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Friday, January 30, 2004 |
Security Maven Calls for Internet 'Disease Control' Agency, by Dennis
Fisher, EWeek.
The dominance of Windows in the marketplace continues to
represent a threat to the safety and security of the Internet and is a
problem that must be addressed at the highest levels of government, a
noted security researcher said in his keynote speech at the Black Hat
Windows conference here Thursday.
Dan Geer, one of the authors of last year's controversial paper on the
subject of the Windows monoculture on the Internet, said that the
assertions in the paper and his speech are not new and are beginning
to draw the attention of legislators and government officials in the
United States and abroad.
This wasn't a shot out of the dark. It's not a new idea, even though
in some sense I got fired publicly because I said this, said Geer,
who was fired as the chief technology officer of security consultancy
@stake Inc. following the paper's publication. This is a problem that
demands attention on the national government scale and maybe the world
scale. It is an idea whose time has come.
4:53:24 PM 
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Two from BNA News:
- DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN STORED AND INTERCEPTED EMAIL
USA Today's
CyberSpeak column focuses on recent caselaw and
developments involving the Electronic Communications Privacy
Act. The column notes that the caselaw suggests that
employers generally may not intercept emails in transmission
to or from their employees, though they can gain access to
stored emails.
-
FORMER MICROSOFT EMPLOYEE SENTENCED FOR SELLING
SOFTWARE
A former employee of Microsoft has been sentenced to 21
months in prison for obtaining software meant for corporate
use and selling it for personal profit. The man was ordered,
in part, to pay more than $4 million in restitution to
Microsoft.
12:51:25 PM
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In Nigerian Scam news:
Dutch police arrest 52 in email scam raids (Reuters).
Police on Thursday said the group was suspected of sending some
100,000 email messages to addresses in Japan and the United States.
The emails claim to be from a well-known individual or the individual's
relative and promise the recipient a percentage payment from a sum of up to
$20 million for help in transferring frozen funds to an accessible place.
In such scams -- made infamous by West African fraudsters -- once the
victim is hooked, he or she is then is usually asked to put up hefty sums
for air fares or other pretences.
It is surprising that despite repeated reports about this people
continue to be so naive as to take part in these proposals, the
statement said.
A police spokesman declined to say whether those arrested were Dutch
citizens or foreign nationals.
11:51:16 AM
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Microsoft wins Lindows fight in the Netherlands.
By Jan Libbenga, The Register.
Resellers of the Linux distribution Lindows in the Netherlands
were ordered today to stop selling the product. Amsterdam judge Rullmann
agreed with Microsoft that in many ways Lindows is profiting from the
success of Windows by infringing the Beast of Redmond's trademarks.
Within eight days Dutch resellers have to stop promoting and selling any
Lindows product. The Californian company isn't even allowed to advertise in
the Low Countries any longer and, even more remarkable, the judge has
ordered Lindows to make its Web site inaccessible to Benelux-based web users.
Dutch resellers are disappointed by the verdict. However, reseller Mensys
said that Dutch consumers will still be able to buy the product from
retailers in neighboring countries. So far, Microsoft hasn't challenged
German resellers, CEO Menso de Jong told The Register. And if
Microsoft wants to block access to the Lindows site, I suggest users try
the Google cache.
9:50:58 AM
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A How-To Guide for Hackers. Aspiring tinkerers can improve their skills in a snap with a new book containing practical tips on how to re-engineer almost every inanimate object in the home. By Michelle Delio. [Wired News]
6:41:20 AM
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