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Microsoft warns of critical flaws in Internet Explorer Flaws could enable attacker to take control of user's computer AUGUST 21, 2003 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Microsoft Corp. released a patch for a number of flaws in its Internet Explorer (IE) Web browser yesterday, including two it rated "critical" for some versions of the browser, which could enable an attacker to take control of a user's computer. The company also released a patch for a flaw, rated "important," in the MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components) element of its Windows operating systems. The critical flaws affect IE Versions 5.01, 5.5, 6.0...

Al-Qaeda sources announced that they are responsible for the recent power blackout in America. One more lie to add to a thousand tall tales spun by hidden terrorists. In fact, the recent power blackout actually demonstrated that the electric computer network operated correctly. The blackout began when a critical main line went down, leaving the rest of the network to carry the electrical load. The network noted that the load was too much to carry and began to shut itself down. The so-called "domino" effect began as each segment of the grid detected an overload and shut down, including 10...

As far as we know, no one has ever deliberately hacked into the U.S. electrical grid and pulled the plug on millions or even thousands of people. Just as on Sept. 10, 2001, no one had ever deliberately crashed a jet airliner into a skyscraper. Is the power grid vulnerable to cyberattack? What about natural gas pipelines, nuclear plants, and water systems? Or refineries and other industrial facilities that run on similar Internet-enabled digital control systems? Could a terrorist or disgruntled employee cause lethal accidents and millions of dollars of damage? What about a bored 14-year-old? "Are we vulnerable?" asked...

The University of Michigan has expelled a graduate student accused of hacking a computer system and using information to forge e-mails and get copies of final exams, the state attorney general's office said Wednesday. Ning Ma, 24, a Chinese citizen on a student visa, was arrested last month and accused of collecting information from more than 60 students and professors. Ning was expelled Friday, and the consulate has been notified of his arrest, said Sage Eastman, spokesman for the attorney general's office. The University of Michigan, citing confidentiality laws, said it couldn't confirm the expulsion, and Ning's attorney didn't return...

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - A fraudulently-registered Internet website that for nearly a month misrepresented the views of and claimed to be operated by pro-gun researcher Dr. John Lott was allegedly the target of illegal hacking Tuesday night by an unidentified person or group supportive of the Second Amendment. "OK! I've got the site now! Now the tables have turned and they're going to jail, without a penny to their names," the anonymous hacker wrote. "What kind of message should we leave to all those commie b******* ... let me know what you think of this: 'If you mess with the...

A website pretending to be that of pro-gun activist John Lott has been hacked... The site owners posed to be John Lott and misquoted him.

A man has been cleared of child porn charges, after investigators found that an Internet attacker was responsible for the presence of illicit images on his PC A man accused of storing child pornography on his computer has been cleared after it emerged that his computer had been infected by a Trojan horse, which was responsible for transferring the images onto his PC. Julian Green, 45, was taken into custody last October after police with a search warrant raided his house. He then spent a night in a police cell, nine days in Exeter prison and three months in a...

Microsoft's Web site was made inaccessible for an hour and 40 minutes Friday afternoon when a denial-of-service attack overwhelmed the site with traffic, making it impossible for legitimate page requests to get through. The outage, which began about 1:21 p.m. Pacific time, was the result of a conventional denial-of-service attack and not a software vulnerability being exploited, a Microsoft spokesman says. That distinction is important because the software company issued a bulletin July 14 warning customers of a critical vulnerability in its Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. Following that notice, the Department of...

U.S. says Windows vulnerable to attack By CNET News.com Staff August 1, 2003, 7:46 AM PT The federal government says there is new evidence that an attack is being planned on computers using Microsoft's Windows. The Department of Homeland Security issued an updated advisory this week about possible hacker attacks on computers running Microsoft operating systems. The advisory warns that several working exploits are now in widespread distribution on the Internet. "These exploits provide full remote system level access to vulnerable computers," the advisory states. Microsoft issued a patch to plug the hole two weeks ago. No worm code...

The U.S. government has issued a stern warning that computer hackers may be preparing to launch a sweeping attack that could potentially compromise millions of computers running Microsoft Corp.'s popular Windows operating systems. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's cyber-security branch reported that it had detected a dramatic increase in Internet-wide scanning for vulnerable computers. In an unusually ominous alert, the department warned the threat could cause a "significant impact" on the Internet. Experts advised computer users to apply a free repair patch that Microsoft has offered on its Web site since July 16, when it acknowledged that...

(CNN) -- Seeing a rise in hacker activity that could be a prelude to a broad Internet attack, security experts Thursday urged computer users to protect their machines by installing a free patch offered by Microsoft. The Homeland Security Department warned it has detected an increase in hackers scanning the Internet to find vulnerable computers. "That's a sure sign the intruder community is actively interested in finding out who they can exploit," said Jeffrey Havrilla, an Internet security analyst at the government's CERT Coordination Center, which monitors computer security. Concerns mount The vulnerability affects almost all computers running Microsoft's Windows...

WASHINGTON -- Government and industry experts consider brewing hacker activity a precursor to a broad Internet attack that would target enormous numbers of computers vulnerable from a flaw in Windows software from Microsoft Corp. Experts described an unusual confluence of conditions that heighten prospects for a serious disruption soon. They cite the high numbers of potential victims and increasingly sophisticated attack tools already tested successfully by hackers in recent days. The Homeland Security Department cautioned Wednesday that it had detected an "Internet-wide increase in scanning" for victim computers. In an unusually ominous alert, it warned the threat could cause a...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government and industry experts are increasingly concerned about brewing hacker activity they consider a precursor to a broad Internet attack that will target a serious flaw in Windows software from Microsoft Corp. Experts are advising computer users with renewed urgency to apply a free repairing patch that Microsoft has offered on its Web site since July 16, when it acknowledged that the flaw affected nearly all versions of its flagship Windows operating system software. The Homeland Security Department cautioned Wednesday that hackers in recent days have successfully tested new tools to seize control of such vulnerable...

It's time for would be RIAA attackers to run for the hills. The pigopolists have installed TST-Secure-OS on their Web servers. This Web server brand is not well know to hacker neophytes. Those in-the-know, however, tremble in fear when TST's rock-solid software rears its ugly head. The code was developed as part of a ten-year, government funded engineering effort to block hackers from unpopular Web sites. Well, not really. More likely, the TST-Secure-OS is a disguised version of Microsoft IIS 6.0. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has remodeled its "Hide the Web site" game into a "Hide the...

If you used a computer at a Kinko's in New York City last year, or the year before, there's a good chance that JuJu Jiang was watching. The 25-year-old Queens resident pleaded guilty in federal court in New York last week to two counts of computer fraud and one charge of unauthorized possession of access codes for a scheme in which he planted a copy of the commercial keyboard sniffing program Invisible KeyLogger Stealth on computers at thirteen Kinko's stores sprinkled around Manhattan. For nearly two years ending last December, Jiang's makeshift surveillance net raked in over 450 online banking...

More than a thousand unsuspecting Internet users around the world have recently had their computers hijacked by hackers, who computer security experts say are using them for pornographic Web sites. The hijacked computers, which are chosen by the hackers apparently because they have high-speed connections to the Internet, are secretly loaded with software that makes them send explicit Web pages advertising pornographic sites and offer to sign visitors up as customers. Unless the owner of the hijacked computer is technologically sophisticated, the activity is likely to go unnoticed. The program, which only briefly downloads the pornographic material to the usurped...

WASHINGTON - Parts of the Internet erupted Sunday in a battle among hackers, as factions disrupted a loosely coordinated "contest" among other groups trying to vandalize thousands of Web sites around the world. Unknown attackers for hours knocked offline an independent security Web site, zone-h.org, that was verifying reports of online vandalism and being used by hackers to tally points for the competition, which drew warnings last week by the U.S. government and private technology experts. Three such vigilante-style attacks forced the hacker organizer, who identified himself only as "Eleonora67," to extend the contest until 6 p.m. EDT Sunday. But...

WASHINGTON -- It's all a contest among Internet hackers, and the results could be devastating. Both government and private experts have warned that hackers had planned to attack thousands of Web sites Sunday during the loosely-coordinated contest. They've also urged Web administrators to be alert. Organizers had established a Web site for the event, which was shut down last Wednesday evening. Before it was removed, the site listed the rules for hackers who might be taking part. FBI spokesman Bill Murray says "The FBI is taking this very seriously...hacking is a crime and those who participate in this activity will...

COMPUTER hackers are expected to launch a global attack on the Internet today as part of an illegal contest aimed at causing widespread chaos. Cyber rebels around the world will each aim to attack and disable 6000 websites in six hours. Security has been tightened on United States Government and corporate websites. Computer experts noticed a global surge in surveillance scans this week - something that typically precedes computer break-ins. Contest organisers listed the rules of the hacking contest on defacers-challenge.com. The site opened on June 21 and was closed on Wednesday, but technology experts fear many of the world's...

Tallahassee - The War began silently this morning at around 2:00 AM EST. Complaints to Internet Service providers are up, and it's all because of a handful of people who have nothing better to do than attempt to destroy our normal way of life. The Computer Dudes in Tallahassee are in a bit of a tizzy this afternoon. While preparing for the launch of their new Web Communications Tool, they were caught off guard early this morning by what seems to be an cyber attack. "This is a serious attack, and these hackers are just practicing today. It's going to...