Net-Sec newsletter 
Issue 32 - 02.10.2000 
http://net-security.org 

Net-Sec is a newsletter delivered to you by Help Net Security. It covers weekly 
roundups of security events that were in the news the past week. 
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Table of contents: 

1) General security news 
2) Security issues 
3) Security world 
4) Featured articles 
5) Security books 
6) Security software 
7) Defaced archives 




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In association with Kaspersky Lab (www.kasperskylabs.com), HNS staff 
created a new section of the site, with about 400 descriptions of well known and 
not so know viruses. Specially interesting part of that section are screenshots 
of 50 virus infections. All viruses are well categorized and easy to browse. 

Point your browser to this URL: 
http://www.net-security.org/text/viruses 
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General security news 
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RIJNDAEL CHOSEN BY US GOVERNMENT 
It took 23 years, 15 different algorithms, and two conferences, but the 
U.S. government has finally chosen a new encryption standard. The 
winner: Rijndael, a cipher created by a pair of Belgian cryptographers. 
Btw Rijndael web site is in the time of writing this item inaccessable. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.wirednews.com/news/politics/0,1283,39194,00.html 


HK GOVERNMENT STRIVES TO ENSURE INTERNET SAFETY 
Hong Kong government is making a lot of efforts to creating a trustworthy 
environment and provide a secure infrastructure for the conduct of electronic 
transactions, a senior information technology official said Thursday. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200009/30/eng20000930_51594.html 



WHAT ARE DIGITAL SIGNATURES? 
When President Clinton signed a law that gives digital signatures the same 
legal force as handwritten ones, he said Americans would marvel one day 
that this was considered a big deal. This short articles describes what are 
digital signatures. 
Link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SeattleTimes.woa/wa/gotoArticle?text_only=0&slug=esighow30&document_id=134236049&zsection_id=268448455 


HARDENING THE BIND DNS SERVER 
This paper presents the risks posed by an insecure DNS server and walks 
through compiling, installing, configuring and optionally, chroot'ing BIND 8. 
The test environment is Solaris 2.5, 2.6, 7 and 8. Many configuration and 
troubleshooting tips are provided, along with up-to-date references on 
BIND and alternatives for NT, Linux and Solaris. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://securityportal.com/cover/coverstory20001002.html 


SECURITY WITHOUT SERVICES 
Cisco Systems Inc.'s new security blueprint, Safe, isn't an acronym, but 
it might as well stand for "Services Are Found Elsewhere." The Safe 
initiative, introduced here at NetWorld+Interop last week, is Cisco's 
overarching attempt to simplify its security architecture and message for 
net work security users, many of whom have turned to companies such 
as Internet Security Systems Inc. and Check Point Software Technologies 
Ltd. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.zdnet.com/eweek/stories/general/0,11011,2635351,00.html 


TWO VIEWS OF HACKING 
For different perspectives on hacking, CNN Interactive posed a series of 
questions via e-mail to two experts in the field, one a computer security 
expert for IBM, the other, editor of 2600, the Hackers' Quarterly. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/qandas/ 


NEW TURN IN OLD WAR ON MACRO VIRUSES 
Personal firewalls have become all the rage to protect home computer 
systems against the Internet's vandals. Now, the concept is being 
adapted to protect those same computers from macro viruses. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/zd/20000929/tc/new_turn_in_old_war_on_macro_viruses_1.html 


MULTI-ATTACK VIRUS DISCOVERED BY NORMAN DATA DEFENSE 
Norman Data Defense said that it has discovered a new virus nnown 
as W32/MTX@mmin the wild that prevents virus patches from being 
downloaded. The IT security firm said that the program will attach 
itself to a second e-mail sent from a computer to a recipient and also 
block access to several major anti-virus companies' Web sites, blocking 
reporting e-mails to these sites as well. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.telekomnet.com/news/9-29-00_multiattackvirus_norman.asp 


HACKING IN SOUTH AFRICA 
During October, Ernst & Young aims to teach 60 people to break into 
Windows NT and Unix systems, and deface Web sites. A four-day 
Counterhack course, to be held in Cape Town and Johannesburg 
consecutively, will show corporate citizens with a responsibility for 
network security just how open their systems can be to attack. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://196.36.119.109/sections/computing/2000/0009290600.asp 


BT INTERNET SECURITY BREACH 
BBC reports that a serious internet security breach has been discovered 
at BT's free e-mail service Talk21. When following the link in the emails 
that users received, one person could easily see the refferer logs and 
enter their accounts. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_946000/946717.stm 


FBI CONSULTANT PLEADS GUILTY 
Max Butler aka 'Max Vision' on Monday pleaded guilty to one felony count 
of unauthorized access to protected computers and recklessly causing 
damage. The former FBI consultant on computer crime had been indicted 
by a federal grand jury in March and charged with fifteen counts of 
breaking into scores of US government computers as well as possessing 
the passwords of 477 customers of California ISP Aimnet. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/13582.html 


MITNICK TALKS CORPORATE SECURITY 
"Even though you've bought the best security products, some people 
will break through," he said, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and tie. 
"There's no sure-fire way to protect yourself. You have to manage the 
risk. There's no way you can eliminate it." 
Link: http://www.crn.com/Sections/BreakingNews/dailyarchives.asp?ArticleID=20257 


FREEBSD 4.1.1 
Since 4.1-RELEASE was produced in August 2000, RSA released their 
code into the public domain and a number of other security enhancements 
were made possible through the FreeBSD project's permission to export 
cryptographic code from the United States. These changes are fully 
reflected in 4.1.1-RELEASE, making it one of the most secure "out of the 
box" releases of FreeBSD. 
Contributed by Apocalypse Dow 
Link: http://docs.freebsd.org/cgi/getmsg.cgi?fetch=0+0+current/freebsd-announce 


HIPAA STANDARDS FOR SECURITY AND ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES 
This issue of HIPAA's Impact on Health Care and Other Industries outlines 
HIPAA mandates for Security and Electronic Signature Standards. Since 
robust security is a critical component of any successful business, HIPAA 
standards provide sound security practices that will benefit any organization 
that conducts business electronically. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.gigaweb.com/Content/Adhoc/RAH-092000-00020.html 


HACKERS NOT WANTED FOR HACK JOB 
A British IT company launched an anti-hacking unit Wednesday but said 
some of the best qualified candidates - the hackers - need not apply. The 
unit, which sees itself as capable as a hacker, is trying to tap the rapidly 
growing market for companies keen to protect themselves from cyber attacks. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,39093,00.html 


ATTACKED WEBSITES COULD FACE LIBEL THREAT 
Unsuspecting network managers could find themselves at the centre of libel 
action if their attacked websites publish slanderous statements. Despite not 
originating the offensive material, with software defences improving, ignorance 
may not be considered a defence in future. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.vnunet.com/News/1111742 


LINUX VIRUSES: SCANNER PLACEMENT 
"A virus scanner doesn't do you any good if it's not somewhere along the 
path the virus takes to get into your network, onto your machine, and then 
executed. When deploying antivirus software, there are a number of factors 
to consider..." 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://securityportal.com/articles/linuxvirus20000926.html 


CARNIVORE REVIEW TEAM EXPOSED! 
An embarrassing oversight by the Justice Department has revealed confidential 
information about the team of researchers hired to conduct the review. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,39102,00.html 


TRULOCK SUES FBI, CIA, DOE, STATE DEPT. & WHITE HOUSE 
Renowned former Energy Department Counter-Intelligence Director Notra 
Trulock filed two new lawsuits to protect his rights to speak freely about 
the gross negligence and coverup by the Clinton-Gore Administration over 
the historic breach of national security at the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory. 
Previously, when officials at the FBI illegally broke into his home and seized 
his computer, Mr. Trulock and his landlord, Linda Conrad, filed a civil rights 
lawsuit against FBI Director Louis Freeh, and others who were responsible. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://cipherwar.com/news/00/notra_trulock_3.htm 


CISCOSECURE 
Cisco Systems will launch CiscoSecure Encyclopedia, a free online source of 
news and information about network security issues, in Q4 this year. The 
Encyclopedia will include advice on issues like how to defend websites against 
denial of service attacks, and information about new security threats as they 
arise. Cisco Security Associates such as Baltimore, Verisign, F-Secure, RSA, 
Entrust and Microsoft are expected to make an active contribution. 
Link: http://www.netimperative.com/technology/newsarticle.asp?ArticleID=5394&ChannelID=3&ArticleType=1 


E*TRADE FIXES ONE SECURITY PROBLEM, ADMITS ANOTHER 
by LogError Wednesday 27 September 2000 on 12:26 AM 
The vulnerability came to light after the company rushed to fix another security 
problem over the weekend. On Friday, San Francisco computer programmer 
Jeff Baker reported on the Bugtraq security mailing list that programming 
problems at E*Trade had left individual customer accounts vulnerable to 
attacks. Baker identified at least two problems: vulnerability to cross-site 
scripting and an insecure cookie used to log into the popular online brokerage. 
E*Trade fixed its cookie problem Sunday, changing the algorithm by which it 
scrambled the cookie data. But the cross-site scripting vulnerability remains. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-2870712.html 


QUANTUM CRYPTO SECRETS FROM JAPAN 
Mitsubishi and Hokkaido University have completed a latest round of 
experiments in quantum cryptography over optical fibres. The two 
organisations say that their quantum cryptographic system is a success, 
and could have important implications for optical fibre networks already in 
use. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/13536.html 


NEW LINUX-CRYPTO MAILING LIST 
Marc Mutz announced a new mailing list intended to be a forum for all sorts 
of crypto topics concerning Linux. "Since this list is new, it will be low-volume. 
If that volume grows, we may split the list into -devel and -users, but as for 
now, everyone is welcomed with open arms to join the list - be it newbie, 
be it developer." 
Link: http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2000-09-26-009-04-NW-CY 


RUSSIAN CARNIVORE TO SHUT DOWN? 
The Supreme Court of Russia nullified one of the articles of the Ministry of 
Communication Order No. 130, this year. The infamous Order would have 
forced telecom/datacom operators to install surveillance equipment on their 
networks. Being deployed such a system (the so called "SORM", Russian 
acronym for System of Research Operative Measures, much similar to the 
FBI’s Carnivore) would have enabled the ex-KGB to exercise effective 
technological circumvention of current legislation on privacy. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/cgi-bin/news.cgi?url=http://cryptome.org/ru-sormshut.htm 

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Security issues 
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All vulnerabilities are located at: 
http://net-security.org/text/bugs 


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CONECTIVA LINUX SECURITY - IMP UPDATE 
There are several vulnerabilities in the horde and imp packages shipped with 
Conectiva Linux that allow an user to execute remote commands on the server 
as the user "nobody". 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/969921756,56833,.shtml 


NMAP DOS AGAINST OPENBSD IPSEC 
The protocol scanning option (-sO) in 2.54 Beta releases of nmap results in a 
remote denial of service against OpenBSD 2.7's IPSEC implementation due to its 
inability to handle tiny AH/ESP packets. Nmap protocol scans repeatedly cycle 
through IP protocol version numbers, attempting to elicit ICMP Protocol 
Unreachable messages in order to discover which IP protocols (ICMP,TCP,UDP, 
GRE,AH,ESP, etc.) are active on the target device. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/969962574,40124,.shtml 


CALDERA SECURITY ADVISORY - FORMAT BUG IN LPRNG 
There is a format bug in the LPRng printer daemon that could possibly be 
exploited to obtain root privilege. This problem is particulary severe because 
it can be exercised remotely. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/969962727,59437,.shtml 


NEW VARIANTS OF TRINITY AND STACHELDRAHT 
New versions of Stacheldraht and Trinity distributed denial of service attack 
tools have been found in the wild. The new versions of Stacheldrahtinclude 
"Stacheldraht 1.666+antigl+yps" and "Stacheldraht 1.666+smurf+yps". A variant 
of the Trinity tool called "entitee" has also been reported. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/969963115,73435,.shtml 


MEDIA PLAYER 7 "OCX ATTACHMENT" VULNERABILITY 
The USSR Team has found a problem in the Windows Media Player 7 ActiveX 
control, which could be used in a denial of service attack against RTF-enabled 
e-mail clients such as Outlook 2000 and Outlook Express. If the affected control 
were programmatically embedded into an RTF mail and then sent to another user, 
the user's mail client would fail when he closed/moved the mail. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970053513,31576,.shtml 
The vulnerability has been patched. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970053598,21505,.shtml 


IE 5.5/OUTLOOK EXPRESS SECURITY VULNERABILITY 
Internet Explorer 5.5/Outlook Express/(probably Outlook if Active Scripting is 
enabled) under Windows 98/2000 (suppose all other versions are also vulnerable) 
allow reading local and UNC files. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970053772,30044,.shtml 


CISCO SECURE PIX FIREWALL MAILGUARD VULNERABILITY 
The behavior is a failure of the command "fixup protocol smtp [portnum]", which 
is enabled by default on the Cisco Secure PIX Firewall. If you do not have 
protected Mail hosts with the accompanying configuration you are not affected 
by this vulnerability. To exploit this vulnerability, attackers must be able to make 
connections to an SMTP mail server protected by the PIX Firewall. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970095462,66863,.shtml 


PALMOS PASSWORD RETRIEVAL AND DECODING 
PalmOS offers a built-in Security application which is used for the legitimate user 
to protect and hide records from unauthorized users by means of a password. In 
all basic built-in applications (Address, Date Book, Memo Pad, and To Do List), 
individual records can be marked as "Private" and will only be accessible if the 
correct password is entered. It is possible to obtain an encoded form of the 
password, determine the actual password due to a weak, reversable encoding 
scheme, and access a users private data. In order for this attack to be 
successful, the attacker must have physical access to the target Palm device. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970146391,76361,.shtml 


E*TRADE SECURITY CONCERNS - FORWARD #1 AND #2 
"I wrote E-Trade expressing my concern about the security vulnerabilities that 
people are discussing on Bugtraq. Here's their response." 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970162272,16928,.shtml 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970165300,30855,.shtml 


NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR BUFFER OVERFLOW 
Netscape Navigator is vulnerable to trivial, remote buffer overflow attack when 
viewing prepared html: 
< form action=something method=something> 
< input type=password value=reallylongstring...> 
....other form tags... 
< /form> 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970185574,9095,.shtml 


SCP FILE TRANSFER HOLE 
This issue appears quite often - tar suffers from problem of this kind as well 
(using cute symlink tricks, you can create an archive, which, when unpacked, 
can overwrite or create specific files anywhere in your filesystem). This time, 
similar scp vulnerability has been found and acknowledged in sshd 1.2.xx releases 
(no information on 2.0.xx). When you are scp'ing files from remote machine to 
your local computer, modified scp service on the second endpoint can spoof 
legitimate scp data, overwriting arbitrary files. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970403620,35951,.shtml 


CONECTIVA LINUX - PROBLEM WITH TRACEROUTE 
Previous releases of traceroute contained some problems that could be exploited 
to gain local root access. All users should upgrade the traceroute package. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970406453,49781,.shtml 


CALDERA LINUX - PROBLEMS WITH TRACEROUTE 
There is a bug in the traceroute command that can possibly be used by local 
users to obtain super user privilege. There are no exploits available so far, but 
we encourage our customers to upgrade nevertheless. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970406605,5363,.shtml 


HOW SLASHDOT GOT PENTRATED INTO 
In prior versions of slash there are several issues that one must be aware of that 
are covered in the INSTALL. One must change the default admin user/passwd 
from God/Pete to something else. Proper setup of Slashcode depends on people 
reading the INSTALL. Because of the slash install and code not having something 
that forces the admin user to change the password, one may inadvertently be 
leaving themselves open to access from the outside by unauthorized users. 
Link: http://www.net-security.org/text/bugs/970407017,97688,.shtml 

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Security world 
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All press releases are located at: 
http://net-security.org/text/press 

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INCORRECT AND MISLEADING NEWSPAPER CLAIMS - [25.09.2000] 

Fiserv, Inc. announced that a story in Sunday's Observer and Guardian 
newspapers in London alleging Internet banking security breaches involving 
Fiserv clients was incorrect and misleading. A British Internet banking customer 
quoted in the stories accessed only demonstration accounts at sites maintained 
for clients of a Fiserv servicing unit. The demonstration accounts contain only 
fictitious data used for training and sales purposes. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/969896092,84365,.shtml > 

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24/7 MEDIA SUPPORTS E-MAIL PRIVACY PROTECTION - [25.09.2000] 

24/7 Media, one of the largest global Internet marketing and technology solutions 
companies, announced it intends to vigorously support the guidelines set forth 
this morning by the Responsible Electronic Communications Alliance (RECA), 
which call for industry-wide standards to protect consumer privacy. A draft of 
the new guidelines was announced at the DMA Net.Marketing event in Boston. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/969896167,16298,.shtml > 

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INTRUSION.COM ANNOUNCES INVESTMENT BY SAIC - [25.09.2000] 

Intrusion.com, Inc. announced that SAIC Venture Capital Corporation exercised 
its second and final warrant to purchase 750,000 shares of Intrusion.com 
common stock for $10.50 per share. As a result of the exercise of this warrant, 
Intrusion.com received approximately $7.9 million. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/969896225,42751,.shtml > 

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ESECURITY INNOVATION CENTRE - [26.09.2000] 

JAWS Technologies Inc., a leading provider of end-to-end information security 
solutions, announced TELUS Corporation has signed on as a founding sponsor of 
the eSecurity Innovation Centre. Launched jointly by the University of Calgary 
and JAWS, the eSecurity Innovation Centre is a facility that brings together the 
latest technology and the most skilled computer security professionals from 
around the globe to generate information security solutions. The first-of-its-kind 
facility will serve as a focal point for computer security training, certification, 
demonstrations, research and development, as well as cybercrime investigations. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/969922167,45152,.shtml > 

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IKEY ENABLES LAPTOP AND WEB-SERVER SECURITY - [26.09.2000] 

Recent high-profile Web site hacks, headline-making system abuse and corporate 
laptop thefts have highlighted a growing need for the type of strong, two-factor 
authentication enabled by Rainbow Technologies' iKey workstation security 
solution. This small, lightweight token fits on a key ring and can be used to 
secure any USB-enabled computer, from the CEO's notebook to a company's 
Web server. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/969922231,40909,.shtml > 

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VPN CONSORTIUM CERTIFIES CYLINK’S NETHAWK VPN - [26.09.2000] 

E-business security pioneer Cylink Corporation announced that its NetHawk VPN 
has received IPSec-standard conformance certification from the Virtual Private 
Network Consortium, the international trade association for manufacturers of 
appliances that create private networks to run over the public Internet to 
ensure user privacy. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/969922458,83423,.shtml > 

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SECURECOM NET AND RAINBOW TECHNOLOGIES PARTNER - [27.09.2000] 

SecureCom Networks, Inc., a leading provider of Internet communications 
security appliances, and Rainbow Technologies Inc., a leading provider of 
high-performance security solutions for the Internet and eCommerce, 
announced an agreement to integrate Rainbow's CryptoSwift technology 
into SecureCom Networks' Secure Mail Router appliance family, the S/MX 
series. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970089462,96618,.shtml > 

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THE INDUSTRY FIGHTS BACK AGAINST DDOS - [27.09.2000] 

Top computer security executives discussed the latest requirements and 
technologies to provide early warnings of, mitigate the impact of, reduce 
production outages and system breakdowns from, and promote industry-wide 
communications regarding Denial of Service attacks through the Internet. The 
event, which included a public panel discussion and reception, was held at the 
Ritz Carlton Hotel in conjunction with NetWorld+Interop 2000 in Atlanta. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970089541,90808,.shtml > 

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E-SECURITY CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION - [27.09.2000] 

Intermedia Group and META Group announced that the E-Security Conference & 
Exposition has exceeded all expectations and garnered record industry support, 
establishing the event as the industry's leading forum for e-security education 
and solutions. The event is targeted at business and information technology 
managers that have direct or indirect responsibility for their organization's overall 
e-business security. The event will be held in Washington, DC November 30 - 
December 1, 2000. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970089662,64034,.shtml > 

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SEATTLE LAB ANNOUNCES REMOTENT-2000 V3.1 - [28.09.2000] 

RemoteNT-2000 version 3.1, offering comprehensive network administration and 
monitoring with Web-based access, was released by Seattle Lab. RemoteNT-2000 
v3.1 enables system administrators to easily monitor their systems for security 
and NT events, download the event log and schedule tasks. One of the key 
features in the latest release of RemoteNT-2000 gives administrators the ability to 
monitor security audits and logon attempts based on an NT event from the event 
log and performance counters. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970161760,3573,.shtml > 

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ZTANGO CHOSES RSA FOR ITS WAP GATEWAY SOLUTION - [28.09.2000] 

Ztango, a Wireless Application Service Provider providing wireless extension and 
wireless application solutions to network operators, e-companies, and corporations, 
announced that it has licensed RSA BSAFE Crypto-C software from RSA Security 
Inc. for its WAP gateway product. By including RSA Security's software in its 
gateway solution, Ztango is able to deliver end-to-end secure communications 
for a wide variety of applications, commerce and financial services. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970161861,71920,.shtml > 

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SECURE COMPUTING HELPS 3COM IN EXTRANET SECURITY - [28.09.2000] 

Secure Computing announced that it is helping 3Com Corporation develop the 
next-generation of information technology security. The two companies are 
combining their expertise to address a segment of corporate information 
technology assets that is largely un-addressed today and where, according 
to recent US Federal Bureau of Investigation studies, the majority of security 
breeches occur - inside the perimeter of the firewalls. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970161964,54863,.shtml > 

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SAFEGUARD PERSONAL FIREWALL BY UTIMACO - [29.09.2000] 

SafeGuard Personal FireWall complements Utimaco Safeware AG´s range of 
Internet security products. The company now offers a seamless security concept 
for professional Internet workstations from smartcard-based authentication to 
encryption, digital signature and VPN to firewall systems. SafeGuard Personal 
FireWall protects Internet-connected PCs against attacks which firewalls and 
virus scanners are powerless to stop. Designed to enhance a company´s central 
firewall system, the new product can also provide genuine firewall protection to 
mobile and remote workstations (notebooks, telecommuter workstations). 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970227951,73648,.shtml > 

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E&Y LAUNCHES ANTI-HACKING COURSE IN SOUTH AFRICA - [29.09.2000] 

True to the organisation's commitment to generating ideas and solutions that 
positively transform clients' businesses, Ernst & Young South Africa - part of 
the global network of Ernst & Young International - has announced the launch 
of the first definitive anti-hacking course in South Africa. Titled counterhack 
TM, the course is designed to familiarise approved participants with network 
based attack and penetration techniques that hackers may use against 
corporate networks. Being completely solutions driven and determined to deliver 
and share a superior knowledge base with clients, Ernst & Young will demonstrate 
to participants - in a detailed, methodical manner - how to compromise and 
ultimately how to protect a system and network from attack. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970256875,11930,.shtml > 

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ISS FORMS STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNITS - [29.09.2000] 

To accelerate the delivery of its market-leading security management solutions 
and continue to meet customers’ information protection needs in a growing market, 
Internet Security Systems announced its new corporate organizational structure. 
The company will form two strategic business units - Enterprise Solutions and 
Managed Security Services – each chartered to address unique customer needs 
and delivery requirements of ISS’ leading SAFEsuite enterprise security 
management products and outsourced security, consulting and education services. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970258423,96440,.shtml > 

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SECURE INTERNET MESSAGING SOLUTIONS FROM SENDMAIL - [02.10.2000] 

Sendmail, Inc., a leading provider of Internet messaging solutions, announced 
that several of its content management partners are ready to deliver their mail 
filter plug-ins for use with its product lines. Sendmail, Inc.'s partnerships with 
ActiveState, Brightmail and Trend Micro were developed to deliver secure 
Internet messaging solutions to enterprises and service providers who rank 
security and control of their Internet messaging systems as critical requirements. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970509916,41460,.shtml > 

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LINUXSOLVE INC. LAUNCHES THE LINUXSOLVE CACHE - [02.10.2000] 

LinuxSolve, the leading developer of secure server appliances for Internet 
infrastructure, announced that it is shipping the Cache secure server appliance, 
the industry's first secure internet caching appliance. The LinuxSolve Cache is the 
latest in a strong line of secure server appliance products introduced by LinuxSolve. 
The Cache product enables content consumer-side or content delivery-side 
companies to speed up the loading of frequently accessed Web pages, cache DNS 
information, IP and Web address filtering for content, and reduce overall latency 
times, freeing up network traffic. 

Press release: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/press/970510011,37533,.shtml > 

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Featured articles 
----------------- 

All articles are located at: 
http://www.net-security.org/text/articles 

Articles can be contributed to staff@net-security.org 

Listed below are some of the recently added articles. 

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SURFING BETWEEN THE FLAGS: SECURITY ON THE WEB by Catherine Allen 

This paper discusses security with respect to the World Wide Web. This paper 
is aimed to promote an awareness of security issues in general WWW users 
without resorting to scare tactics. Practical solutions and precautions for 
security problems are discussed. The concepts and issues described in this 
paper apply to all operating systems, servers and clients, although 
implementation differences may cause different specific vulnerabilities. 
Examples used throughout this paper assume a UNIX host. 

Article: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/articles/surfing.shtml > 

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THE SIX HEADED SPAM MONSTER by Berislav Kucan aka BHZ 

Several days ago I visited an on-line forum of one of the Internet Presence 
Providers (IPP) in my country and found and topic dealing with spam. One user 
of the IPP in this topic, posted that by accessing his web site he receives the 
standard 403 forbidden message. He thought that it was some kind of a problem 
on the server, but the reality is that his account was shut down (and all files 
deleted?)... 

Article: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/articles/spamrant.shtml > 

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SURVEY 2000 - SECURITY FOCUSED 

New research confirms that corporations are spending more and more money on 
securing their digital information, but cybersecurity breaches continue to climb 
anyway. According to a survey published this month in Information Security 
magazine, the number of companies spending more than $1 million annually on 
computer security nearly doubled in the past year, and is up by 188 percent 
over the last two years. Nevertheless, security breaches originating from both 
inside and outside the corporation continue to grow as the threat of outside 
hackers and deviant/careless employees increases. 

Survey: 
< http://www.net-security.org/text/articles/index-download.shtml#Survey > 

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Featured books 
---------------- 

The HNS bookstore is located at: 
http://net-security.org/various/bookstore 

Suggestions for books to be included into our bookstore 
can be sent to staff@net-security.org 

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NETWORK SECURITY ESSENTIALS: APPLICATIONS AND STANDARDS 

Provides an integrated, comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of internet-based 
security tools and applications vital to any treatment of data communications 
or networking. 

Book: 
< http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130160938/netsecurity > 

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SECURE ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR 
DIGITAL SIGNATURES AND ENCRYPTION 

This book describes the technologies used to make electronic commerce secure, 
together with their business and legal implications. The book begins with an 
introduction to the underlying technologies and inherent risks of electronic 
commerce. It considers the role of computer networks, the Internet, EDI and 
electronic mail, as well as the problem of ensuring that electronic transactions 
are resistant to fraud, may be traced, and are legally binding in all jurisdictions. 

Book: 
< http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0134763424/netsecurity > 

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TANGLED WEB: TALES OF DIGITAL CRIME FROM THE SHADOWS OF CYBERSPACE 

With the intense growth of e-business, we hear about an increase in hacking 
and technology-based criminal incidents. Institutions such as Citibank and Ebay 
have faced intrusions that have cost them millions of dollars in damages. With 
the onset of these criminal attacks, there is an increase in demand for products 
and services that provide more information for people. Tangled Web: Tales of 
Digital Crime from the Shadows of Cyberspace portrays the shadow side of 
cyberspace by taking you into the lairs of hackers, crackers, researchers, 
private investigators, law enforcement agents and intelligence officers. The 
book covers what kinds of cyber-crimes are going to affect business on the 
Internet, their cost, how they are investigated, and the motivation of hackers 
and virus writers. Also covered are the problems faced by law enforcement, 
corporate cyber security professionals, and real-world examples of cyber 
crimes and lessons learned. 

Book: 
< http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/078972443X/netsecurity > 

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HIGH TECHNOLOGY CRIME INVESTIGATOR'S HANDBOOK 

This book is coming at a time when high technology crime is growing at a rapid 
pace, and private and public law enforcement are struggling to keep up. The 
book will inform readers about the potential of high tech crimes, in addition to 
the resources that are available to combat them. This book is unique in that it 
fully covers the management of a high tech investigation unit. Criminals today 
are often better equipped than the agencies responsible for stopping them. 
Federal, state, county, and local law enforcement agencies and civilian 
investigative organizations lag far behind in their procurement and use 
of high technology equipment, and methods of conducting technology-related 
investigations. 

Book: 
< http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/075067086X/netsecurity > 

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SMART CARD SECURITY AND APPLICATIONS 

Smart cards are all around us, and their security features can be utilized to 
protect data in almost any computer system. In clear, comprehensible language, 
this book provides a solid overview of the benefits and limitations of smart cards 
for secure applications, and shows how to implement the procedures needed to 
make smart cards effective in protecting information. 

Book: 
< http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0890069530/netsecurity > 

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Security Software 
------------------- 

All programs are located at: 
http://net-security.org/various/software 

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SYSCRON 0.6.0 (LINUX) 

Syscron is a cron system which allows jobs to be run on many hosts using a 
central set of scripts. It uses a veriety of methods to ensure the security of 
the system and authenticity of the scripts before executing them. 

Link: 
< http://net-security.org/various/software/970438463,76833,.shtml > 

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LIDS-0.9.9-2.2.17 (LINUX) 

The Linux Intrusion Detection System is a patch which enhances the kernel's 
security. When it's in effect, many system administration operations can be 
made impossible even for root. You can turn the security protection on or off 
on the fly and you can hide sensitive processes and prevent anyone from using 
ptrace or any other capability on your system. LIDS can also provide raw device 
and I/O access protection. 

Link: 
< http://net-security.org/various/software/970438717,65085,.shtml > 

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SNORT INTRUSION DETECTION SYSTEM (LINUX) 

SnortSnarf is a Perl program that takes files of alerts from the free Snort Intrusion 
Detection System, and produces HTML output intended for diagnostic inspection 
and tracking down problems. The model is that one is using a cron job or similar to 
produce a daily/hourly/whatever file of snort alerts. This script can be run on each 
such file to produce a convenient HTML breakout of all the alerts. 

Link: 
< http://net-security.org/various/software/970438840,60948,.shtml > 

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PASSWORD PROTECTION 2.1 

"Enable a login screen on your computer whenever you wish! Allows you the 
freedom to calmly leave big downloads running overnight, or keep co-workers 
out of your files. Comes with both picture and texture options; fully customizable." 

Link: 
< http://net-security.org/various/software/970439089,22181,.shtml > 

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DON'T PANIC V.1.2 

Immediately clear cache, cookies, browser history, recently viewed documents, 
and other personal history lists without closing your browser or restarting your 
computer. Stop Internet Explorer pop-up windows without adjusting proxy 
settings, or adding sites to a list. Instantly hide or close any or all application/s 
with a mouse click or keystroke. Free up disk space and leave no telltale 
footprints behind. A network mode is included to alert and communicate 
between other Don't Panic users on a local network. 

Link: 
< http://net-security.org/various/software/970439170,83102,.shtml > 

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4T PERSONAL V.1.4 (PALMOS) 

4T Personal is a free, full-featured personal information storage application that 
is used to store valuable, yet varied information such as bank account information, 
credit card numbers, email, phone cards, and so on. 4T Personal is password 
protected and utilizes a 448-bit encryption scheme (Blowfish) for secure data. 
Pull-down menus are utilized throughout to make data entry simple. Other features 
include user-customizable categories, a customizable password generator, a quick 
lock icon, and login screen password protection. 

Link: 
< http://net-security.org/various/software/970439247,52341,.shtml > 

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Defaced archives 
------------------------ 

[24.09.2000] - Washington Red Cross 
Original: http://www.washingtonredcross.org/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/24/www.washingtonredcross.org/ 

[24.09.2000] - Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority 
Original: http://www.metwashairports.com/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/24/www.metwashairports.com/ 

[24.09.2000] - Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station 
Original: http://med01.nctsw.navy.mil/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/24/med01.nctsw.navy.mil/ 

[24.09.2000] - Hackers Haven 
Original: http://www.hackers.com/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/24/www.hackers.com/ 

[24.09.2000] - PalmComputing.com 
Original: http://www.palmcomputing.com/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/24/www.palmcomputing.com/ 

[25.09.2000] - DISA Information Systems Center 
Original: http://maestro.den.disa.mil/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/25/maestro.den.disa.mil/ 

[26.09.2000] - Sourceforge.Net 
Original: http://linuxplace.sourceforge.net/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/27/linuxplace.sourceforge.net/ 

[27.09.2000] - Committee for the National Institute for the Environment 
Original: http://www.cnie.org/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/27/www.cnie.org/ 

[28.09.2000] - Census 2000, New York State Government 
Original: http://www.census2000.state.ny.us/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/28/www.census2000.state..ny.us/ 

[28.09.2000] - Computer Networking Associates 
Original: http://www.cnanet.com/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/28/www.cnanet.com/ 

[28.09.2000] - #2 Slashdot 
Original: http://www.slashdot.org/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/28/www.slashdot.org/ 

[29.09.2000] - Mail Server for Vtay Technology 
Original: http://mail.vtay.com/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/29/mail.vtay.com/ 

[29.09.2000] - Aviation Systems Division, NASA Ames Research Center 
Original: http://www.aviationsystemsdivision.arc.nasa.gov/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/29/www.aviationsystemsdivision.arc.nasa.gov/ 

[29.09.2000] - Linux Ink 
Original: http://www.linux-ink.ru/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/29/www.linux-ink.ru/ 

[30.09.2000] - r00tz 
Original: http://www.r00tz.net/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/30/www.r00tz.net/ 

[30.09.2000] - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 
Original: http://storms-dev.nos.noaa.gov/ 
Defaced: http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/2000/09/30/storms-dev.nos.noaa.gov/ 

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staff@net-security.org 
http://net-security.org