FW: NIPC Daily Report, 29 August 2001

From: George Heuston (georgeh@private)
Date: Wed Aug 29 2001 - 09:46:11 PDT

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    -----Original Message-----
    From: NIPC Watch [mailto:nipc.watch@private] 
    Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 8:20 AM
    Subject: NIPC Daily Report, 29 August 2001
    
    
    NIPC Daily Report 29 August 2001
    
    Significant Changes and Assessment  - No significant changes.
    
    Private Sector - NTR
    
    Government - An individual is scheduled to face federal criminal charges
    this week in U.S. District Court in Miami for allegedly downloading a
    virus into his employer's computer system, crashing the network for
    nearly two full days.  This case, which comes a little more than a year
    after the first federal criminal prosecution of computer sabotage, is
    just one in a growing number of insider-based network attacks, according
    to federal law enforcement agents.  The US Secret Service, which splits
    its focus between protecting heads of state and conducting criminal
    investigations, is handling twice as many cases that involve insider
    attacks as just a year ago.  "Eighty percent of the cases we're seeing
    are from the inside or people who were formerly with the organization,"
    according to Bruce Townsend, special agent in charge for the Secret
    Service's financial crimes division.  "When you conduct an
    investigation, that's one of the first areas you need to look at
    now...It's not if you're going to be attacked, but when you're going to be
    attacked." (Source: Infosec News, 28 August)
    
    Stephen Trilling, Symantec's senior director of Advanced Concepts, will
    participate in a field hearing for the US House of Representatives
    Committee on Government Reform's Subcommittee on Government Efficiency,
    Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations.  The hearing is
    scheduled for 29 August and will be held in the City Council Chamber in
    San Jose, California.  It will examine the threats posed by computer
    viruses and worms to governments at the local, state and federal level
    in the US.  Trilling's testimony will focus on the key challenges that
    government entities face in providing the necessary Internet security to
    protect their operations from today's fast-moving threats.   (Source:
    Symantec Press Release, 27 August)
    
    International - E-business enthusiasm is wobbling within British firms,
    with two-thirds falling victim to cybercrime in the past year, a survey
    by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed on 29 August.
    Hacking, viruses, and credit card fraud are some of the more common
    offenses suffered by the 148 companies in the survey.  In addition, 69
    percent said that even though the financial loss was negligible, they
    fear their reputations could be tarnished.  The CBI data showed 53
    percent of businesses felt safe trading online with other businesses,
    but confidence dropped to 32 percent when it came to dealing with
    consumers via the web.  He urged the government to set up a national
    center for online crime, modeled along the lines of the Internet Fraud
    Complaint Center in the US, to combat the changing cybercriminal
    profile.  Once most Internet fraud was committed by someone inside the
    company but now external hackers pose the biggest threat, accounting for
    45 percent of attacks.  Former employees and professional criminals each
    make up 13 percent, with current employees accounting for 11 percent.
    The CBI also wants Prime Minister Tony Blair to extend the Computer
    Misuse Act of 1990 to cover attacks that bring entire computer systems
    to their knees.  (Source: Reuters, 29 August)
    
    On 29 August, Kansai Electric Power Co. said it has reached an agreement
    with Itran Communications Ltd. of Israel to apply its ultra-high-speed
    Internet access technology to existing power lines rather than
    conventional telephone lines.  Under the system, called power line
    communication (PLC), users will install a special modem developed by the
    Israeli start-up that links personal computers to the Internet via
    household electrical outlets.  "Users will be able to access the
    Internet from any room of their house that has a wall plug," Kansai
    Electric said in a press release.  The technology eliminates the need
    for telephone lines and also means electric power firms can avoid huge
    start-up costs when launching the new service as it uses existing power
    lines.  Kansai Electric aims to launch the new service once the
    government deregulates the use of high-frequency bands for PLC, expected
    as early as next year.  As the first step toward the practical use of
    PLC, Kansai Electric, Itran Communications and Matsushita Electric Works
    Ltd. established a joint venture on 29 August.  Linecom Company Inc.
    will research and develop necessary networking equipment for the new
    service.  (Source:  Tokyo Kyodo News Service, 29 August)
    
    A Russian hacker known as "RyDen" defaced a Web site touting
    Afghanistan's Taliban government and left a politically charged
    message.  The message criticizes the Taliban government for its recent
    move to ban Afghan citizens from using the Internet as well as poking
    fun at the Islamic fundamentalist leaders for outlawing the very tool
    that they have been using to promote their ideas.  Last week, the
    Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice
    announced that all foreigners and Afghan citizens residing in the
    country had to permanently disconnect from the Internet or risk
    punishment.  Last month, RyDen hit another Taliban Web site,
    www.taleban.com, where he left a message deriding Afghan leaders.
    Taleban.com is currently offline.  According to defacement mirror
    safemode.org, RyDen has been hacking Web sites since June 2001.  The
    majority of his defacements carry the same angry message.  (Source:
    Security Watch, 27 August)
    
    Vietnam has set new fines for illegal use of the Internet, including the
    spreading of prohibited information, and is tightening regulations on
    Internet cafes. Under a decree which takes effect 7 September, spreading
    prohibited information, pornographic material, and stealing passwords or
    private information are subject to fines of 10 million dong to 20
    million dong ($666 to $1,330), an official from the General Department
    of Post and Telecommunications said. The highest fine under the decree,
    70 million dong ($4,666), is for providing Internet service without a
    license and 20 million dong to 50 million dong ($1,330 to $3,330) for
    creating or spreading viruses on the Internet.  Last month, authorities
    in southern Ho Chi Minh City apprehended two 17-year-old boys who
    allegedly spread viruses and stole Internet accounts belonging to
    others.  The two boys were fined 5 million dong ($330) each in the
    country's first punishment of people accused of computer crimes.
    (Source:  Associated Press, 29 August)
    
    The Japanese Telecommunications Ministry will in Fiscal Year 2002 begin
    developing an ultra-high-speed Internet service, in which 1 million
    people will be able to receive high-resolution video images
    simultaneously, ministry sources said.  The Telecom Ministry plans to
    commercialize the new Net service by 2005.  Users will be able to
    instantly download various types of software to their personal computers
    and other digital equipment 10,000 times faster than through existing
    systems.  Because of the faster system, new types of Net shopping,
    digital distribution and other novel kinds of services will likely be
    created.  The ministry will ask Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.
    (NTT), KDDI Corp, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Fujitsu Ltd., and
    other companies and universities to join the project. (Source:  Tokyo
    Nihon Keizai Shimbun in Japanese, 29 August)
    
    Local electric utility companies in Germany launched what vendors
    boasted as the world's first commercial services for high speed Internet
    access via the power line, a potential competitor to DSL (Digital
    Subscriber Line) and cable.  Earlier attempts to offer Internet service
    through the electrical outlet were frustrated by technical problems.
    Now, however, the companies behind the commercial rollouts have solved
    problems such as electromagnetic incompatibility, created by
    transmitters and high-frequency transmission on the power line.  Other
    problems that have been solved include line noise, caused by various
    devices connected to the power grid, which can disrupt data
    communication.  If the technology proves itself, power line networking
    could become big, said Lisa Pierce a research fellow with Giga
    Information Group Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Power companies
    could be tomorrow's telecommunications operators, she said.  (Source:
    IDG, 29 August)
    
    Military - NTR
    
    U.S. SECTOR INFORMATION:
    
    Emergency Services - Reports show the D.C. Fire Department's $5.3
    million emergency radio system cannot properly broadcast to firefighters
    in more than four dozen locations.  These areas include major landmarks
    like the D.C. police, FBI Headquarters, Union Station, MCI Center and
    the State Department.  Firefighters' personal, portable radios also have
    trouble communicating with each other and reaching the communications
    center in these locations, according to fire department records.  After
    eight months of operation, the "dead zone" problems have become so bad
    that some firefighters are using their own cellular phones to call the
    incident commander during emergencies.  "It's a life-or-death situation,
    and they're using their cell phones as a backup," said Lt. Raymond
    Sneed, head of the D.C. Firefighters Association.   When the digital
    radios fail, firefighters often switch to Channel 16, a backup analog
    channel that allows the radios to work like walkie-talkies, sending
    signals to nearby squad members.  Fire department reports indicate that
    using the channel deactivates the emergency locator devices.  (Source:
    Washington Times, 29 August)
    
    Water Supply - NTR
    Gas and Oil Storage Distribution - NTR
    Government Services - NTR
    Electrical Power - NTR
    Telecommunications  - NTR
    Banking and Finance - NTR
    Transportation - 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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