-----Original Message----- From: information_technology-admin@private [mailto:information_technology-admin@private] On Behalf Of InfraGard Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 6:28 AM To: Information Technology Subject: [Information_technology] Daily News 1/26/04 January 23, Federal Computer Week - NIST releases telnet, IT security drafts. Federal agencies desiring to minimize work disruptions from outside intrusions can begin with simple safeguards, such as preventing unauthorized users from using the telnet protocol to gain access to a server, according to officials at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Draft documents on computer security released Thursday, January 22, by the NIST give an example of how unauthorized telnet users simply identify themselves as a guest to gain access to sensitive government files. The Risk Management Guide for Information Technology Systems suggests that disabling telnet is about a 10-hour procedure. Practical advice in the 58-page document includes other ways that agencies can develop standards for safeguarding sensitive but unclassified information in federal computer systems. As applied to information systems, the guide says, risk management is a responsibility of executive managers to be shared with technical managers, and not a technical manager's sole responsibility. Engineering Principles for Information Technology Security, a 33-page document also released this week, offers an overview of accepted principles and practices for security information technology systems. Additional information can be found on the NIST Website: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts.html Source: http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0119/web-nist-01-23-04.asp January 22, CNET News.com - Security pros question flaw find. Two Internet software developers who said they have uncovered a way to cause entire networks of computers to freeze or shut down may have simply rediscovered an old network issue. The network performance issues are described in a series of Web site forum postings recently publicized within the security community. The poster, who uses the alias NT Canuck, said he created a tool, with the help of another developer, that can shut down entire networks. However, security researchers at the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Coordination Center downplayed the issue, saying that the program simply inundates a network with so much data that computers have problems functioning correctly. "We don't see any specific vulnerability being discovered here," said Jason Rafail, an Internet security analyst at the center. According to the Web posts, the programmers found that certain circumstances could be created that would cause a network of computers to freeze, and in some cases fail. The developers contacted Microsoft and the CERT Coordination Center; both organizations confirmed that they were contacted in November. However, Microsoft's Security Response Center (MSRC) has not been able to replicate the discoverers' exact findings, said Stephen Toulouse, senior program manager for the MSRC. Source: http://news.com.com/2100-7355_3-5145863.html?tag=nefd_top Internet Alert Dashboard Current Alert Levels AlertCon: 1 out of 4 https://gtoc.iss.net Security Focus ThreatCon: 1 out of 4 http://analyzer.securityfocus.com/ Current Virus and Port Attacks Virus: #1 Virus in the United States: WORM_SOBIG.F Source: http://wtc.trendmicro.com/wtc/wmap.html, Trend World Micro Virus Tracking Center [Infected Computers, North America, Past 24 hours, #1 in United States] Top 10 Target Ports 135 (epmap), 6129 (dameware), 1434 (ms?sql?m), 137 (netbios?ns), 445 (microsoft?ds), 901 (realsecure), 139(netbios?ssn), 80 (www), 53 (domain), 1433 (ms?sql?s) Source: http://isc.incidents.org/top10.html; Internet Storm Center _______________________________________________ Information_technology mailing list Information_technology@listserv
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