FW: NIPC Daily Report, 9 July 2001

From: George Heuston (georgeh@private)
Date: Mon Jul 09 2001 - 11:36:31 PDT

  • Next message: George Heuston: "FW: NIPC Daily Report, July 10, 2001"

     
    -----Original Message-----
    From: NIPC Watch [mailto:nipc.watch@private] 
    Sent: Monday, July 09, 2001 10:29 AM
    To: daily
    Subject: NIPC Daily Report, 9 July 2001 
     
    Significant Changes and Assessment  - No Significant Changes. 
      
    Private Sector -  ISS X-Force has discovered a buffer overflow
    vulnerabilities in two popular Remote Authentication Dial-In User Server
    (RADIUS) implementations.  RADIUS was originally designed to manage user
    authentication into dial-up terminal servers and similar devices.  It has
    since been used as a standard for access control and user authentication for
    numerous Internet infrastructure devices, including routers, switches, and
    802.11 Wireless Access Points.  RADIUS is typically implemented as a
    "secure" access-control solution for critical network components, and is
    also implemented as a supplement to weak security measures provided in
    802.11b specifications. The vulnerabilities may allow attackers to launch
    Denial of Service attacks against critical network components, bypass 802.11
    WLAN access control, or compromise and control protected network resources.
    (Source: InfoSec News, 7 July) 
    
    A security vulnerability was discovered in any Linux or BSD system running
    all versions of Samba, allowing an attacker to gain root access.  A remote
    attacker can use a netbios name containing Unix path characters which will
    then be substituted into the "%m" macro wherever it occurs in smb.conf.
    This can cause Samba to create a log file on top of an important system
    file, which in turn can be used to compromise security on the server.  The
    vulnerability can be exploited locally or remotely and can provide root
    access.  The solution would be to change smb.conf configuration file, or
    update to most recent release of Samba.  The risk is considered HIGH.
    (Source: InfoSec News, 7 July) 
    
    
    Pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly & Co. blamed a programming error for a recent
    incident in which it accidentally disclosed the e-mail addresses of about
    600 medical patients who had registered to get messages reminding them to
    take the antidepressant drug Prozac or to attend to other health related
    matters.  Analysts said the mistake points to the need for health care
    organizations to assess whether the way they communicate with patients
    violates medical data privacy rules found in the Health Insurance
    Portability and Accountability Act passed in 1996.  (Source: Computerworld,
    6 July) 
    
    
    International - On 6 July, Raphael Gray, aka "Curador," was ordered to carry
    out a three-year community rehabilitation order and to undergo psychiatric
    treatment.  Gray was apprehended by the FBI back in March after a month-long
    manhunt leading back to a tiny hamlet in Wales.  Gray had been charged with
    illegally obtaining 23,000 credit card numbers and obtaining services by
    deception.  He admitted illegally accessing eight online companies' customer
    databases, and his antics even included sending a shipment of Viagra to Bill
    Gates after obtaining Gates' credit card details.  (Source: vnunet, 6 July) 
    Between 5-6 July, a defacer known as TonikGin was responsible for a spree of
    Chinese government Web site defacements.  On those two days, TonikGin hit
    nine .gov.cn sites with a tenth being defaced by Azrael666.  TonikGin's
    defacement included a graphical logo, link to a CNN article titled "Hey!
    Macarena takes India by storm" and included a contact address,
    tonikgin01@private  (Source: Attrition.org, 9 July) 
    
    
    The number of reports of viruses infecting computers in Japan tripled in the
    first half of this year, compared with the same period a year earlier,
    according to figures released on 6 July by the Information-Technology
    Promotion Agency (IPA).  The IPA says the number of computer virus incidents
    reported to it from January through June soared to 9,569.  The increase is
    attributed to the spread of new strains of the Hybris and MTX viruses, which
    together accounted for 56% of all cases documented in the first half.
    (Source: InfoSec News, 7 July) 
    
    
    Computer crime will be one of the major threats to e-business in the future,
    but laws in Europe have a number of shortcomings.  The global nature of the
    Internet means that national laws may be difficult to apply and in order to
    protect themselves from bad publicity many companies are still unwilling to
    report security breaches to the police.  The efficient detection of computer
    crime is therefore being hindered by a lack of information from the victims.
    At the moment, the two major European bodies that are attempting to
    legislate against online crime are the European Commission and the Council
    of Europe, an association of 40 member states.  But these two organizations
    seem unable to agree on a common policy.  (Source:  ZDNet UK, 6 July) 
    
    
    Hackers have attacked state broadcaster RAI's non- stop news Web site,
    leaving messages against globalization and the upcoming G8 summit in Genoa.
    The RAI broadcaster said that a hacker had entered the home page of RAI News
    24 and inserted a photo of the planet and anti-globalization slogans in
    English.  Police are investigating the incident.  Over the past few months,
    RAI News 24 has provided extensive TV and Internet coverage of the 20-22
    July summit and the issues on the agenda.  The attack was similar to one
    carried out on 1 July on the Web sites at the Ministry for Production
    Activities and several Chambers of Commerce.  (Source: Italian News Agency
    ANSA, 7 July) 
    
    
    Military - The Army has lifted an electronic embargo on all commercial Web
    browsers that had left thousands of troops, and the general public, unable
    to access the service's public Web sites in Europe from home computers.  The
    sites were still available for computers running on the ".mil" domain
    servers, but fears of hacker attacks put the Army's online forces in Europe
    into bunker mode until computer experts could shore up defenses.  The
    Mannheim-based 5th Signal Command, which oversees all of the Army computer
    systems in Europe, imposed the block in May after discovering
    vulnerabilities in commercial software used to operate Web sites on many
    public-access computer systems.  The block was lifted gradually over the
    past month as computer experts gave individual Web sites the necessary
    electronic protections.  Officials said in a recent release that additional
    safeguards still are being put in place, and they expect work to continue
    through September.  (Source: Stars and Stripes, 6 July) 
    
    
    Government - A Commerce Department privacy Web site exposed proprietary
    information  that U.S. companies provided to the government in strict
    confidence.  Information included revenue, number of employees, and the
    European countries with which firms do business.  This information has been
    publicly accessible since the site went online last year.  Casual visitors
    even could modify information stored in the agency's database, permitting
    anyone to delete, for instance, Microsoft, Intel, or Procter & Gamble from a
    government-certified list of companies that can freely exchange information
    with European firms.  (Source: Wired News, 6 July) 
    
    
    Defacements - According to the Web defacement mirror sites Alladas.de and
    Attrition.org, the following U.S. military and state government sites were
    defaced between 5-9 July by the hacker(s) indicated: 
    
    
    · ATGPAC PACNORWEST Detachment Navy Web site (www.atgpnw.everett.navy.mil)
    was defaced by "PoizonB0x" 
    · Chippewa River District Library, Michigan Web site
    (vml-ntserver1.vml.lib.mi.us/) was defaced by "MIH" 
    · Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Commercial Fisheries Web site
    (www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/) was defaced by "TonikGin" 
    · Uustin Community College, Texas Web site (afs.austin.cc.tx.us/) was
    defaced by an unknown defacer 
    · Buckingham County Public Schools, Virginia Web site
    (www.buckingham.k12.va.us/) was defaced by "Evil Elisabeth" 
    · The Dothan City Schools, Alabama Web site (www.dothan.k12.al.us/) was
    defaced by "Murder" 
    · Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District, Massachusetts Web site
    (www.dy-regional.k12.ma.us/) was defaced by "badungbOy" 
    · Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Web site
    (www.townhall.chelmsford.ma.us/) was defaced by "badungbOy" 
    · Lumpkin Public Library, Georgia Web site (www.lumpkin.public.lib.ga.us/)
    was defaced by "Azrael666" and later by "em0r_r0id of ere.Corp" 
      
    U.S. SECTOR INFORMATION: 
    
    
    Banking and Finance - The FBI is investigating a June computer intrusion
    into a web banking company that may have compromised customer accounts at
    hundreds of U.S. financial institutions.  The attack against S1
    Corporation's Community and Regional eFinance Solutions Group, renamed from
    QUP after an acquisition last year, gave the hacker access to an internal
    network at the company's Atlanta-based 'Data Center,' which handles the web
    banking needs of approximately 300 small banks and federal credit unions
    across the country.  The hacker is believed to have cracked the network on
    19 June. The company's information security staff discovered the intrusion
    the next day, and monitored the hacker until 23 June, when they locked him
    out.  S1 spokesperson Paul Citarella would neither confirm nor deny the
    intrusion, citing customer confidentiality.  (Source: SecurityFocus, 6 July)
    
    
    
    Transportation - NTR 
    Telecommunications - NTR 
    Electrical Power - NTR 
    Emergency Services - NTR 
    Government Services - NTR 
    Water Supply - NTR 
    Gas and Oil Storage Distribution - NTR  
    
     NOTE:  Please understand that this is for informational purposes only and
    does not constitute any verification of the information contained in the
    report nor does this constitute endorsement by the NIPC or the FBI. 
       
    
     
    



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