- Email: [email protected]
Anyone for tennis?
March 2001 ISSN 1361-3723
“Consumers are driven by their perception of security, but they are often ill informed.” see page 4
Editor: Chloë Palmer American Editor: CHARLES CRESSON WOOD Baseline Software, Sausalito, California, USA Australasian Editor: BILL J. CAELLI Queensland University of Technology, Australia European Editor: KEN WONG Insight Consulting, London, UK Editorial Advisors: Chris Amery, UK; Jan Eloff, South Africa; Hans Gliss, Germany; David Herson, UK; P.Kraaibeek, Germany; Wayne Madsen, Virginia, USA; Belden Menkus, Tennessee, USA; Bill Murray, Connecticut, USA; Silvano Ongetta, Italy; Donn B. Parker, California, USA; Peter Sommer, UK; Mark Tantam, UK; Peter Thingsted, Denmark; Hank Wolfe, New Zealand. Correspondents: Frank Rees, Melbourne, Australia; John Sterlicchi, California, USA; Paul Gannon, Brussels, Belgium. Editoral Office: Elsevier Advanced Technology, PO Box 150 Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1AS, UK Tel: +44-(0)1865-843645 Fax: +44-(0)1865-843971 E-mail: [email protected] Subscription Price for one year: (12 issues) US$710/1397NLG including first class airmail delivery subject to our prevailing exchange rate Price valid to end of 2001 Subscription Enquiries: Orders and Payments: For customers residing in the Americas (North, South and Central America) Elsevier Science Customer Support Department PO Box 945, New York NY 10010 USA Tel: (+1) 212-633-3730 [Toll free number for North American customers: 1-888-4ES-INFO (437-4636)] Fax: (+1) 212-633-3680 E-mail: [email protected] For customers in the rest of the World: Elsevier Science Customer Support Department PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tel: (+31) 20-3853757 Fax: (+31) 20-4853432 E-mail: [email protected] To order from our website: Http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/compfraud
Publishers of Network Security Computers & Security Computer Fraud & Security Computer Law & Security Report Information Security Technical Report
Anyone for tennis? A new virus scourge in the form of VB Script worm ‘AnnaKournikova’ has hit the headlines. Its notoriety stems from its similarity to the Love Bug but it has been credited with having spread twice as quickly. In an open letter posted on the Internet, ‘OnTheFly’ admitted to having unleashed the worm. He said, “I admit writing the virus I never wanted to harm the people [who] open the attachment. But after all it’s their own fault they got infected.” He explained that he was motivated by a desire to educate users — and cited a recent report from IDC as his inspiration. The report concluded that users had not learned anything from the Love Bug and OnTheFly commented, “I also think that you agree with me, according to the rate of spreading.” ‘AnnaKournikova’ is an Outlook worm which appears as an E-mail purporting to carry a picture of the 19-yearold tennis star. OnTheFly used Kournik ova’s image because, “She is so pretty… I am a big fan of hers.” Although he claims to have written the virus, he also admitted, “I don’t know any programming languages”. In fact, he used a virus generator that he picked up on a hacking site. Anna proved to be prolific, and attracted a lot of media
attention. However, Vincent Gullotto, from McAfee said, “It’s definitely not a ‘Love Bug’ — on a scale of 1 to 10, maybe a five.” A spokesman from Symantec said, “worms spread very quickly, but they’re not that difficult to eradicate and stop.” He explained Anna’s success as down to the fact that, “Internally, it’s highly polymorphic, which means it changes its signatures to hide itself from anti-virus software.” ‘OnTheFly’ is a Dutchman of 20. His actual identity is protected by Dutch privacy laws, but it is reported that he turned himself into the authorities after realizing the extent to which his worm had spread. Dutch authorities have released him on bail until the trial. “The offences with which he has been charged aren’t enough to hold him,” said police spokesman Robert Rambonnet. This is normal practice in the Netherlands. However, OnTheFly could face a fouryear jail sentence if he is found guilty of damaging computer software and property. The confession is at http://members.tripodnet.nl/on_ the_fly/index.html.
Contents Virus News Anyone for tennis? 1 McAfee draws map of infestation 2 Internet-level virus scanning eliminates user error 2
Industry News Managers fear IT breakdown Ghost jailed for piracy Smart card take-up set to double
2 3 3
Internet News Auction sites attract fraud No one is immune to privacy violations Internet faces BIND
3 4 4
Reports Federal IT Systems Vulnerable To Attack Script Kiddies Rule The Internet
5 5
Web Review Things You Always Wanted To Know But Were Afraid To Ask! 6
Tales From The Crypt The Changing Face of International Cryptography Policy Part 17 — The New Kids On The Block 7
Features Hacking Techniques 9 Cybercrimes Of The 21st Century 13
Information Warfare If Most Of Your Revenue Is From E-commerce, Then Cyber-Insurance Makes Sense 16
ShockwaveWriter InfoSec Basics and Models — Part 2
18
Events
20
“Consumers are driven by their perception of security, but they are often ill informed.” see page 4
Editor: Chloë Palmer American Editor: CHARLES CRESSON WOOD Baseline Software, Sausalito, California, USA Australasian Editor: BILL J. CAELLI Queensland University of Technology, Australia European Editor: KEN WONG Insight Consulting, London, UK Editorial Advisors: Chris Amery, UK; Jan Eloff, South Africa; Hans Gliss, Germany; David Herson, UK; P.Kraaibeek, Germany; Wayne Madsen, Virginia, USA; Belden Menkus, Tennessee, USA; Bill Murray, Connecticut, USA; Silvano Ongetta, Italy; Donn B. Parker, California, USA; Peter Sommer, UK; Mark Tantam, UK; Peter Thingsted, Denmark; Hank Wolfe, New Zealand. Correspondents: Frank Rees, Melbourne, Australia; John Sterlicchi, California, USA; Paul Gannon, Brussels, Belgium. Editoral Office: Elsevier Advanced Technology, PO Box 150 Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1AS, UK Tel: +44-(0)1865-843645 Fax: +44-(0)1865-843971 E-mail: [email protected] Subscription Price for one year: (12 issues) US$710/1397NLG including first class airmail delivery subject to our prevailing exchange rate Price valid to end of 2001 Subscription Enquiries: Orders and Payments: For customers residing in the Americas (North, South and Central America) Elsevier Science Customer Support Department PO Box 945, New York NY 10010 USA Tel: (+1) 212-633-3730 [Toll free number for North American customers: 1-888-4ES-INFO (437-4636)] Fax: (+1) 212-633-3680 E-mail: [email protected] For customers in the rest of the World: Elsevier Science Customer Support Department PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tel: (+31) 20-3853757 Fax: (+31) 20-4853432 E-mail: [email protected] To order from our website: Http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/compfraud
Publishers of Network Security Computers & Security Computer Fraud & Security Computer Law & Security Report Information Security Technical Report
Anyone for tennis? A new virus scourge in the form of VB Script worm ‘AnnaKournikova’ has hit the headlines. Its notoriety stems from its similarity to the Love Bug but it has been credited with having spread twice as quickly. In an open letter posted on the Internet, ‘OnTheFly’ admitted to having unleashed the worm. He said, “I admit writing the virus I never wanted to harm the people [who] open the attachment. But after all it’s their own fault they got infected.” He explained that he was motivated by a desire to educate users — and cited a recent report from IDC as his inspiration. The report concluded that users had not learned anything from the Love Bug and OnTheFly commented, “I also think that you agree with me, according to the rate of spreading.” ‘AnnaKournikova’ is an Outlook worm which appears as an E-mail purporting to carry a picture of the 19-yearold tennis star. OnTheFly used Kournik ova’s image because, “She is so pretty… I am a big fan of hers.” Although he claims to have written the virus, he also admitted, “I don’t know any programming languages”. In fact, he used a virus generator that he picked up on a hacking site. Anna proved to be prolific, and attracted a lot of media
attention. However, Vincent Gullotto, from McAfee said, “It’s definitely not a ‘Love Bug’ — on a scale of 1 to 10, maybe a five.” A spokesman from Symantec said, “worms spread very quickly, but they’re not that difficult to eradicate and stop.” He explained Anna’s success as down to the fact that, “Internally, it’s highly polymorphic, which means it changes its signatures to hide itself from anti-virus software.” ‘OnTheFly’ is a Dutchman of 20. His actual identity is protected by Dutch privacy laws, but it is reported that he turned himself into the authorities after realizing the extent to which his worm had spread. Dutch authorities have released him on bail until the trial. “The offences with which he has been charged aren’t enough to hold him,” said police spokesman Robert Rambonnet. This is normal practice in the Netherlands. However, OnTheFly could face a fouryear jail sentence if he is found guilty of damaging computer software and property. The confession is at http://members.tripodnet.nl/on_ the_fly/index.html.
Contents Virus News Anyone for tennis? 1 McAfee draws map of infestation 2 Internet-level virus scanning eliminates user error 2
Industry News Managers fear IT breakdown Ghost jailed for piracy Smart card take-up set to double
2 3 3
Internet News Auction sites attract fraud No one is immune to privacy violations Internet faces BIND
3 4 4
Reports Federal IT Systems Vulnerable To Attack Script Kiddies Rule The Internet
5 5
Web Review Things You Always Wanted To Know But Were Afraid To Ask! 6
Tales From The Crypt The Changing Face of International Cryptography Policy Part 17 — The New Kids On The Block 7
Features Hacking Techniques 9 Cybercrimes Of The 21st Century 13
Information Warfare If Most Of Your Revenue Is From E-commerce, Then Cyber-Insurance Makes Sense 16
ShockwaveWriter InfoSec Basics and Models — Part 2
18
Events
20