Collection of security news, happenings and articles from the past week

This is a weekly roundup of all the security news, articles, software releases, vendor advisories and webcasts that were published on Help Net Security during the past week.

This roundup is sponsored by:

Table of contents:

1) Security news
2) Advisories
3) Articles
4) Software
5) Webcasts
6) Conferences
7) Security World
8) Virus News

[ Security news ]

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HOMELAND SECURITY TO DETAIL IT ATTACKS
Hearing will reveal findings of agency’s internal investigation into
risk of system attacks and other online threats.

HACKERS MEET FOR CODING FESTIVAL
Web developers are gathering in London for the first BBC/Yahoo
hackday.

ONLINE CRIME GROUP LOGS MILLIONTH COMPLAINT
And the snits just keep coming as bad guys get worse.

FBI ORDERED TURN OVER THOUSANDS OF PATRIOT ACT ABUSE DOCUMENTS
A federal judge ordered the agency Friday to begin turning over
thousands of pages of documents related to the agency’s use of a
powerful, but extremely secretive investigative tool.

COPYRIGHT COALITION: PIRACY MORE SERIOUS THAN BURGLARY, FRAUD, BANK
ROBBERY
NBC/Universal general counsel Rick Cotton suggests that society
wastes entirely too much money policing crimes like burglary, fraud,
and bank-robbing, when it should be doing something about piracy
instead.

NEW MOBILE SECURITY THREATS EMERGE
Mobile phone capabilities are growing by leaps and bounds ???‚? and so
are mobile security threats.

HOW TO CREATE A COMPUTER-EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM
Incident-response teams deal with security breaches to limit damage.

IT ERROR OPENS DATA DOOR AT UNIVERSITY
The University of Virginia is notifying about 6,000 current and
former faculty members that their names, Social Security numbers,
birth dates and other personal information may have been stolen by
computer hackers between May 2005 and April of this year.

COUNTING THE COST OF CYBER CRIME
Estimating the cost of an intrusion has never been easy. It is
something that IT managers grapple with regularly, particularly when
fighting for budgets. This article will attempt to explore some of
the considerations when contemplating the cost of a systems breach,
or indeed the cost of a possible ???‚?future???‚? breach.

ANTI-HACKING LAWS ‘CAN HOBBLE NET SECURITY’
Jeremiah Grossman has long stopped looking for vulnerabilities in
specific websites, and even if he suspects a site to have a critical
flaw that could be compromised by an attacker, he’s decided to keep
quiet.

SECURITY EXPERT WILL REVIEW OHIO DATA THEFT
The state has hired a computer security expert to determine the
likelihood of someone getting access to the data on a stolen backup
storage device, Gov. Ted Strickland said Sunday.

INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA RUTKOWSKA, SECURITY RESEARCHER
Joanna Rutkowska is primarily known for her contributions to Windows
Vista backdoor installation and hiding techniques. She is very
interested in stealth technology as used by malware and attackers to
hide their malicious actions after a successful break-in. This
includes various types of rootkits, network backdoors and covert
channels.

HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING TO EXAMINE CYBERSECURITY LAPSES AT DHS
A House committee wants changes in the Homeland Security Department???‚?s
data security efforts in response to 844 so-called cybersecurity
incidents in fiscal 2005 and 2006.

PAYPAL TO ROLL OUT BUYER VETTING SERVICE
In a move designed to attract more online sellers to accept its
virtual payment service, PayPal this year plans to roll out a
voluntary service designed to warn merchants if a transaction
presents a fraud risk.

POLICE SMASH GLOBAL PEDOPHILE RING
British police, aided by U.S. authorities, have smashed a global
Internet pedophile ring that broadcast live-streamed videos of
children being abused, investigating more than 700 suspects worldwide
and rescuing 31 children in a 10-month probe, officials said Monday.

COURT: FEDS VIOLATED PRIVACY IN E-MAIL SEARCH
In ‘Smiling Bob’ case, officials checked e-mails without a warrant.

BREACH AT LOS ALAMOS LABS MAY HAVE EXPOSED CLASSIFIED DATA ON NUKES
Highly classified info was sent out over unprotected e-mail networks.

FEDS CHOOSE 10 VENDORS TO SECURE MOBILE DATA
After extensive review, government awards encryption software
contracts worth $79M.

PROTECT YOUR STUFF WITH ENCRYPTED LINUX PARTITIONS
Let’s focus on the issue of protecting sensitive data on hard drives
with encrypted file systems.

CONGRESS TAKES AIM AT SPYWARE
Inside the Capitol, three bills designed to protect consumers from
malicious spyware are duking it out.

CAN ‘CYBERINSURANCE’ PROTECT YOU FROM DATA BREACH CATASTROPHE?
Business is booming after disasters like the TJX case, but policies
can be expensive, complex and hard to get.

LOCK DOWN YOUR MAC WITH DOORSTOP X
When it comes to security, Mac OS X has proved on numerous occasions
that it is quite safe, right out of the box. However, that doesn’t
mean it cannot use additional security to prepare it for the Wild
West we call the Internet. Enter DoorStop X – a comprehensive
approach to securing your Mac.

BOSTON POLICE TURN TO TEXT MESSAGES TO FIGHT CRIME
Crime Stoppers callers can now text in their tips.

IT SECURITY: LESSONS OF A THIRTY-YEAR CAREER
IT security has changed in the last 30 years; we look back and
explore what IT must do now to get a better grip on the environment.

STOP USERS BEFORE THEY CLICK ON RISKY WEB SITES
In a MIT-Harvard study, 36 percent of subjects logged in to their
online bank accounts despite being warned that the site was not
secure.

PCI BRUSH BACK: BANKS SAY BLAME THE MERCHANTS, NOT US
Execs note TJX breach caused by retailer, not banks.

ANALYSTS: MICROSOFT FLAW OPENED DOOR TO SCAMMERS
Microsoft fixes bug in Windows Live ID registration that lets users
deceptively register a false e-mail address.

TECH SECURITY COMPANIES ARE HOT TARGETS
For sale: A technology security company. Which one? Pretty much any
of them.

GOOGLE SECURITY API SPOTS DANGEROUS URLS
Google’s experimental API lets other programs access its blacklist of
Web sites that may host malware.

THE OPEN-ACCESS DEBATE OVER SPECTRUM
If you’ve been following the developments surrounding the upcoming
700 MHz auctions, you’ve probably heard the term “open access” by
now.

IT COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF PCI DSS
This Webinar will examine the commonalities among the major laws,
regulations and standards and suggest some specific technologies,
processes and management strategies that can save a large
organization both money and time.

HIPAA AUDIT: THE 42 QUESTIONS HHS MIGHT ASK
They cover everything from security to employee status to Internet
use.

HEATHROW TRIALS BACK BIOMETRIC SECURITY
The vast majority of people who participated in the miSense biometric
airport security trials at Heathrow Airport would recommend the
service to their fellow travellers.

USERS RAGE AGAINST CHINA’S ‘GREAT FIREWALL’
Yang Zhou is no cyberdissident, but recent curbs on his Web surfing
habits by China’s censors have him fomenting discontent about China’s
“Great Firewall.”

SNORT: IDS DONE WELL (AND GOOD)
Snort is, by far, the gold standard among open source NIDS systems,
with over 100,000 users and 3 million downloads to date.

COURT PROHIBITS ACCESS TO TOUCH-SCREEN SOURCE CODE
Latest ruling in effort to find reason for 18,000 lost Florida votes
in Nov. election.

NATIONAL SECURITY RISKS PROMPT FRENCH BLACKBERRY BAN
Use of smartphones by government and businesses could expose
sensitive data, according to advisor to French Prime Minister.

VIDEO: THE EXPLOIT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Alexander Sotirov is a Vulnerability Researcher at Determina Inc. In
this video he discusses on a general note how exploit writers develop
exploits.

HOMELAND SECURITY NOT SO SECURE
A Congressional subcommittee learned that the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security has experienced about 800 security breaches, many
in the form of computer hacking.

HACKING WOW AND THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE
The hacking of online games was inevitable, as absolute a certainty
as gravity.

A PUSH TO STANDARDS FOR NETWORK FORENSICS
Digital forensics is still a young science.

SECURING IIS: IT’S MORE THAN A WEB SERVER
Though most people are generally referring to the Web server side of
the house when they talk about IIS, many other common
Internet-related services are included in that package.

APPLE SUBDUES SOLO IPV6 BUG
Apple released Mac OS X 10.4.10 to patch a single security
vulnerability and address several issues in Bluetooth and USB, add
RAW image support for eight new cameras, and fix a decimal rounding
error.

THE CASE OF THE INSECURE SECURITY SOFTWARE
A little over a year ago I set out to determine exactly why, prior to
Window Vista, the Power Users security group was considered by most to
be the equivalent of the Administrators group.

OPINION: REAL-WORLD DISK FAILURE RATES OFFER SURPRISES
At this year’s USENIX File Systems and Storage Technology Conference
in San Jose, we were treated to two papers studying failure rates in
disk populations numbering over 100,000.

CREATE PASSWORD PROTECTED PDF FILES ON YOUR MAC
This article describes in details how to create password protected
PDF files on Mac OS X by using a freely available command line
utility, as well as an Automator Workflow.

ELEMENTS OF EFFICIENT AND SECURE SERVICE PROVISIONING WITH SOLARIS
Solaris 10 presents the systems administrator with a wealth of
significant advances in network performance, manageability, efficient
hardware utilization, and security.

CONGRESS GRILLS DHS CIO OVER REPEATED SECURITY BREACHES
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security faced
Congressional grilling yesterday over the (lack of) security on DHS
computer networks.

WASHINGTON STATE WORKS OUT $1M SETTLEMENT WITH ‘SAFE SURF’ VENDOR
So-called privacy service agrees to pay out for deceptive tactics,
sales of personal info.

REPORT OF CIA’S WIRETAPPING AND DIRTY TRICKS TO BE UNCLASSIFIED
In its first 25 years, the Central Intelligence Agency violated its
charter.

CYBER ATTACK HITS PENTAGON
The Defense Department took as many as 1,500 computers off line
because of a cyber attack.

MICROSOFT BETTER AT PATCHING XP THAN VISTA?
Data revealed by company, but interpretations are differing.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU… AND HE’S A COMPUTER
The threat of cameras combined with artificial intelligence.

DATA BREACHES COULD TAKE A TOLL ON E-COMMERCE
Customers are increasingly wary after losing data.

GOOGLE LOOKS TO U.S. TO CURB CENSORSHIP
Search engine asks gov’t to treat Internet restrictions as trade
barriers.

EXTRADITED COPYRIGHT INFRINGER SENTENCED
Hew Raymond Griffiths gets 51 months in prison.

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[ Advisories ]

All advisories are located at:

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Debian Security Advisory – clamav (DSA 1320-1)

Debian Security Advisory – maradns (DSA 1319-1)

Debian Security Advisory – tinymux (DSA 1317-1)

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – webmin (MDKSA-2007:135)

Debian Security Advisory – ekg (DSA 1318-1)

Apple Security Update – Safari 3 Beta Update 3.0.2
(APPLE-SA-2007-06-22)

Apple Security Update – Security Update 2007-006
(APPLE-SA-2007-06-22)

Ubuntu Security Notice – redhat-cluster-suite vulnerability
(USN-476-1 )

SUSE Security Announcement – SUSE Security Summary Report
(SUSE-SR:2007:013)

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – xfsdump (MDKSA-2007:134)

Ubuntu Security Notice – evolution-data-server vulnerability
(USN-475-1)

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – emacs (MDKSA-2007:133)

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – madwifi-source (
MDKSA-2007:132)

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – mozilla-thunderbird
(MDKSA-2007:131)

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – proftpd (MDKSA-2007:130)

Apple Security Update – Mac OS X v10.4.10 (APPLE-SA-2007-06-20)

Apple Security Update – Apple TV 1.1 (APPLE-SA-2007-06-20)

Turbolinux Security Announcement – firefox, seamonkey

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – jasper (MDKSA-2007:129)

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – libexif (MDKSA-2007:128)

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – apache (MDKSA-2007:127)

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory – PHProjekt: Multiple vulnerabilities
(GLSA 200706-07)

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory – Mozilla products: Multiple
vulnerabilities (GLSA 200706-06)

SUSE Security Announcement – libphp-phpmailer (DSA 1315-1)

Debian Security Advisory – open-iscsi (DSA 1314-1 )

Debian Security Advisory – mplayer (DSA 1313-1)

Debian Security Advisory – ibapache-mod-jk (DSA 1312-1 )

Debian Security Advisory – postgresql-7.4 (DSA 1311-1)

Debian Security Advisory – libexif (0.6.13-5etch1) (DSA-1310-1)

Debian Security Advisory – libexif (0.6.9-6sarge1) (DSA-1309-1 )

Mandriva Linux Security Update Advisory – mozilla-firefox
(MDKSA-2007:126-1)

Debian Security Advisory – postgresql-8.1, postgresql-8.2
vulnerability (DSA 1309-1)

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[ Articles ]

All articles are located at:
http://www.net-security.org/articles_main.php

Articles can be contributed to articles@net-security.org

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CREATE PASSWORD PROTECTED PDF FILES ON YOUR MAC
This article describes in details how to create password protected
PDF files on Mac OS X by using a freely available command line
utility, as well as an Automator Workflow.
http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1021

THE EXPLOIT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Alexander Sotirov is a Vulnerability Researcher at Determina Inc. In
this video, made at Black Hat Europe, he discusses on a general note
how exploit writers develop exploits.
http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1020

LOCK DOWN YOUR MAC WITH DOORSTOP X
When it comes to security, Mac OS X has proved on numerous occasions
that it is quite safe, right out of the box. However, that doesn’t
mean it cannot use additional security to prepare it for the Wild
West we call the Internet. Enter DoorStop X – a comprehensive
approach to securing your Mac.
http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1019

INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA RUTKOWSKA, SECURITY RESEARCHER
Joanna Rutkowska is primarily known for her contributions to Windows
Vista backdoor installation and hiding techniques. She is very
interested in stealth technology as used by malware and attackers to
hide their malicious actions after a successful break-in. This
includes various types of rootkits, network backdoors and covert
channels.
http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1018

COUNTING THE COST OF CYBER CRIME
Estimating the cost of an intrusion has never been easy. It is
something that IT managers grapple with regularly, particularly when
fighting for budgets. This article will attempt to explore some of
the considerations when contemplating the cost of a systems breach,
or indeed the cost of a possible ???‚?future???‚? breach.
http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1017

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[ Software ]

Windows software is located at:

Linux software is located at:

Pocket PC software is located at:

Mac OS X software is located at:

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NMAP PARSER 1.11 (Linux)
An nmap parser for xml scan data using PERL.

SHOREWALL 3.4.4 (Linux)
Shorewall is an iptables based firewall that can be used on a
dedicated firewall system, a multi-function masquerade gateway/server
or on a standalone Linux system.

THE DOORSTOP X SECURITY SUITE 2.0 (Mac OS X)
The DoorStop X Security Suite is an integrated, comprehensive
approach to securing your Macintosh on the Internet.

THE SLEUTH KIT 2.09 (Linux)
The Sleuth Kit is a collection of UNIX-based command line file system
forensic tools.

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[ Webcasts ]

All webcasts are located at:

===============================================================
Webcast: Designing IS Strategies to Stay Ahead of Network Threats
Date: 28 June 2007, 1:00 PM EDT
Organizer: Xtalks.com
Register at:

Event Speakers:

– Dan Lohrmann, CISO, State of Michigan
– Dave Cullinane, CISO, eBay
– Michael Yaffe, Director of Marketing, Core Security Technologies

Take Away Points Include:

– Demonstrating a Return on Investment in Security
– Strategic Cyber Security Project Case Studies – specifically looking at
– Internet Filtering
– Penetration Testing
– Anti-Spam Filtering
– IT Security Awareness
– Cyber Emergency Exercises – testing your defenses with a case study on Michigan’s involvement in DHS’s global exercise called Cyber Storm
===============================================================

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Thwarting Insider Threat, Strengthening Communications, and Meeting
Policy with Secure Internal Communications
Organized by Voltage on 26 June 2007, 1:00 PM

Designing IS Strategies to Stay Ahead of Network Threats
Organized by Xtalks.com on 28 June 2007, 1:00 PM

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[ Conferences ]

All conferences are located at:

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The International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN
2007)
Organized by DSN – 25 June-28 June 2007

3rd Annual GFIRST Conference
Organized by US-CERT – 25 June-29 June 2007

12th Australasian Conference on Information Security and Privacy
Organized by JCU – 2 July-6 July 2007

Information Security Asia 2007: SecureAsia@Bangkok Exhibition
Organized by Protemp Exhibitions Sdn Bhd – 10 July-11 July 2007
http://www.net-security.org/conference.php?id=220

Security ’07 – 16th USENIX Security Symposium
Organized by USENIX – 6 August-10 August 2007

3rd Annual Techno Forensics Conference
Organized by The TrainingCo. – 29 October-31 October 2007
http://www.net-security.org/conference.php?id=212

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This issue is sponsored by:

[ Security World ]

All security world articles are located at:
http://www.net-security.org/secworld_main.php

Send your press releases to press@net-security.org

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Safari Beta 3.0.2 for Windows fixes another batch of vulnerabilities
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5290

A closer look at UserLock access and control software
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5289

Backdoor discovered in popular financial planning software
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5288

PGP Corporation receives $27.3 million in Series C funding
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5287

Tips for protecting against malware, scams and identity theft
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5286

Spammers turn to PDF files in latest pump-and-dump scam
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5285

Virtualisation adopters face security challenges
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5284

Secure Computing updates its URL filtering solution
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5283

Designing IS strategies to stay ahead of network threats
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5282

Hackers insert footage of nuclear explosion into webcam
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5281

Reactions to the HP acquisition of SPI Dynamics
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5279

Break a security product beta and win prizes
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5278

Internet security forecast revisited
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5277

Capabilities and weaknesses of token-based authentication
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5276

HP to acquire web application security expert
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5275

Business model based on the malicious MPack tool
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5274

A closer look at Tor privacy tool
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5273

Fast-moving web threat spreads around the world
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5272

Monitoring all local and privileged user access to database
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5271

Hedgehog database security and insider threat prevention solution
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5270

New ASUS notebooks with biometric fingerprint sensors
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5269

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[ Virus News ]

All virus news are located at:

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A good week for trojans and worms

USB Flash Drive worm from the “good guys”

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This issue is sponsored by: