Show of 8-30-2003

July 16 Vulnerability Announced
July 20-25 Sample Code Released on XFocus Site
August 10-12 Worm Hits Internet
August 29th Jeff Parson Arrested
Script Kiddie Responsible for One Variant Bragged About Exploit
- Jeffrey Lee Parson
- 18 year old high school senior known as ?Teekid?
- Hopkins, Minnesota
- Website t33kid.com included code for the worm (p2p.teekid.c)
  - Whois Registry for t33kid.com lists Jeff Parson with home address
- Parson’s also hacked Minnesota?s Government office
  - Leaving message ?site hacked by Teekid.?
- Modified Blaster by adding a Backdoor Trojan
- Faces up to 10 years and $250,000 fine
Microsoft Has Released FAQ about Blaster
- http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.asp
Get the Tech Talk Blaster Autoresponder with directions for removal and protection by emailing: msblast@stratford.edu
The bright side of Blaster…..security holes are now patched
Code release is not new for new vulnerabilities
- David Litchfield released code for Slammer Worm on Jaunary 3, 2003 on the SecurityFocus website to help the security community
- His code was used for the production version of slammer

SoBig Part of Spammers Counter Attack

DDoS Attack of Open Relay Blacklist Sites
SoBig designed to create more open relays
- Propagates through email with? million infections within 24 hours after fixing bus on August 20th
- Used by spammers to send email
- Set up open relay on host machine and waits for updates from 20 master sites
- FBI is attempting to seize the master machines to track down the hacker
Spammers suing AOL saying that spam filters violate their freedom of speech

Portable Battery Summary

Online Book Explains the Basics
Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad)
- First high density battery, need deep discharge, oldest technology
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiNH)
- Higher energy density than NiCd, non-toxic, needs deep dischage
Lithium Ion (LiIon)
- No memory, age even if not used, low maintenance
- Preferred technology for Laptops and Cell Phones

MS Loses Patent Infringement Suit in Chicago
Patent 5,838,906 covering mechanism for embedding objects within distributed hypermedia documents with a control path to objects implementation to support user interaction with the object. Related to what Microsoft calls ActiveX (formerly Object Linking and Embedding OLE)
Eolas vs. Microsoft
Will require payment of $520 Million in Royalties
MS Coordinating with W3C to formulate changes that will have a minimal impact of existing webpages

41.7 Million have registered their phone numbers
Sunday deadline for first batch of numbers with October 1st start date for blocking
- Website address: www.donotcall.gov
- Phone number: 1-888-382-1222
Who is covered
- Law covered interstate sales calls from for profits
- Non-profit organization calls still permitted
- Intra-state calls still permitted

Allows Iranian IP address to bypass site filters (it does block porn sites)
Same technology was used for Iraq
IP address is changed daily as the site filter is updated by Iran
A bill that passed the US House of Representatives last month would create an Office of Global Internet Freedom that have up to $50 million dollars per year to help citizens of foreign repressive governments skirt Internet censorship

MailBag

Stratford News

Dates to Remember
- Next Start September 8th, 2003
- Next Seminar September 25th, 2003 (Trends in Wireless Technology)
Program News
- New Digital Design and Animation Program
- Networking and Security Undergraduate Programs
- Includes Linux and Wireless
- Enterprise Business Management
- Telecommunications