- Email: [email protected]
Richardson calls for special investigation
January
1992
group, under the honorary presidency of the UK Member of Parliament, Emma Nicholson, will support and work in conjunction with the EURIM All-party Parliamentary Group, which Nicholson is currently forming. Together, the working and parliamentary groups will initiate and propose amendments to UK computer related legislation and influence EC draft directives. EURIM has a central core of twelve European members with an outer circle of some twenty industry advisors for specific projects. The organization will also work with European user groups and professional bodies. The proposed structure of EURIM consists of mirror image groups being established within every European member state, each reporting to its own government, the European Parliament, DTI and CBI equivalents, and each other. The UK working group’s pilot schemes include the production of security guidelines for computer users a code of practice in a reasonably concise format and recommendations for amendments to European laws relating to computer security, data protection, computer misuse and the relationship between competition and intellectual property laws in the IT market. Commenting on the launch of EURIM, Nicholson said that the initiative, “will potentially enable Europe to achieve the necessary degree of conformity across all information technology legislation”.
Tax return fraud is tackled, The US Justice Department has indicted more than 30 individuals said to be involved in frauds related to electronic Federal income tax returns. Additional indictments are expected to be issued at the end of the 1992 tax return season. The US Internal Revenue Service has declined to comment on this situation and upon a related investigation by the US General Accounting Office. The latter’s audit concluded that the Service was unable or unwilling to impose penalties on taxpayers who submit erroneous or obviously fraudulent returns.
01992
Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd
Computer Fraud & Security Bulletin
False refund claims totalling more than $960 000 are said to be involved in electronic tax return indictments already returned in El Paso and Los Angeles. A key element in the fraud scheme involved securing a Refund Anticipation Loan from a local bank, after the return was filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The proceeds of such a loan, according to the indictments, were shared among the participants in the scheme. When it was secured, the tax return refund was used to repay the loan. Be/den Menkus
Richardson calls for special investigation Former US Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, has called publicly for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the lnslaw case. This case purportedly involves US Justice Department officials in the theft and sale of computer software. Richardson, while a member of the administration of Richard Nixon, demanded the appointment of a special prosecutor. This appointment led to an independent investigation of the Watergate conspiracy and resulted, ultimately, in Nixon’s resignation. Richardson represents the small software maker that is claiming injury by the Justice Department officials. He wants a separate inquiry into the conclusion of US Court of Appeal that in its dealings with Inslaw, The (US) Government acted wilfully and fraudulently to obtain property that it was not entitled to under its contract”. According to Richardson, the US Justice Department contracted Inslaw’s Promis program to keep track of legal cases in the Department’s Washington headquarters, and the US Attorneys’ offices through the country. After Promis had been installed in 19 of these offices the Department, which had withheld payments for the product, terminated the contract and forced lnslaw into bankruptcy. Meanwhile, it has been claimed that the Department had copied
3
Computer
Fraud & Security Bulletin
the product and arranged independently installation in the remaining offices.
January
for its
A Federal District judge ruled originally in Inslaw’s favour in its suit for $7 million in damages. According to Richardson, this judge was replaced by a Justice Department attorney who had worked on the case. The Appeals Court did not rule on the merits of Inslaw’s case; it held that the action belonged in another part of the US judicial system. The action has been appealed to the US Supreme Court. Meanwhile, according to Richardson, there are indications that two US Congress investigations of the incident have been obstructed by Richard Thornburgh. Thornburgh resigned as US Attorney General in an unsuccessful attempt to become the US Senator for Pennsylvania, where he was formerly the Governor. It has been reported elsewhere that Justice Department sources have claimed that some of the documents relating to the lnslaw case have disappeared from Department files. In addition, according to Richardson and others, the lnslaw incident has been tied to long time associates of Ronald Reagan, to the funding of the Iran Contra affair, to some activities of the Bank of Commerce and Credit International, and to certain operations of the CIA. It has also been claimed that the suspicious death of the freelance investigative reporter Joseph Casolaro was tied to the lnslaw matter. Belden Menkus
US army continues
1992
viruses, demonstrating them, and designing possible defences against their use. This appears to be a classic case of ‘those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’. There is, after all, a good reason why the Bulgarian Government are not concerned about the viruses originating in that country; the Bulgarian exposure to the risk is negligible. The USA is far more dependent on computer systems than any of its possible enemies, and there is a high likelihood that any such attack would eventually hurt the US far more than anyone else. Be/den Menkus and Tina Monk
Canadian copyright infringement Computer company Laserlite F-X, has been fined $100 000 under the Canadian Federal Copyright Act, for copying and selling computer programs belonging to the Los Angeles based firm Laser Media. According to a report in the Ottawa Citizen, Laserlite was ordered to pay the fine - one of the largest ever levied in Canada - after pleading guilty to four charges of selling graphics systems cloned from two of Laser Media’s programs. The charges were brought following a ten month investigation by officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, during which time Laserlite was estimated to have sold approximately $750 000 worth of pirated systems to companies around the world. The fine given was the maximum allowed under federal law, and in addition the company was ordered to turn its computer system, which copied the programs, over to the York Board of Education.
virus research
The US Army is continuing to explore the deliberate use of viruses and worms to incapacitate enemy computers. The Army’s Center For Signal Warfare has already identified desirable effects such as data disruption, denial of use, impacting the operation of processors and the management of data storage. At least $500 000 in additional funds has been allocated to the next phase of the study. This would involve contractors to the Center devising particular
Brain death The Brain virus - one of the oldest of the computer viruses - has been officially declared extinct by Scotland Yard’s computer crime unit, according to a report in Computing. Reports of computers infected with the virus in the UK have ceased, although copies do still exist in a number of research establishments. While on the topic of viruses, our grateful thanks go to the staff of
01992
Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd
1992
group, under the honorary presidency of the UK Member of Parliament, Emma Nicholson, will support and work in conjunction with the EURIM All-party Parliamentary Group, which Nicholson is currently forming. Together, the working and parliamentary groups will initiate and propose amendments to UK computer related legislation and influence EC draft directives. EURIM has a central core of twelve European members with an outer circle of some twenty industry advisors for specific projects. The organization will also work with European user groups and professional bodies. The proposed structure of EURIM consists of mirror image groups being established within every European member state, each reporting to its own government, the European Parliament, DTI and CBI equivalents, and each other. The UK working group’s pilot schemes include the production of security guidelines for computer users a code of practice in a reasonably concise format and recommendations for amendments to European laws relating to computer security, data protection, computer misuse and the relationship between competition and intellectual property laws in the IT market. Commenting on the launch of EURIM, Nicholson said that the initiative, “will potentially enable Europe to achieve the necessary degree of conformity across all information technology legislation”.
Tax return fraud is tackled, The US Justice Department has indicted more than 30 individuals said to be involved in frauds related to electronic Federal income tax returns. Additional indictments are expected to be issued at the end of the 1992 tax return season. The US Internal Revenue Service has declined to comment on this situation and upon a related investigation by the US General Accounting Office. The latter’s audit concluded that the Service was unable or unwilling to impose penalties on taxpayers who submit erroneous or obviously fraudulent returns.
01992
Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd
Computer Fraud & Security Bulletin
False refund claims totalling more than $960 000 are said to be involved in electronic tax return indictments already returned in El Paso and Los Angeles. A key element in the fraud scheme involved securing a Refund Anticipation Loan from a local bank, after the return was filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The proceeds of such a loan, according to the indictments, were shared among the participants in the scheme. When it was secured, the tax return refund was used to repay the loan. Be/den Menkus
Richardson calls for special investigation Former US Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, has called publicly for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the lnslaw case. This case purportedly involves US Justice Department officials in the theft and sale of computer software. Richardson, while a member of the administration of Richard Nixon, demanded the appointment of a special prosecutor. This appointment led to an independent investigation of the Watergate conspiracy and resulted, ultimately, in Nixon’s resignation. Richardson represents the small software maker that is claiming injury by the Justice Department officials. He wants a separate inquiry into the conclusion of US Court of Appeal that in its dealings with Inslaw, The (US) Government acted wilfully and fraudulently to obtain property that it was not entitled to under its contract”. According to Richardson, the US Justice Department contracted Inslaw’s Promis program to keep track of legal cases in the Department’s Washington headquarters, and the US Attorneys’ offices through the country. After Promis had been installed in 19 of these offices the Department, which had withheld payments for the product, terminated the contract and forced lnslaw into bankruptcy. Meanwhile, it has been claimed that the Department had copied
3
Computer
Fraud & Security Bulletin
the product and arranged independently installation in the remaining offices.
January
for its
A Federal District judge ruled originally in Inslaw’s favour in its suit for $7 million in damages. According to Richardson, this judge was replaced by a Justice Department attorney who had worked on the case. The Appeals Court did not rule on the merits of Inslaw’s case; it held that the action belonged in another part of the US judicial system. The action has been appealed to the US Supreme Court. Meanwhile, according to Richardson, there are indications that two US Congress investigations of the incident have been obstructed by Richard Thornburgh. Thornburgh resigned as US Attorney General in an unsuccessful attempt to become the US Senator for Pennsylvania, where he was formerly the Governor. It has been reported elsewhere that Justice Department sources have claimed that some of the documents relating to the lnslaw case have disappeared from Department files. In addition, according to Richardson and others, the lnslaw incident has been tied to long time associates of Ronald Reagan, to the funding of the Iran Contra affair, to some activities of the Bank of Commerce and Credit International, and to certain operations of the CIA. It has also been claimed that the suspicious death of the freelance investigative reporter Joseph Casolaro was tied to the lnslaw matter. Belden Menkus
US army continues
1992
viruses, demonstrating them, and designing possible defences against their use. This appears to be a classic case of ‘those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’. There is, after all, a good reason why the Bulgarian Government are not concerned about the viruses originating in that country; the Bulgarian exposure to the risk is negligible. The USA is far more dependent on computer systems than any of its possible enemies, and there is a high likelihood that any such attack would eventually hurt the US far more than anyone else. Be/den Menkus and Tina Monk
Canadian copyright infringement Computer company Laserlite F-X, has been fined $100 000 under the Canadian Federal Copyright Act, for copying and selling computer programs belonging to the Los Angeles based firm Laser Media. According to a report in the Ottawa Citizen, Laserlite was ordered to pay the fine - one of the largest ever levied in Canada - after pleading guilty to four charges of selling graphics systems cloned from two of Laser Media’s programs. The charges were brought following a ten month investigation by officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, during which time Laserlite was estimated to have sold approximately $750 000 worth of pirated systems to companies around the world. The fine given was the maximum allowed under federal law, and in addition the company was ordered to turn its computer system, which copied the programs, over to the York Board of Education.
virus research
The US Army is continuing to explore the deliberate use of viruses and worms to incapacitate enemy computers. The Army’s Center For Signal Warfare has already identified desirable effects such as data disruption, denial of use, impacting the operation of processors and the management of data storage. At least $500 000 in additional funds has been allocated to the next phase of the study. This would involve contractors to the Center devising particular
Brain death The Brain virus - one of the oldest of the computer viruses - has been officially declared extinct by Scotland Yard’s computer crime unit, according to a report in Computing. Reports of computers infected with the virus in the UK have ceased, although copies do still exist in a number of research establishments. While on the topic of viruses, our grateful thanks go to the staff of
01992
Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd