-----Original Message----- From: NIPC Watch [mailto:nipc.watch@private] Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 8:29 AM To: Daily/Warning Distribution Subject: NIPC Daily Report, 6 December 2001 NIPC Daily Report 6 December 2001 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. Significant Changes and Assessment - The NIPC continues to monitor mass-mailing worm W32/Goner.A (See NIPC Alert 01-029, "VBS/Mass-Mailing Worm, W32/Goner.A." issued 5 December 2001). An update to the original alert message is now available as NIPC Alert 01-029.1 (http://www.nipc.gov/warnings/alerts/2001/01-029-1.htm). The alert update carries the full text of the Goner e-mail, along with information on the worm's ability to propagate via an online instant messenger (ICQ). The update also has additional information for individual and corporate users and system administrators. Full descriptions and removal instructions are located at these anti-virus Web sites: F-Secure Corp., Network Associates Inc., Symantec Corp. and Trend Micro Inc. Private Sector - The Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (CERT/CC) web site recently was subjected to a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack. The site was intermittently unreachable for many Internet users. A CERT/CC representative declined to provide details about the nature of the attack, but did say that the Internet worm Goner A, which contains a denial of service component, was not responsible for the attack. Reports from Internet users suggest the attack appeared primarily to affect access to the CERT.org site for visitors whose web page requests travel over network backbones provided by AT&T. (Sources: Newsbytes, 5 December) Posing as an employee of MCI Worldcom, computer security researcher Adrian Lamo cracked into that company's administrative networks last week and gained access to dozen's of the company's private networks. Lamo said he obtained thousands of employee records, and claimed that he could have compromised networks belonging to dozens of clients. An MCI spokesperson admitted the company had a security vulnerability, but said no customer networks were compromised. The security flaw has been fixed. (Source: MSNBC.com, 5 December) Government - The US government has approved a new data encryption standard to protect sensitive information in federal computer systems, replacing a dated and now insecure standard implemented in 1977. The National Institute for Standards and Technology selected the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to beef up security for a range of electronic transactions, from e?mail to e?commerce to ATM withdrawals. U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Don Evans said in a written statement that "the AES will help the nations protect its critical information infrastructures and ensure privacy for personal information about individual Americans." The Commerce Department expects the new encryption standard to remain secure "well beyond twenty years." (Source: Newsbytes, 5 December) International - The Australian computer industry believes that an early warning issued about attachments proffering a new screensaver under the subject heading "Hi" prevented the Goner A virus from causing widespread network disruption in Australia. Allan Bell, marketing manager of computer security firm Network Associates, said that despite several major companies reporting they had received the virus, significant damage to networks around the country was contained. (Source: Agence France Presse, 5 December) U.S. SECTOR INFORMATION: Electrical Power - As the power crisis eases throughout most of California, energy officials warned 5 December, that San Francisco and the surrounding area remains vulnerable to winter rolling blackouts. The region came close to experiencing blackouts over the past two weekends as unexpected plant shutdowns, increased demand and transmission line limitations left the area short on power, according to a top state power official. San Francisco and San Mateo counties are virtually isolated geographically from the rest of the state's power grid, making it more difficult to ship additional power to the region if plants in the area get knocked out of service. In response to the close calls, officials plan to intensify California's existing energy conservation campaign through radio and television advertising in the Bay Area and are considering incentives for businesses to shift operations to off-peak hours. (Source: SF Chronicle, 6 December)
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