-----Original Message----- From: NIPC Watch To: Daily Distribution Sent: 3/19/02 5:41 AM Subject: NIPC DAILY REPORT FOR 19 MARCH 2002 NIPC Daily Report 19 March 2002 The NIPC Watch and Warning Unit compiles this report to inform recipients of issues impacting the integrity and capability of the nation's critical infrastructures. U.S. military scours Windows systems for hacker back doors. The US Army and Navy are conducting a high-priority security review of their Microsoft Windows systems for the presence of an unauthorized remote-control program, sources familiar with the investigation have confirmed. A representative of Wisconsin-based Binary Research International, which distributes RemotelyAnywhere, said military investigators contacted the company last week for assistance after an undisclosed number of copies of the program were discovered on Department of Defense computer systems. (NewsNow, 18 Mar) Cell phone, laptop networks connect. Laptop users may soon be able to roam like callers on cell phones. Nokia has developed a modem for laptops that can access 802.11b networks, which laptops use to surf the Net wirelessly, and cell phone networks. 802.11b transmits its signals in an unregulated and crowded spectrum shared by transmissions from cordless phones. Despite its shortcomings -- which include porous security against hackers and a signal that travels only 100 yards at a time - wireless technology has found a home in airport executive lounges, hotel lobbies, and a growing numbers of homes and businesses. Cellular carriers have their own wireless networks, using a signal that travels over a portion of spectrum licensed from the Federal Communications Commission. The signal travels for 30 or 40 miles at a time, but is significantly slower than 802.11b. (CNET, 17 Mar) Wireless worries in a 9/11 world. Seven million people access wireless networks, some of them hackers. There are fears that computer-controlled power grids, telephone networks, even water treatment plants could fall prey to wireless attack. "War dialing" and " war driving" are two hacking techniques employed. With war dialing, a hacker dials through phone numbers in search of a computer with an open front door. The war driving technique involves a hacker shuttling around neighborhoods looking for vulnerable systems. Unencrypted broadcasts make it possible for wireless hackers to hop onto a network, intercept, and then go out to the Internet or attack hosts within that network. "If at the same time that a serious terrorist attack happens, our phones stop working ... or our power goes out, it would amplify things considerably," says Kevin Poulsen, a former hacker who now writes about computer security issues for SecurityFocus.com. (MSNBC, 18 Mar) Hacking grows with Internet use. The US General Accounting Office reports that nearly two-thirds of roughly 250,000 attempted break-ins into federal computer systems were successful. The total number of reported computer security incidents doubled in 2001, compared with the previous year, with more than 52,000 Web site attacks, viruses, network intrusions and other security breaches recorded by the Computer Emergency Response Team at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University. Analysts predict the number of computer security incidents may double again this year. Experts say many companies just don't consider all the potential threats, or they don't place enough emphasis on computer security-allocating more money to other areas of their business. (Newsweek Web, 15 Mar)
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