And the envelope please...
Top Ten Viruses and Hoaxes Reported in April 2005

Sophos, a world leader in network security, has published a report revealing the top ten viruses and hoaxes causing problems for businesses around the world during the month of April 2005.

The report, compiled from SophosLabs, Sophos's global network of security research centers, revealed that Zafi-D, which first appeared at the end of 2004, continued its reign at the top of the list for the fifth month running, accounting for 46.6 percent of all reports.

Only one new threat, Mytob-Z, managed to break into the chart for April, appearing in seventh place.

The top ten viruses in April 2005 were as follows:
1 W32/Zafi-D 46.6 percent Fifth Month at Number One
2 W32/Netsky-P 20.6 percent
3 W32/Zafi-B 4.5 percent
4 W32/Netsky-D 4.5 percent
5 W32/Netsky-Z 2.5 percent
7 W32/Mytob-Z 1.3 percent New Entry
8 W32/MyDoom-O 1.2 percent
9 W32/Netsky-C 1.1 percent
10 W32/Netsky-Q 1.0 percent
Others: 14.3 percent


"During the month of April, several older viruses maintained their spot on the chart," said Gregg Mastoras, senior security analyst at Sophos. "The Zafi family of viruses accounted for more than 50 percent of all the viruses reported to Sophos this month. It could be that many of these worms were able to spread in multiple languages, therefore catching some users off guard. Users should always be suspicious of unsolicited email in any language and they must ensure that they keep their virus protection up to date."

"Mytob-Z was discovered in mid April and was the only new virus this month to make the top ten even though there were fewer reports on this virus in comparison to others," continued Mastoras. "Mytob-Z, which spreads quickly, drops a backdoor Trojan horse that can be used by remote hackers to gain access and control over a victim's computer. The computer can then be spied on or used to send spam or launch denial of service attacks."

In April, Sophos analyzed and protected against 1146 new viruses. The total number of viruses Sophos now protects against is 103,269. Sophos research shows that 2.17 percent, or one in 46 emails, circulating during the month of April were viral. This figure is slightly lower than last month when 1 in 38 emails were viral.

In order to minimize exposure to viruses, Sophos recommends that companies deploy a policy at their email gateway, which blocks unwanted executable attachments from being sent into their organization from the outside world. Companies need to also run up-to-date anti-virus software, firewalls and install the latest security patches.
source: KSBI-TV - Technology

Cameras urged to monitor freeways
Law enforcement wants access to Caltrans' traffic monitoring cameras

With fear running high in Southern California after four fatal freeway shootings, law enforcement officials Tuesday urged Caltrans to reverse its policy and hook up recording devices to hundreds of freeway monitoring cameras to help catch the suspects.
Police and California Highway Patrol officials said the cameras, used by Caltrans to monitor traffic congestion and other freeway conditions, could provide a vital tool in catching the gunmen who have killed four people and wounded a fifth since March 12.

A veteran California Highway Patrol supervisor with an extensive background in freeway shooting investigations said his agency and others have repeatedly asked Caltrans to connect the cameras to recording devices.

"They basically say they don't care about being in the crime- fighting business and claim poverty notice their multimillion-dollar headquarters (in downtown Los Angeles) even though the cost is nothing and every 7-Eleven has a system,' said the officer, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

"They are prevalent in Europe and at intersections throughout the United States. They are universally successful. But Caltrans with all their technological engineering expertise just can't figure out how to hook up all those video cameras to VCRs and occasionally change the tapes.'

Officials with the state Department of Transportation failed to respond to repeated requests for comment.

Other law enforcement officials echoed the belief that recording devices on freeway cameras might help catch suspects and save lives, and suggested there were concerns about the "Big Brother' aspect.

"It would be nice if we had camera systems that recorded shooting incidents on the freeways,' said Los Angeles Police Department Detective Sal LaBarbera, who is investigating the April 13 shooting death of James Wiggins, 47, on the 110 Freeway.

"These cameras are only used to monitor freeway traffic and do not record.'

Sheriff's homicide Detective Paul Delhauer said the cameras would allow investigators to capture and analyze information from crimes that frequently have no witnesses.

"When they commit this crime, they are gone in a flash,' sheriff's homicide Capt. Ray Peavy said. "They fire a gun two or three times, accelerate the car and they are out of there. Obviously, if there were cameras up there to capture this action it would be helpful to us.'

Manny Padilla, chief of the Southern Division of the CHP, said he understood there may be some concerns about using the freeway cameras for law-enforcement purposes.

"What I do know about freeway cameras is, they always cause a stir with the public in general, with regard to the 'Big Brother is watching' attitude,' he said.

"While it would come in handy if you were looking for a murder suspect, think what would happen if people start getting tickets in the mail for unsafe lane changes.'

But state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, said it makes sense to hook up the cameras to recording devices to help catch freeway killers.

"I realize there are some privacy advocates who are very uncomfortable with that, but when you are out in public, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy, and the benefit for law enforcement should be obvious,' said McClintock, who is vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

"Of the two very important tools that law enforcement has had available to it one is DNA and the other is the ubiquitous security camera in virtually every store in the state. The freeway cameras would be an important addition to that pool of information.'

Investigators say they have no suspects in the shootings and have been unable to determine if they are connected. They worry, however, that the most recent shootings were "copycats' a phenomenon last seen in the summer of 1987, when about two dozen shootings plagued Southern California freeways.

LaBarbera said the LAPD Southwest Division investigates about a half-dozen freeway annually on a short stretch of the 110 Freeway. And while Padilla said the CHP doesn't track the number of freeway shootings, the CHP supervisor estimated that the agency gets about 100 reports of "shots fired' on Los Angeles County freeways each year.

"We have begun saturating the freeways with additional patrols off and on throughout the day,' Padilla said. "Our goal is to bring back a comfort level to the motoring public that it's safe to traverse those freeways.

"With all this stepped-up enforcement presence, we are even asking our undercover investigators to get more involved and our auto theft investigators to be more vigilant.'

As the freeways have become more congested, law enforcement officials say they've seen an increase in incidents of road rage and people becoming less courteous on the roads.

Meanwhile, people using cell phones to call 9-1-1 to report freeway shootings are often put on hold for extended period of times because the CHP communications system is constantly overwhelmed with people using their cell phones for nonemergency requests, like directions to Disneyland or help in dealing with misbehaving children, officials said.

About 30 percent of the 120,000 9-1-1 calls from cell phones last month were dialed erroneously or by people who inadvertently pushed a preprogrammed button that called 9-1-1, officials said. The average time people spend on hold is 63 seconds.

source: Pasadena Star-News - News

RFID in prison and in airports
RFID in Japan has several interesting stories this weekend

One about the Japanese goverment's plan to open in April 2007 a high-tech prison in Yamaguchi prefecture.

Windows won't have iron griddles, but will be made of tempered glass. Prisoners will wear a jacket with an attached RFID tag and security guards will be able to follow their whereabouts on a screen.

The other news is that Japan Airlines is about to roll out the JAL IC Check-in Service to allow travellers to use RFID-chipped FeliCa "wallet phones" or RFID cards to make a simple "touch-and-go" check-in for their flight.

At home, traveller select their seat and check-in using a PC or a mobile phone. At the airport, thay can go straight to a security gate (no need to check-in), show your phone or RFID card to get a "passenger copy" and "touch-and-go" through a gate machine when boarding..

This service was already introduced in some airports and will be available at 44 major airports across Japan next week.
source: http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/005516.php

IP addresses that were found trying to break in
Thanks guys, you were too easy to locate, anyone else want to have fun with them?
216.86.125.74
66.195.242.212

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