11. september 2006

Drastic poll for Labour! 7:24:44 PM    comment []

German police seize 'anonymizing' Tor servers. (InfoWorld) - In a crackdown on Internet child pornography, German police detected several servers running a copy of Tor, a software designed to anonymize Internet usage. "We seized or blocked an undisclosed number of servers during a raid, which is still underway," Jens Gruhl, a spokesman for the public prosecutors office of Konstanz, Germany, said Monday. "A few of these computers had installed copies of Tor." Users of Tor software in the country, worried about an unexpected visit by the police, have decried the move in a flurry of blogs. "This situation is disturbing, really disturbing," wrote Alexander Janssen, from Düsseldorf, Germany, in a blog post. "I run a Tor server myself and the last thing I want to experience is the police kicking down my door [and] seizing my computer." Gruhl said German crime officials are not specifically searching for servers running Tor but for servers distributing child porn. "That fact that police discovered copies of Tor is coincidental, not intentional." In his blog, Janssen reckoned that the seized servers were configured to be so-called Tor "exit nodes," allowing their IP (Internet Protocol) addresses to show up in the server logfiles in question. Tor was created to defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that "threatens personal anonymity and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships and state security," according to the Web site www.tor.eff.org. The software bounces communications around a distributed network of servers, called onion routers, protecting users from Web sites that build profiles of their interests, local eavesdroppers that read data or learn what sites they visit, and even the onion routers themselves. By John_Blau@idg.com (John Blau). [InfoWorld: Top News] 6:58:48 PM    comment []

Gallery: Inside the Freedom Tower. Tour the safety features designed into the new tower and see more ground zero buildings slated for 2012. [Wired News: Top Stories] 5:06:17 PM    comment []

Phishing sites hijack record number of brands. (InfoWorld) - Cybercriminals created a record number of phishing Web sites in July and also hijacked a record number of brands to help them do their work, a consortium that monitors online fraud said Monday. The number of phishing sites -- or fraudulent Web sites try to fool people into handing over sensitive personal information -- rose to 14,191 in July, an 18 percent increase over May, the previous all-time high, said the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG). The fraudulent sites mimicked a record 154 brands, up 20 percent over June and 12 percent over the previous high, also recorded in May, APWG said. The latest figures show that online criminals are diversifying to target smaller financial institutions, Internet service providers and even government agencies, the group said. However, the financial services industry is still targeted the most, with more than nine out of 10 phishing sites aimed at that sector. The technical sophistication of phishing attacks is also increasing. APWG said that 1,850 phishing sites attempted to download a Trojan horse, a program that conceals itself in another, harmless-looking file but can be used to harvest personal information or download other malicious programs to an infected computer. APWG also said that one security vendor, Websense, detected special toolkits for sale on Russian Web sites to construct this kind of attack when a user visits a Web page. They can be fairly cheap, too: prices range from $20 to $300, APWG said. Also on the rise are "traffic redirector" Trojans, which force users to certain Web sites without their consent, APWG said. Overall, the United States hosts nearly 30 percent of all phishing sites, followed by South Korea at 13 percent and China at 12 percent, APWG figures shoed. By Jeremy_Kirk@idg.com (Jeremy Kirk). [InfoWorld: Top News] 4:59:45 PM    comment []

Five Years Later, Memories and Lessons of Sept. 11 Remain Strong . On this morning five years ago, Steven M. Carter Sr. was at work as the assistant building manager for the Pentagon when terrorists slammed a jetliner into the nation's military headquarters. As others sought safety, he stayed in the building to help contain damaged power and water systems. By Stephen Barr. [washingtonpost.com - Business News From The Washington Post] 4:51:52 PM    comment []

Atlantis Docks With Space Station. The shuttle slid gently into place at the International Space Station this morning, 218 miles over the eastern Pacific Ocean. By JOHN SCHWARTZ. [NYT > Home Page] 4:47:00 PM    comment []

In pictures: 9/11 anniversary. Images from Ground Zero as the US commemorates five years since the 11 September terror attacks [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition] 4:41:18 PM    comment []

Federer in a Class by Himself. Andy Roddick was overmatched in the U.S. Open men’s final as Roger Federer took four sets to win his third straight title. By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY. [NYT > Sports] 4:38:59 PM    comment []

Norwegian synagogue in Oslo was terror target! 4:33:27 PM    comment []

Shame on you all Norwegians! Embassy quiet five years later 4:28:42 PM    comment []

Imam in Norway doubts bin Laden existence! 4:23:39 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2006 Olaf E. Roalkvam. Last update: 01.10.2006; 14:12:49.