Friday, November 22, 2002

Law and Blogs: Panelists Denise Howell (Bag and Baggage) Jenny Levine (Shifted Librarian) Seth Schoen (Consensus at Lawyerpoint) Donna Wentworth (Copyfight and Greplaw) explored how blogs are changing the way legal information is delivered and distributed. Jenny Levine touched on the pivotal role of trust -- how RSS allows us to select information sources ourselves, and the role of librarians to act as connectors, to help us find the tipping point. Blogs have shifted information, by allowing experts to focus on the content, and allowing librarians to be better information shifters and gatherers. Denise Howell touched upon the marketing power of blogs for lawyers -- they're not e-mail, and not contributing to inbox glut. The very nature of weblogs reinforce the elements of trust, frequently updated, honest voice, etc., (citing Goldstein Howe's SCOTUSblog as a highly effective example of a weblog that delivers quality information AND markets the firm). Donna Wentworth framed the question: why blogs matter? (in the education context.) (1) Provides "natural fuel" that is self-replenishing (2) Blog's higher calling: Whistleblowing. Seth Schoen, a programmer, emphasized the clarity that a blog can provide on an obscure complex technical issue, which has parallel applicability to the law. [Rory Perry's Weblog] 20:07 #

Samsung offers £100K reward for Heathrow DRAM theft info Thieves stole £4.5m worth of computer memory from a warehouse near Heathrow, just hours after it arrived from Korea. Police are calling on computer dealers to watch out for cheap memory chips. The thieves conducted their "carefully planned" raid in the early hours of Monday, getting away with 290 boxes of memory on four pallets. Detective Chief Inspector Rupert Hollis said: "The items stolen are a large quantity of computer memory chips and it would be difficult to dispose of this quantity without already having plans in place." Which shows that he knows a lot more about crime than he does about the DRAM market. In the late 1990s, DRAM ram raids, robberies and theft of PCs for memory were two a penny Considering the prices of DRAM these days, criminals are less bothered, but the value of this haul - fitting snugly into a white van and a blue people carrier - shows that DRAM can still be a worthwhile blag. Also, it's a lot easier to dispose of than banknotes and less risky to sell than drugs. Samsung and its insurers are offering a £100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the people, or person, behind the $4.5m Heathrow computer chip theft in October [The Register] 17:26 # G!

Internal Microsoft Server Exposed Sensitive Information To The Internet A popular Microsoft file server remained partially offline on Thursday after it was discovered that the system exposed confidential internal documents and information on millions of customers, the company confirmed. Some Microsoft staff apparently didn't realize the server was publicly accessible, Microsoft said. The FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server is used to allow Microsoft customers to download drivers, software patches, and other files, as well as upload files for analysis by Microsoft tech support, the company said. The confidential documents were exposed because some Microsoft marketing staff were using the FTP server as a repository, not realizing that the server was open for public access. As of Thursday, users could upload -- but not download -- files to the server, Microsoft said. Among the files accessible were confidential company presentations, spreadsheets, internal reports and a 1 GB database of user names and mailing addresses, which was kept in a zip file that was easily opened with freely available password-cracking software. The FTP server was intended for use only by Microsoft's product support organization, but marketing staff were apparently using the server, unaware that it was accessible from the Internet. The confidential information was available on the server since Nov. 15 or earlier. Microsoft took the server offline on Monday and put it back up when it was cleaned of confidential files, but Microsoft employees then began uploading new confidential files to the server. [TechWeb: Security] See also: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/28252.html Microsoft made customer details - along with numerous confidential internal documents - freely available from a deeply insecure FTP server earlier this month. A well as numerous PowerPoint slides, such as Linux Vs Windows comparisons and .NET strategy papers, Microsoft "published" files an estimated 11 million customer email addresses and seven million snail mail address on the server. All these confidential files were protected by the same password which was easily defeated by standard password-cracking tools, another point Microsoft would do well to note in reviewing its security policy. 17:11 # G!

Justiz f[cedilla]r PR missbraucht Die Klage eines Spam-Unternehmens gegen einen Spam-Gegner wurde nun endgültig zurückgezogen. Nach Angaben des Klägers, wurde der gewünschte Werbeeffekt erreicht. [intern.de] 16:31 # G! Translate

Agency Weighed, but Discarded, Plan Reconfiguring the Internet he Pentagon research agency that is exploring how to create a vast database of electronic transactions and analyze them for potential terrorist activity considered but rejected another surveillance idea: tagging Internet data with unique personal markers to make anonymous use of some parts of the Internet impossible. The idea, which was explored at a two-day workshop in California in August, touched off an angry private dispute among computer scientists and policy experts who had been brought together to assess the implications of the technology. The plan, known as eDNA, called for developing a new version of the Internet that would include enclaves where it would be impossible to be anonymous while using the network. The technology would have divided the Internet into secure "public network highways," where a computer user would have needed to be identified, and "private network alleyways," which would not have required identification. [New York Times: Technology] 15:54 # G!

Blog Comment Spam I saw my first blog-comment spam today. David Weinberger's posting on open spectrum had one comment: a standard-issue Nigerian scam... [Freedom To Tinker] 15:32 # G!

Die Piraten des Darknet im Lichte der Microsoft-Forschung Eine Gruppe von Forschern aus dem Hause Microsoft hat sich anlässlich eines Workshops über Digital Rights Management Gedanken zum Filesharing gemacht. In einem 16-seitigen Dokument schildern sie die Entwicklung von Tauschvorgängen bei Software und anderem digitalen Material bis hin zu Passwörtern und Registrierschlüsseln -- in den 80er Jahren geschah das noch persönlich im privaten Raum oder auf dem Schulhof, entwickelte sich dann aber über das Napster-Prinzip bis hin zu modernen P2P-Börsen wie Gnutella. In den Worten der Forscher: Die Entwicklung ging vom "Sneakernet" bis zum "Darknet". Sie kommen zum Schluss, dass ein Kampf gegen das weltweite Tauschen aussichtslos ist. Es gebe weder geeignete Mittel gegen die Verbreitung von digitalem Material noch zum Schutz der Urheberrechte. [heise] See also: http://crypto.stanford.edu/DRM2002/darknet5.doc 15:01 # G!

Why is mi2g so unpopular? Richard Forno, author of The Art of Information Warfare and security consultant to the US Department of Defense, has launched a broadside against mi2g, accusing the UK-based security consultancy of spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt about cyberterrorism risks. In a critique entitled Security Through Soundbyte: The 'Cybersecurity Intelligence' Game, Forno questions mi2g's estimates of damage caused by cyber attacks and the whole basis of its 'cybersecurity intelligence' business. Much of Forno's criticism of mi2g chimes with that of VMyths editor Rob Rosenberger, who features mi2g high up in his hysteria roll call of security industry Prophets of Doom. Rosenberger's "relentless caricatures of the company's press releases, publicity blitzes, and founder, DK Matai" earned his pages - rather than mi2g's - top billing on Internet searches for the term "mi2g controversy", and provoked a nastygram from mi2g back in July. mi2g was also unhappy about Rosenberger's use of PR-supplied pictures of mi2g's founder Matai in his satirical stories. [The Register - Security] 12:49 # G!

Net activism offers lessons for ministers The increasing use of the internet by political activists could provide valuable lessons for the UK Government say experts. At a summit of ministers, business leaders and net experts in London this week, officials acknowledged that the government needed to do more to get citizens engaged in the political process online. And there were plenty of people on hand to offer advice. Dr Ian Kearns, head of the Digital Society Project at think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research told the conference that e-democracy must walk hand-in-hand with e-government. [BBC News Online] 11:09 # G!

Brief: T-Mobile installs GPRS network firewall In a move to head off hacker probes detected earlier this month on its GPRS cellular network, T-Mobile USA Inc. has installed a firewall. [Computerworld] 5:23 # G!

eBay Users Hit By Account Compromises, Scams Users of the popular online auction site eBay have been deluged with fraudulent e-mails, after a server glitch a week ago exposed bidder addresses for six hours. The messages contain spoofed links to clones of eBay and PayPal web pages, which usually ask users to resubmit their credit card number and other account information. These kinds of tricks have become commonplace the last few years, but this particular scam has been particularly confusing because eBay recently began e-mailing members whose accounts may have been compromised. The warning notices instruct recipients to change their account passwords, and in some cases fax a copy of their driver's license for verification. MSNBC's coverage of this story includes examples of what the legitimate and fraudulent messages look like - check it out if you receive any questionable e-mails. [Hideaway.Net] 3:51 # G!

RIAA's Anti-Infringement Site Infringes I swear I'm not making this up. DSLReports observes that the RIAA's new anti-infringement website, UnitedMusic, contained material copied without permission from a page at the University of Chicago. The RIAA has now removed the apparently infringing material. [Freedom To Tinker] 0:53 # G!

Blueprint hacker duped Dutch police have just disclosed that they searched the house of a computer hacker in Leusden on July 16, at the request of the American authorities. The 19-year-old man had evidently hacked the network of Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), an American architectural company involved in renovation work at the US Department of Defence, gaining access to alarm-system and other blueprints of the Pentagon and several FBI buildings. Reporting on the website WebWereld, the hacker said that he had accepted an offer by the firm of architects to help identify flaws in its network security in exchange for US$3,600, and had subsequently submitted his report. However, after disclosing his address the hacker found the police on his doorstep. Europemedia.net Nov 23 2002 6:10PM ET [moreover Computersecurity] 0:00 # G!