[iwar] Historical posting
From: Fred Cohen
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Date: Mon, Jan 1, 1999
From: Fred Cohen
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Subject: [iwar] Historical posting
Hackers at WTO in Seattle
Apparently it wasn't enough for World Trade Organization
opponents to take to the streets. Some waged war on the host
committee's Web site during the group's tumultuous meetings
last year. A report prepared for the Seattle Host Organization,
which sponsored the meetings Nov. 30-Dec. 3, said there were
``hundreds of illegal attempts, particularly during November
1999, to knock us off the Internet.''
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/107168l.htm
Hacker jailed 6 months for $70G NASA prank
It took NASA more than five months and nearly $70,000 to fix
the space agency's Web site after it was cracked by a northern
Ontario computer hacker last year. Jason Mewhiney, 22, was
sentenced to six months in jail and fined $6,000 Monday after
pleading guilty to hacking charges. He was also banned from
owning computers during his probation period. "I don't think
for a minute that it was just a game or a prank," said Steven
Nesbitt, with NASA's corporate crime division. "It was a
significant intruder. It has cost a lot of people a lot of time
lost, time they would rather have been doing something else."
http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonNews/es.es-01-19-0050.html
Hacker tapped police phones
For Steven Boudrias, it was as easy as 1, 2, 3. And 4, 5, 6.
By using those numbers, Boudrias was able to break into the
voice-mail system of 27 Montreal Urban Community police
detectives in just two hours. Boudrias, 24, an unemployed South
Shore man, said investigators used simple access codes - like
123456. Or they used part of their telephone number as their
codes. He said he listened to confidential messages about fraud,
harassment and drug investigations because he could not help
himself. "I love the phone," he said. "It is like a drug."
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/pages/000119/3459998.html
Smurf Attakc snarls Web service
A or series of attacks on an Internet service
provider snarled Wide World Web traffic in as much as 70 percent
of the region last weekend, operators of the service say. OZ.NET,
THE only known target, has 7,000 subscribers but the effects may
have extended to most of the Internet users in the metropolitan
area and were felt nationwide, experts said Monday.
http://www.msnbc.com/local/king/483728.asp
Microsoft announced yesterday that it plans to release
the Windows 2000 OS worldwide using 128-bit encryption.
Assuming the software giant manages to make its promised
ship date, Win2K will be the first major product to be
exported with "strong encryption" since the government
eased export controls on software with such security features.
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/062249.htm
Crypto experts revel in less regulation
If the Wicked Witch of the West were a government regulator among
the cryptographers here, she'd be melting into a pool of water right
about now. A week after the Clinton administration announced it was
lifting most export restrictions on cryptography, the security crowd
gathered here for the RSA Conference 2000 danced, celebrated and --
you'll have to pardon them, this has been a long fight -- gloated over
the federal government's apparent change of heart.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2423792,00.html
Whither American dominance? / Net-crazy U.S. puts priority on cyber security
This is the second of a series of reports from various parts of
the United States that examine the country's vitality, potential
and influence. The number of Internet users in the United States
exceeded 110 million late last year, according to a U.S. almanac
on the computer industry. This figure far exceeds that of Japan,
which at 18 million ranks second in the world in the number of
Web surfers. With so many Americans using the Internet, the
United States has to take cyber security very seriously.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/0119so01.htm
A secure Internet can't have secrets
In the early years of distributed information systems, computer
security was the guard at the door of the club. The role of
computer security was to welcome the trusted few, who enjoyed
the run of the place once they got past the velvet rope. Security
has quite a different role in the electronic marketplace, as
described here at the RSA Conference 2000 by IBM's Jim Curtin.
In the context of e-commerce, Curtin asserted, security is an
escort, not a bouncer: Its task is to welcome the prospective
customer and to establish a relationship that's defined by
specific privileges rather than blanket trust.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2423895,00.html
Dodging a hack attack
Play it safe with your financial data
Just how safe is your data on the Net?
The stories are scary: Just before Christmas, a 14-year-old
kid was arrested in Toronto after hacking a company's site and
changing the passwords. He was arrested when he showed up to
collect his $5,000 ransom. A couple of weeks later, a Russian
hacker, 'Maxim,' held 300,000 credit card numbers hostage,
demanding CDUniverse pay him US$100,000. To make good on his
threat, he started posting the information publicly. So far,
CDUniverse hasn't paid.
http://www.canoe.ca/TechNews0001/19_connect.html
The Unbreakable Cipher: Why Not Just Stay With Perfection?
Codes and ciphers are a naturally fascinating topic, and many people
have become interested in them, at least for a time, after reading a
book on the subject in childhood. Long before DES, the complicated
and intricate Data Encryption Standard, came along in the 'seventies
at the dawn of the microcomputer era, there already existed a cipher
that was absolutely perfect, a cipher that no one could ever break.
And that cipher was known to the public, it wasn't a highly classified
secret known only to a few.
http://securityportal.com/topnews/crypto20000119.html