Although, the SULFNBK.EXE file may become
infected by a number of valid viruses, the details of this message are
not based on actual events.
11 May 2001 - Security New on Infowar.Com
Infowar.Com Articles pertaining to security and privacy are:
* European Officials Leave U.S. In Huff Over Spy Network
Two prominent European Parliament officials are canceling the rest of
their trip to Washington, D.C., and returning to Europe after the State
and Commerce Departments, as well as the CIA and National Security
Agency, rebuffed their efforts to learn more about the Echelon spy
system.
* Privacy Commission Bill Debuts In Senate
Two Senators, Wednesday introduced a bill to establish a privacy
commission to study ways that federal, state and local governments
collect and use personal data, including FBI e-mail interception.
11 May 2001 - Customers Lose Sympatico E-mail
National Post Online TechNews said e-mail service for all of Bell
Canada's 200,000 high-speed and dial-up business customers in Ontario
and Quebec was unavailable during office hours yesterday because of a
technical glitch, the company said.
11 May 2001 - Kaspersky Labs Int. Newsletter
You can find the latest KLab Newsletter by following the above link.
11 May 2001 - 2001: Year Of The Virus
MSNBC Tech News says the pace of malicious mailings is picking up. One
virus scanning company has already trapped more e-mail viruses so far
this year than in the whole of 2000.
10 May 2001 - Homepage Worm Dies Out
Hackers ZDNet says the worldwide flood of emails caused by the virus is
starting to dry up, say antivirus experts, less than 24 hours after the
malicious attachment first went out. What is most disturbing about the
success of the Homepage worm, according to antivirus experts, is that
many companies are still not blocking Visual Basic attachments from
entering their systems -- a step they could easily take using basic
filtering technology.
09 May 2001 - Workshop: Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare 2001
Infowar.Com News reports You are Cordially Invited to An International
Workshop on "Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare 2001: Threats and
Responses". Date: Wednesday, June 6, 2001 9:00 am 5:00pm, being held at the
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Virginia.
08 May 2001 - NIPC Advisory: Ongoing DDoS Disruption Attempts
National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) Advisory says they have
received reliable information indicating ongoing attempts to disrupt web
access to several sites. The activity has been seen from several
networks, and consists entirely of fragmented large UDP packets directed
at port 80.
* Infowar.com: Hackers Step Up Denial-of-Service Attacks
08 May 2001 - WashPost: Pentagon Computers Attacked
MSNBC Tech News has a Washing Post article that says a series of
sophisticated attempts to break into Pentagon computers has continued
for more than three years, and an extensive investigation has produced
"disturbingly few clues" about who is responsible, according to a member
of the National Security Agency's advisory board.
08 May 2001 - Hackers Denied Access
Hackers ZDNet says Access Research hopes to protect firms from spoofing,
denial of service and Trojan attacks. Access Denied is a strong
authentication system, preventing unauthorised users from connecting to
company servers.
03 May 2001 - Flaming Batteries Cause Dell Recall Woe
VNUNet Bugs and Fixes department says Dell is recalling batteries sold
with 284,000 of its Inspiron 5000 and 5000e consumer notebooks after one
caught fire. Follow the link to vnunet.com's complete article.
03 May 2001 - Apple Powerbook 'bomb' Shuts Airport
The Register has a story from April 23rd that says a Californian airport
was closed for six hours on Friday, following a bomb scare. And the
'culprit'? Step forward the Titanium Powerbook G4.
02 May 2001 - $1M Hacker Dare Planned To Promote Net Security Device
Infowar.Com News says a year-old security technology company from Canada
is so sure its products can protect PCs from Net-connected hackers that
it is planning a million-dollar challenge to prove it. Vikash Sami is
founder and CEO of Burnaby, B.C.-based Saafnet International Inc.
* Saafnet is at http://www.saafnet.com
02 May 2001 - Hackers ZDNet Special News Items
Hackers ZDNet latest security concern articles:
* Staff oblivious to computer security threats
Survey finds users still leave passwords on their desks
* FBI 'hack' could set dangerous precedent
An FBI operation to obtain evidence on two Russian hackers, from servers
based in Russia, could give intelligence angents free reign to hack
computers outside the US
01 May 2001 - Government Directory Helps You Play Big Brother
Infowar.Com News says a useful site created for the US government offers
perks such as how to obtain free unclaimed money and how to search for
criminal records and check backgrounds of other residents, as well as
listing businesses throughout the US.
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