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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 13 Issue 15
Volume 13, Issue 15 Atari Online News, Etc. April 15, 2010
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2011
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Fred Horvat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1315 04/15/10
~ Trusted Internet ID Plan ~ People Are Talking! ~ U.S. Privacy Bill!
~ Jerry Lawson, Game Over ~ Firefox Quicker Updates ~ IE 10 Preview Out!
~ Safari's "Do Not Track"! ~ Sony, Hotz Settle Suit ~ New Dell Panerai!
~ Harvard Twins Are Stuck! ~ Wii Price Gets $50 Cut? ~ Tablets Hurting PCs!
-* SpyEye Arrests, Little Impact *-
-* Cyberspy vs. Cyberspy, China Wins! *-
-* US Disables Coreflood Botnet, Takes Servers *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The weather is changing for the better lately! While we're not experiencing
"perfect" Spring weather yet, it has been a little bit warmer, the sun is
setting later, and my lawn is actually showing more green than brown! Now
if we can get the temperatures to rise a little bit more, and I'll be even
more happy.
I haven't had much time this week to work on editorials, or much of anything
else for that matter. It's become difficult to plan a number of things due
to many responsibilities; and usually a few things have to take a back seat.
This week, that means some commentary here. So, let's get to the real
stuff this week, and we'll forego the comments for a bit.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - "Brink" Release Edges Closer!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Nintendo Cutting Wii Price by $50?
Sony, Hotz Settle PS3 Hacking Suit!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"Brink" Videogame Release Edges Closer
Bethesda Softworks said Monday that its new "Brink" videogame set in an
Earth flooded due to climate change will be released on May 10, a week
ahead of schedule.
"Production wrapped on Brink earlier than we planned and we didn't see
any reason to keep gamers from getting their hands on this highly
anticipated game as soon as it was ready," said Bethesda marketing vice
president Pete Hines.
"It's apparent from the tremendous reaction so far that people are eager
to jump online and play, and if we can make that happen earlier - we're
going to."
Bethesda, the US publisher behind a blockbuster "Fallout" franchise that
combines upbeat 1950s pop culture with the aftermath of nuclear war, had
Splash Damage studio craft the "Brink" first-person shooter videogame.
US consumer electronics chain Best Buy was enticing players to pre-order
"Brink" by promising to add software that will let them customize a
character in the "Fallout" theme.
"Brink" takes place "in the near future" in an enormous floating city
crammed with ten times more people than it was designed to support.
Battles play out between the Ark's governing powers and rebels out to
seize control along with precious resources such as food and water.
"Brink" videogames for play on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 consoles will
be priced at $60, while a version tailored to personal computers powered
by Windows software will cost 10 dollars less.
"Brink" will be released in Europe three days after its North America
debut on May 10.
Nintendo Cutting Wii Price by $50
To help push dusty Nintendo Wii's off the shelves, Nintendo is
reportedly dropping the price of its console to $150, from $199.
Citing an unnamed source, Engadget reported on Monday that the new price
will take effect on May 15.
A spokesman for Nintendo said, "Nintendo does not comment on speculation
or rumor." Engadget pointed to a March interview between Nintendo
America president Reggie Fils-Aime and Gamasutra, in which Fils-Aime
discussed re-pricing the console.
"The Wii has a long life in front of it," Fils-Aime said. "We're still
sitting at $199. There are a variety of marketing tools at our disposal."
In late March, Fils-Aime told CNN that 3D will not be the star feature in
the Nintendo's next-generation console, which is expected soon as the Wii
turns five years old this year.
The Nintendo Wii, once the hottest console in the U.S., has seen its
popularity fizzle somewhat within the last year. In February, Wedbush
analyst Michael Pachter said Wii sales had dropped 31.5 percent in January
(usually a big month for console purchases) as consumers opted for newer
motion-control technologies like the Kinect for Xbox 360. However the Wii
still leads the current console market with 34.5 million units sold in the
U.S., followed by Microsoft's Xbox 360 with 25.8 million, and Sony's
PlayStation 3 at 15.7 million, NPD reports.
After delays due to the Japan earthquake and tsunamis, Nintendo's Pokemon
franchise on Wednesday will launch Pokemon Global Link, a Web site where
"Pokemon Black" and "Pokemon White" users can access post-game worlds,
Dream World and Global Battle Union. The new feature also lets users save
their progress online.
Sony, Hotz Settle PS3 Hacking Suit; Hotz Vows Boycott
Sony and George "Geohot" Hotz said Monday that the two sides have
mutually agreed to settle their suit, which includes Hotz agreeing to a
permanent injunction against posting information that Sony has wanted
removed.
The settlement was reached on March 31, the two sides said in a statement.
Sony is glad to put this litigation behind us," said Riley Russell,
general counsel for Sony Computer Electronics America (SCEA), in a
statement. "Our motivation for bringing this litigation was to protect
our intellectual property and our consumers. We believe this settlement
and the permanent injunction achieve this goal."
"It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy
easier," said Hotz, "I'm happy to have the litigation behind me."
On his Web page, however, Hotz claimed that he would never purchase a
Sony product again. "As of 4/11/11, I am joining the Sony boycott," he
wrote on his blog. "I will never purchase another Sony product. I encourage
you to do the same. And if you bought something Sony recently, return it."
Hotz also claimed that "there is much more to come on this blog". On
Sunday, Hotz posted an image with the caption: "I am in ur
blogz/censoring ur speeches".
In January, lawyers representing Hotz argued that he hacked the PS3 to
add back a feature that Sony had removed. Hotz, the lawyers claimed,
"re-enabled" OtherOS functionality, or the ability to dual-boot the
PlayStation 3 using some other OS, such as Linux.
SCEA filed suit against George Hotz (AKA "geohot") as well as "Bushing,"
Hector Martin Cantero, Sven Peter, and others alleged to be part of the
FAIL0VERFLOW group of hackers that contributed to the release of the
PlayStation 3's root key. SCEA charged Hotz and the others with violations
of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,
plus breaches of California copyright law, breach of contract, and other
violations.
SCEA also asked the court for a temporary restraining order preventing
the plaintiffs from posting any code, including the so-called Elliptic
Curve Digital Signature Algorithm keys, encryption keys, dePKG firmware
decrypter, or other tools - the injunction Hotz apparently agreed to.
The case then took a turn for the odd, with Sony claiming that Hotz fled
the country with several key components of hard drives that contained the
code. For his part, Hotz claimed that he was on "spring break".
Hotz had attempted to claim that the California court had no
jurisdiction in the case, as Hotz was a resident of New Jersey. That
complaint is still in front of the court.
The Sony statement also made clear that Hotz was not part of the recent
attacks against Sony by "Anonymous". The group said that it plans to
protest and boycott Sony stores on April 16, an action Hotz plans to join.
Jerry Lawson, Inventor of Modern Game Console, Dies at 70
Gerald "Jerry" Lawson, creator of the first cartridge-based videogame
console, died Saturday morning in a Mountain View, California, hospital,
Wired.com has learned. Lawson was 70.
As an engineer at Fairchild Semiconductor, Lawson designed the electronics
of the Fairchild Video Entertainment System, later renamed the Channel F,
in 1976.
Predating the release of Ataris Video Computer System by a year, the
Channel F was the first videogame machine that used interchangeable game
cartridges, which Fairchild sold separately. Previous game machines like
Ataris Pong and the Magnavox Odyssey had all their games built into the
hardware. Lawsons pioneering design set the standard for the game
consoles of today.
"Jerry was an amazing personality," said family friend David Erhart, who
broke the news of Lawsons death Monday on the Digital Press website. "He
created part of the videogame industry history in Silicon Valley and it was
always a pleasure to hear his stories about back in the day."
Much of Lawsons background is discussed in a wide-ranging interview he
gave Vintage Computing and Gaming in 2009.
A lifelong engineer and tinkerer, Lawson was born in 1940 and grew up in a
federal housing project in Queens, New York. As a kid, he operated a ham
radio; as a teenager he earned money by repairing his neighbors television
sets.
In the 1970s, living and working in Silicon Valley, he joined the Homebrew
Computer Club, a group of early hackers that included Apple co-founders
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
Lawsons contributions to videogames began with Demolition Derby, a
coin-operated arcade machine that he created in his garage while working
at Fairchild.
"Fairchild found out about it - in fact, it was a big controversy that I
had done that. And then, very quietly, they asked me if I wanted to do it
for them," Lawson said in the Vintage Computing interview.
Although similar machines were in development at Atari and RCA at the time,
the console Lawsons team built for Fairchild was the first
cartridge-based gaming system that came to market. Although it seems simple
now, making the technology work wasnt easy.
"There was a mechanism that allowed you to put the cartridges in without
destroying the semiconductors". We were afraid - we didnt have statistics
on multiple insertion and what it would do, and how we would do it, because
it wasnt done. I mean, think about it: Nobody had the capability of
plugging in memory devices in mass quantity like in a consumer product.
Nobody."
Only 26 cartridges were ever released for Channel F, all simple games like
Blackjack, Space War and Bowling. When Atari released its cartridge-based
system, Channel F was quickly rendered obsolete. Years later, Lawson
started his own company, Videosoft, to produce Atari 2600 cartridges, but
only released one, a technicians tool called Color Bar Generator.
Last month, the International Game Developers Association honored Lawsons
pioneering efforts at Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. His
workbench had more tools than most people would even know what to do
with.
"The whole reason I did games was because people said, You cant do it,"
he told the San Jose Mercury News last month. "Im one of the guys, if you
tell me I cant do something, Ill turn around and do it."
In later years, Lawson had suffered the severe effects of diabetes. He lost
sight in one eye and lost one of his legs to the disease, leaving him
confined to a wheelchair. On Wednesday, not feeling well, he was admitted
into El Camino Hospital Mountain View.
"He continued building devices to control telescopes, lasers, tools, etc.
up until the day he went to the hospital," said friend Erhart. "His
workbench had more tools than most people would even know what to do with.
He taught me quite a bit and Ill miss him sorely."
At 6:15 a.m. Saturday, Lawson died after apparently suffering a heart
attack. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter. The family is
planning a memorial service in mid-May.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
John McCain, John Kerry Introduce Contentious U.S. Privacy Bill
Senators John Kerry and John McCain introduced a tough new privacy bill
on Tuesday that would require companies to notifyconsumers in clear
language when their data is being collected and oblige them to keep that
information safe from hackers.
There are increasing concerns about the amount of information companies
collect about consumers and how they safeguard it. Millions of people
face a heightened risk of email swindles after a massive security breach
suffered by Epsilon, an online marketing firm with hundreds of firms
among its clients.
The bill would apply to hundreds of companies from search engine giant
Google Inc to telephone companies such as AT&T Inc to cable companies
such as Verizon Communications Inc and Comcast Corp.
The bill, if it becomes law, would require companies to tell consumers
why data was being collected, whom it would be shared with and how it
would be safeguarded.
Companies collecting data must also allow consumers to opt out of some
data collection and they must agree, or opt in, to the collection of
sensitive data like medical conditions.
The bill would also press businesses to collect only the information
needed for any particular transaction.
Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said the measure had support from
some big technology companies.
"These companies agree with us that it doesn't just make good business
sense to protect their customer; they know it's the right thing to do,"
he told a news conference.
McCain, an Arizona Republican, noted many websites - like most search
engines - are free precisely because they are supported by advertising.
"Our bill seeks to respect the ability of businesses to advertise, while
also protecting consumers' personal information," said McCain.
The administration said it liked aspects of the legislation and was
carefully reviewing other elements.
Hewlett-Packard Co, Microsoft Corp, eBay Inc and Intel Corp all support
the bill.
"We have long advocated for comprehensive federal privacy legislation,"
they said in a joint statement. "The complexity of existing privacy
regulations makes it difficult for many businesses to comply with the
law."
The bill seeks to protect data that is unique to a person, such as their
name, physical address, email address, telephone number, Social Security
number and credit card numbers.
Enforcing the bill would fall to the Federal Trade Commission and to
state attorneys general, with the FTC taking the lead.
Attorneys general would be limited to seeking a $3 million penalty for
violating security and transparency rules. The FTC might levy civil
penalties of $16,000 per violation per day.
California lawmakers are considering a "do not track" bill, which the
Kerry/McCain measure would preempt.
This was not a concern, said a congressional staffer who argued it was
impossible to have state-by-state regulation of data collection.
"At the end of the day, this is interstate commerce," the staffer said.
The bill was a disappointment to the Direct Marketing Association, which
argued it risked damaging the Internet at a time when it was a vibrant
spot in the U.S. economy. In 2010, companies spent more than $25.4
billion on digital advertising, which generated $503.6 billion in sales,
DMA said.
"DMA is wary of any legislation that upsets the information economy
without a showing of actual harm to consumers," said Linda Woolley, a
DMA executive vice president.
It was also a disappointment to a coalition of consumer groups and
privacy advocates, which welcomed the bill but called for it to be
"significantly strengthened."
"I don't think this is going to affect online marketing at all," said
Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy privacy group.
John Simpson, of Consumer Watchdog, agreed.
"We cannot support it today," he said.
White House Releases Trusted Internet ID Plan
The U.S. government will coordinate private-sector efforts to create
trusted identification systems for the Internet, with the goal of giving
consumers and businesses multiple options for authenticating identity
online, according to a plan released by President Barack Obama's
administration.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will work with
private companies to drive development and adoption of trusted ID
technologies, White House officials said. The National Strategy for
Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC), released by the Department of
Commerce on Friday, aims to protect the privacy and security of Internet
users by encouraging a broad online authentication market in the U.S.
"The fact is that the old password and username combination we often use
to verify people is no longer good enough," Commerce Secretary Gary
Locke said at an NSTIC release event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce. "It leaves too many consumers, government agencies and
businesses vulnerable to ID and data theft."
Because of online fraud, many people don't trust the Internet, Locke added.
"It will not reach its full potential - commercial or otherwise - until
users and consumers feel more secure than they do today when they go
online," he said.
About 8.1 million U.S. residents were victims of ID theft in 2010, Locke
said. The cost to business is high: a company with 500 employees spends
about US$110,000 a year managing employee IDs, according to the
Department of Commerce.
The trusted ID technologies described in NSTIC would allow online users
to dump passwords in favor of credentials that can be used on multiple
websites. The Obama administration hopes that multiple trusted ID
technologies will emerge, officials said.
Consumer participation in trusted ID technologies will be voluntary,
they added.
NIST will host three workshops starting in June to focus on problems
with development and adoption of online ID authentication technologies,
Obama administration officials said. Businesses, consumer groups,
privacy advocates and other interested members of the public will be
invited, they said.
The plan aims for several trusted ID pilot projects to be launched in
2012, and the administration hopes to see a robust trusted ID market in
the U.S. in three to five years, officials said.
The White House released a draft version of NSTIC in June. The new version
more explicitly emphasizes that the private sector will drive forward the
trusted ID market, with government playing a coordinating role,
administration officials said.
After the draft release, some critics raised privacy concerns about
NSTIC, suggesting it is the administration's effort to create a national
ID. The emphasis on private sector leadership should debunk that
argument, Locke said.
"Other countries have chosen to rely on government-led initiatives to
essentially create national ID cards," he said. "We don't think that's a
good model, despite what you might have read on blogs frequented by the
conspiracy theory set. Having a single issuer of identities creates
unacceptable privacy and civil liberties issues. We also want to spur
innovation, not limit it."
Privacy advocate Susan Landau, a fellow at Harvard University, praised
the new version of NSTIC, saying it will allow Internet users to remain
anonymous for many online transactions. The plan calls for online
businesses to collect the minimal amount of information necessary from
credential providers in order to process the transaction, administration
officials said.
"NSTIC certainly sets out the right vision here," added Leslie Harris,
president and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a
privacy advocacy group. "It gives consumers more control and more choice
about their online identities. It makes it clear that it's voluntary."
Representatives of several vendors, including Google and Paypal, praised
the effort. Several vendors demonstrated trusted ID technologies at the
event, with Northrop Grumman, Microsoft and other partners demonstrating
a cloud-based credential system for mobile devices.
US Disables 'Coreflood' Botnet, Seizes Servers
US authorities on Wednesday announced the disabling of a vast network of
virus-infected computers used by cyber criminals to steal millions of
dollars.
The "Coreflood" botnet is believed to have operated for nearly a decade
and to have infected more than two million computers around the world,
the Justice Department and FBI said in a joint statement.
They said charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and illegal interception of
electronic communications had been filed against 13 suspects identified
in court papers only as John Doe 1, John Doe 2, etc.
The complaint said they were all "foreign nationals" but provided no
further information about their identities or nationalities.
Five "command and control" computer servers and 29 Internet domain names
were seized as part of the operation, described as the "most complete
and comprehensive enforcement action ever taken by US authorities to
disable an international botnet."
A botnet is a network of malware-infected computers that can be
controlled remotely from other computers.
Coreflood, which exploited a vulnerability in computers running
Microsoft's Windows operating systems, was used to steal usernames,
passwords and other private personal and financial information, US
officials said.
As of February 2010, some 2.33 million computers were part of the
Coreflood botnet, including 1.85 million in the United States, according
to the complaint filed with the US District Court for the District of
Connecticut.
"Infected computers in the Coreflood botnet automatically recorded the
keystrokes and Internet communications of unsuspecting users, including
online banking credentials and passwords," the complaint said.
"The defendants and their co-conspirators used the stolen data,
including online banking credentials and passwords, to direct fraudulent
wire transfers from the bank accounts of their victims," it added.
The complaint said the full extent of the financial loss is not known
but it provided details on a number of victims.
They included a real estate company in Michigan hit for $115,771 in
fraudulent wire transfers, an investment company in North Carolina taken
for $151,201 and a defense contractor in Tennessee which lost $241,866.
Dave Marcus, research and communications director at McAfee Labs, said
the cyber criminals behind Coreflood were apparently able to "turn the
botnet into a money making machine."
"It is hard to estimate the actual loot, but the criminals likely made
tens of millions of dollars, based on the estimates in the complaint
filed by the Department of Justice," Marcus said. "It is not outside of
the realm of possibility that they netted more than $100 million."
US attorney David Fein said the seizure of the Coreflood servers and the
Internet domain names "is expected to prevent criminals from using
Coreflood or computers infected by Coreflood for their nefarious
purposes."
"These actions to mitigate the threat posed by the Coreflood botnet are
the first of their kind in the United States and reflect our commitment
to being creative and proactive in making the Internet more secure,"
added Shawn Henry of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services
Branch.
In July of last year, US, Spanish and Slovenian law enforcement
authorities announced the arrest of the suspected creator of the
"Mariposa Botnet," which may have infected as many as eight million to
12 million computers around the world.
In Cyberspy vs. Cyberspy, China Has The Edge
As America and China grow more economically and financially intertwined,
the two nations have also stepped up spying on each other. Today, most of
that is done electronically, with computers rather than listening devices
in chandeliers or human moles in tuxedos.
And at the moment, many experts believe China may have gained the upper
hand.
Though it is difficult to ascertain the true extent of America's own
capabilities and activities in this arena, a series of secret diplomatic
cables as well as interviews with experts suggest that when it comes to
cyber-espionage, China has leaped ahead of the United States.
According to U.S. investigators, China has stolen terabytes of sensitive
data - from usernames and passwords for State Department computers to
designs for multi-billion dollar weapons systems. And Chinese hackers
show no signs of letting up. "The attacks coming out of China are not
only continuing, they are accelerating," says Alan Paller, director of
research at information-security training group SANS Institute in
Washington, DC.
Secret U.S. State Department cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and made
available to Reuters by a third party, trace systems breaches -
colorfully code-named "Byzantine Hades" by U.S. investigators - to the
Chinese military. An April 2009 cable even pinpoints the attacks to a
specific unit of China's People's Liberation Army.
Privately, U.S. officials have long suspected that the Chinese
government and in particular the military was behind the cyber-attacks.
What was never disclosed publicly, until now, was evidence.
U.S. efforts to halt Byzantine Hades hacks are ongoing, according to
four sources familiar with investigations. In the April 2009 cable,
officials in the State Department's Cyber Threat Analysis Division noted
that several Chinese-registered Web sites were "involved in Byzantine
Hades intrusion activity in 2006."
The sites were registered in the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan
Province in central China, according to the cable. A person named Chen
Xingpeng set up the sites using the "precise" postal code in Chengdu
used by the People's Liberation Army Chengdu Province First Technical
Reconnaissance Bureau (TRB), an electronic espionage unit of the Chinese
military. "Much of the intrusion activity traced to Chengdu is similar
in tactics, techniques and procedures to (Byzantine Hades) activity
attributed to other" electronic spying units of the People's Liberation
Army, the cable says.
Reconnaissance bureaus are part of the People's Liberation Army's Third
Department, which oversees China's electronic eavesdropping, according
to an October 2009 report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security
Commission, a panel created by Congress to monitor potential national
security issues related to U.S- China relations. Staffed with linguists
and technicians, the Third Department monitors communications systems in
China and abroad. At least six Technical Reconnaissance Bureaus,
including the Chengdu unit, "are likely focused on defense or
exploitation of foreign networks," the commission report states.
The precise relationship with the Chinese Army of suspected hacker Chen
Xingpeng could not be immediately determined by Reuters. A spokesman for
the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to multiple requests
for comment. The U.S. State Department declined to comment.
But the leaked cables and other U.S. government reports underscore how
Chinese and other state-sponsored and private hackers have overwhelmed
U.S. government computer networks. In the last five years,
cyber-intrusions reported to the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team,
a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, have increased more than
650 percent, from 5,503 incidents in fiscal 2006 to 41,776 four years
later, according to a March 16 report by the Government Accountability
Office.
The official figures don't account for intrusions into commercial
computer networks, which are part of an expanding cyber-espionage
campaign attributed to China, according to current and former U.S.
national security officials and computer-security experts.
In the last two years, dozens of U.S. companies in the technology, oil
and gas and financial sectors have disclosed that their computer systems
have been infiltrated.
In January 2010, Internet search giant Google announced it was the
target of a sophisticated cyber-attack using malicious code dubbed
"Aurora," which compromised the Gmail accounts of human rights activists
and succeeded in accessing Google source code repositories.
The company, and subsequent public reports, blamed the attack on the
Chinese government.
The Google attack "was certainly an escalation of Chinese network
operations against the U.S.," says Joel Brenner, former
counterintelligence chief for the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence. "Thousands" of U.S. companies were targeted in the Aurora
attacks, Brenner says - far more than the estimated 34 companies
publicly identified as targets so far - a scale which Brenner says
demonstrates China's "heavy-handed use of state espionage against
economic targets."
Many firms whose business revolves around intellectual property - tech
firms, defense group companies, even Formula One teams - complain that
their systems are now under constant attack to extract proprietary
information. Several have told Reuters they believe the attacks come
from China.
Some security officials say firms doing business directly with Chinese
state-linked companies - or which enter fields in which they compete
directly - find themselves suffering a wall of hacking attempts almost
immediately.
The full scope of commercial computer intrusions is unknown. A study
released by computer-security firm McAfee and government consulting
company SAIC on March 28 shows that more than half of some 1,000
companies in the United States, Britain and other countries decided not
to investigate a computer-security breach because of the cost. One in 10
companies will only report a security breach when legally obliged to do
so, according to the study.
"Simply put, corporations cannot afford negative publicity (about
computer security breaches)," says Tom Kellermann, vice president of
security awareness at Core Security Technologies and a contributor to
the study.
What is known is the extent to which Chinese hackers use "spear-phishing"
as their preferred tactic to get inside otherwise forbidden networks.
Compromised email accounts are the easiest way to launch spear-phish
because the hackers can send the messages to entire contact lists.
The tactic is so prevalent, and so successful, that "we have given up on
the idea we can keep our networks pristine," says Stewart Baker, a
former senior cyber-security official at the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security and National Security Agency. It's safer, government and
private experts say, to assume the worst - that any network is vulnerable.
Two former national security officials involved in cyber-investigations
told Reuters that Chinese intelligence and military units, and affiliated
private hacker groups, actively engage in "target development" for
spear-phish attacks by combing the Internet for details about U.S.
government and commercial employees' job descriptions, networks of
associates, and even the way they sign their emails - such as U.S.
military personnel's use of "V/R," which stands for "Very Respectfully"
or "Virtual Regards."
The spear-phish are "the dominant attack vector. They work. They're
getting better. It's just hard to stop," says Gregory J. Rattray, a
partner at cyber-security consulting firm Delta Risk and a former
director for cyber-security on the National Security Council.
Spear-phish are used in most Byzantine Hades intrusions, according to a
review of State Department cables by Reuters. But Byzantine Hades is
itself categorized into at least three specific parts known as
"Byzantine Anchor," "Byzantine Candor," and "Byzantine Foothold." A
source close to the matter says the sub-codenames refer to intrusions
which use common tactics and malicious code to extract data.
A State Department cable made public by WikiLeaks last December
highlights the severity of the spear-phish problem. "Since 2002, (U.S.
government) organizations have been targeted with social-engineering
online attacks" which succeeded in "gaining access to hundreds of (U.S.
government) and cleared defense contractor systems," the cable said. The
emails were aimed at the U.S. Army, the Departments of Defense, State
and Energy, other government entities and commercial companies.
Once inside the computer networks, the hackers install keystroke-logging
software and "command-and-control" programs which allow them to direct
the malicious code to seek out sensitive information. The cable says
that at least some of the attacks in 2008 originated from a
Shanghai-based hacker group linked to the People's Liberation Army's
Third Department, which oversees intelligence-gathering from electronic
communications.
Between April and October 2008, hackers successfully stole "50 megabytes
of email messages and attached documents, as well as a complete list of
usernames and passwords from an unspecified (U.S. government) agency,"
the cable says.
Investigators say Byzantine Hades intrusions are part of a particularly
virulent form of cyber-espionage known as an "advanced persistent
threat." The malicious code embedded in attachments to spear-phish
emails is often "polymorphic" - it changes form every time it runs -
and burrows deep into computer networks to avoid discovery. Hackers also
conduct "quality-assurance" tests in advance of launching attacks to
minimize the number of anti-virus programs which can detect it, experts
say.
As a result, cyber-security analysts say advanced persistent threats are
often only identified after they penetrate computer networks and begin
to send stolen data to the computer responsible for managing the attack.
"You have to look for the 'phone home,'" says Roger Nebel, managing
director for cyber-security at Defense Group Inc., a consulting firm in
Washington, DC.
It was evidence of malicious code phoning home to a control server - a
computer that supervises the actions of code inside other computers -
that provided confirmation to U.S. cyber-sleuths that Chinese hackers
were behind Byzantine Hades attacks, according to the April 2009 State
Department cable.
As a case study, the cable cites a 10-month investigation by a group of
computer experts at the University of Toronto which focused in part on
cyber-intrusions aimed at Tibetan groups, including the office of the
exiled Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India.
Referencing the Canadian research, the cable notes that infected
computers in the Dalai Lama's office communicated with control servers
previously used to attack Tibetan targets during the 2008 Olympics in
Beijing. Two Web sites linked to the attack also communicated with the
control server.
The same sites had also been involved in Byzantine Hades attacks on U.S.
government computers in 2006, according to "sensitive reports" cited in
the cable -- likely a euphemistic reference to secret intelligence
reporting.
The computer-snooping code that the intrusion unleashed was known as the
Gh0stNet Remote Access Tool (RAT). It "can capture keystrokes, take
screen shots, install and change files, as well as record sound with a
connected microphone and video with a connected webcam," according to
the cable.
Gh0st RAT succeeded in invading at least one State Department computer.
It "has been identified in incidents - believed to be the work of
(Byzantine Hades) actors - affecting a locally employed staff member at
the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan," according to the cable.
Evidence that data was being sucked out of a target network by malicious
code also appears to have led cyber-security investigators to a specific
hacker, affiliated with the Chinese government, who was conducting
cyber-espionage in the United States. A March, 2009 cable identifies him
as Yinan Peng. The cable says that Peng was believed to be the leader of
a band of Chinese hackers who call themselves "Javaphile."
Peng did not respond to three emails seeking comment.
The details of alleged Chinese military-backed intrusions of U.S.
government computers are discussed in a half dozen State Department
cables recounting intense global concern about China's aggressive use of
cyber-espionage.
In a private meeting of U.S., German, French, British and Dutch
officials held at Ramstein Air Base in September 2008, German officials
said such computer attacks targeted every corner of the German market,
including "the military, the economy, science and technology, commercial
interests, and research and development," and increase "before major
negotiations involving German and Chinese interests," according to a
cable from that year.
French officials said at the meeting that they "believed Chinese actors
had gained access to the computers of several high-level French
officials, activating microphones and Web cameras for the purpose of
eavesdropping," the cable said.
The leaked State Department cables have surfaced as Reuters has learned
that the U.S. is engaged in quiet, proxy-led talks with China over cyber
issues.
Chronic computer breaches have become a major source of tension in U.S.
relations with China, which intensified after the major Google hack was
disclosed in January 2010, according to U.S. officials involved in the
talks. Even before the Google hack, Chinese officials had recognized the
problem as well.
In mid-2009, representatives of the China Institutes for Contemporary
International Relations, a nominally-independent research group
affiliated with China's Ministry of State Security, contacted James A.
Lewis, a former U.S. diplomat now with the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
Lewis said that in his first meeting with his Chinese counterparts, a
representative of the China Institutes asked: "Why does the Western
press always blame China (for cyber-attacks)?" Lewis says he replied:
"Because it's true."
There was no response to request for comment on the talks from the
Chinese embassy in Washington.
Preliminary meetings at CSIS have blossomed into three formal meetings
in Washington and Beijing over the last 14 months. According to two
participants, the talks continue to be marked by "a lot of suspicion."
Attendees have focused on establishing a common understanding of
cyber-related military, law enforcement and trade issues.
Cyber-espionage isn't being discussed directly, according to one
participant, because "the Chinese go rigid" when the subject is raised.
One reason: for China, digital espionage is wrapped into larger concerns
about how to keep China's economy, the world's second largest, growing.
"They've identified innovation as crucial to future economic growth -
but they're not sure they can do it," says Lewis. "The easiest way to
innovate is to plagiarize" by stealing U.S. intellectual property, he
adds.
There have been a few breakthroughs. U.S. and Chinese government
officials from law enforcement, intelligence, military and diplomatic
agencies have attended in the wings of each discussion. "The goal has
been to get both sides on the same page," says Lewis. "We're building
the groundwork for official discussions."
A former senior national security official who has also attended the
talks says, "Our reports go straight to the top policymakers" in the
Obama administration.
Chinese participants have sought to allay U.S. concerns about a Chinese
cyber-attack on the U.S. financial system. With China owning more than
$1.1 trillion in U.S. government debt, Lewis says China's
representatives acknowledged destabilization of U.S. markets would, in
effect, be an attack on China's economy, itself.
Despite the talks, suspected Chinese cyber-espionage has hardly tapered
off. Documents reviewed by Reuters show that CSIS itself recently was
the target of a spear-phish containing malicious code with a suspected
link to China.
On March 1, an email sent from an address on an unofficial U.S. Armed
Forces family welfare network called AFGIMail was sent to Andrew
Schwartz, chief spokesman for CSIS. Attached to the message was an Excel
spreadsheet labeled "Titan Global Invitation List."
An analysis conducted for Reuters by a cyber-security expert who asked
not to be identified shows the email may have been sent from a
compromised AFGIMail email server. The Excel spreadsheet, if opened,
installs malicious code which searches for documents on the victim's
computer. The code then communicates to a Web-site hosting company in
Orange County, California that has additional sites in China.
SpyEye Arrests Have Little Impact in the Grand Scheme
Reports are emerging from the UK that authorities have arrested three
individuals in connection with the SpyEye botnet. Unfortunately, these
appear to be bit players rather than the brains behind the SpyEye malware
platform, and will have virtually no impact on the threat of SpyEye in
general.
Arresting these guys is a bit like making a drug bust of the thug
selling dime bags on the corner while the real drug kingpin sips piña
coladas in a villa on the beach in Costa Rica. The arrest might
temporarily stop drugs from being sold on that particular block in that
particular neighborhood, but have virtually no impact on drug
trafficking as a whole. Another thug will be standing on that same
corner selling the same dime bags tomorrow.
AppRiver, agrees with the drug dealer/drug lord analogy, but adds that
even relatively trivial arrests such as these send a message that law
enforcement is not going to tolerate such activity, and that it has the
skills and capabilities to track down the attackers.
AppRiver's Troy Gill concurs with Touchette's opinion that the arrests
send a message. He points out that the arrests still disrupt criminal
activity on some level, and let other would-be script kiddies know that
there is risk involved with cybercrime. Gill also notes that information
gathered from these low-level players might contribute to the greater
goal of tracking down the SpyEye source.
Vikram Thakur, principle security response manager for Symantec,
commented, "Perhaps a more accurate analogy would be the arrest of
someone who uses a gun to commit a crime, while the source that
individual obtained the gun from remains free," adding "Regardless of
the analogy, these individuals were caught stealing money from multiple
banks. My assumption is that this involved a substantial monetary loss,
since it warranted an investigation by law enforcement officials that
appears to have lasted more than three months."
Thakur notes that individuals who are directly affected by botnets or
malware attacks are primarily interested in simply catching the
perpetrators of their particular crime. They aren't necessarily
concerned with the big picture of whether or not law enforcement manages
to track down and prosecute the source of the tool that was used.
McAfee's Dave Marcus has a more ominous take on the big picture, though.
Marcus agrees that the individuals arrested are essentially script kiddies,
but says that even if authorities arrested the authors of the SpyEye
malware toolkit it would have little impact on the overall threat of
SpyEye. Marcus notes "The code is out there, and will continue to be
developed."
Is it good news that UK authorities put a stop to the criminal activity
of these three individuals? Absolutely. But, ultimately it means little
in the grand scheme of malware attacks.
Firefox Challenges Browser Rivals with Quicker Updates
Mozilla notified developers late last week that it intends to adopt a
shorter development cycle for Firefox browser releases. Though this will
help Firefox avoid losing more market share to Google's Chrome - and
put more pressure on Microsoft to follow suit with Internet Explorer -
the real winner is the browser user, noted Net Applications Executive
Vice President Vince Vizzaccaro.
"We're seeing a commitment from all of the major browser providers to
devote additional resources to their browsers, and to enhance and update
them much more quickly than any time before in the history of the
Internet," Vizzaccaro said. "They understand that browser users have
options fostered by competition."
There are a lot of benefits to smoothing and streamlining development
processes to release functionality on a more incremental basis, noted Al
Hilwa, director of applications software development at IDC. "This is
something Microsoft and other software developers have to grapple with,"
Hilwa said.
According to Net Applications, Internet Explorer's share of the global
browser market held steady in March at 55.92. Firefox (21.80 percent)
was second, followed by Chrome (11.57 percent), Apple's Safari (6.61
percent), and Opera (2.15 percent).
Since IE9 only had a 3.6 percent usage share in March, Microsoft's new
browser has had minimal impact on the browser market so far. One reason
is that IE9 is not compatible with Windows XP, which "currently has 54
percent of global usage share," the web-metrics firm noted.
Over the long run, however, IE9 could potentially make big gains since
it has been designed to take advantage of the rich graphics capabilities
of Windows 7 and its underlying 64-bit hardware, Net Applications said.
"Windows 7 usage share is following a strong, fairly linear path
upward," it observed. "And Windows versions from Vista forward should
have a majority share within a couple of years."
Mozilla hopes to thwart Microsoft's long-term strategy for IE9 by
speeding up its browser release schedule. For example, it will stagger
Firefox's four stages of development - called the Mozilla-central,
Mozilla-aurora, Firefox-beta and Mozilla-release channels - so that a
general Firefox release can ship at week 16 and potentially as soon as
every six weeks thereafter.
However, Firefox 5's ship date will be slightly different from future
releases due to the lack of a development overlap with Firefox 4.
"Rather than six weeks for Mozilla-central, Mozilla-aurora, and
Mozilla-beta, we instead have three weeks for development on
Mozilla-central, five weeks to converge and stabilize on Mozilla-aurora,
and five weeks to validate on Mozilla-beta," the browser maker noted.
The normal development schedule - under which every step in the cycle
takes six weeks - will begin with Firefox 6's development cycle, which
"starts when Firefox 5 is cloned from Mozilla-central to Mozilla-aurora
on April 12, Mozilla said. In other words, Firefox 6 potentially could
ship before the end of summer.
Firefox's market share has been slowly declining in recent months due to
the rising popularity of the Chrome browser, which Google updates
frequently and even on an automatic basis.
"Chrome's development model has been a successful experiment in terms of
getting production releases with improvements and new features out
quickly and much faster than in the past," Hilwa said. "I think this is
causing waves in the industry, most specifically for direct competitors."
While Firefox 4 sports a "check for updates" menu item and an update
screen, an automatic browser update was postponed to Firefox 5.
Additionally, support for 64-bit PC platforms is reportedly high on
Mozilla's list for Firefox 5.
"Firefox has certainly upped its game and is trying hard to fight the
battle with Chrome for the power user where Chrome has gained share,"
Hilwa said.
Microsoft Unveils First Internet Explorer 10 Preview
Microsoft has released the first platform preview for Internet Explorer
10, less than a month after the launch its much-hyped Internet Explorer
9 browser.
The technology giant unveiled IE10 earlier today at its Mix11 developer
conference in Las Vegas. The preview, which is now available for
download, isn't a reinvention of the browser (Microsoft's goal with IE9),
but rather a continuation of the work it did in hardware acceleration,
HTML5 and CSS3.
"IE10 builds on full hardware acceleration and continues our focus on
site-ready Web-standards," IE corporate vice president Dean Hachamovitch
said in an announcement. "This combination enables developers to deliver
the best performance for their customers on Windows while using the
same, Web-standard markup across browsers."
Hachamovitch said that Microsoft is only three weeks into IE10's
development, but it's already comfortable showing off what it has built
so far. On stage at the Mix11 conference, he demonstrated some of its
capabilities against Google's Chrome browser and revealed that IE10 will
include additional support for CSS3, including Gradients and the
Flexible Box layout. Additional IE10 previews will be rolling out every
eight to twelve weeks.
Microsoft released IE9 on March 14 after 40 million downloads during its
beta. IE9 has been well received; at its peak, IE9 was downloaded 27
times per second. Still, Microsoft knew that it couldn't rest on its
laurels. Mozilla's Firefox 4 browser was downloaded 5,000 times per minute
during its first day of availability, and Google Chrome is already at
version 11.
Apple Adds 'Do Not Track' Option to Safari
Apple has jumped on the "do not track" bandwagon by adding the privacy
tool to a test version of its Safari browser, according to the Wall Street
Journal.
The "do not track" option is included in Lion, the next version of Apple's
Mac OS X. It's currently only available to developers, and scheduled to be
released later this year. The Journal said mentions of "do not track"
started popping up in Web forums and on Twitter; Apple has not made any
formal announcements.
A "do not track" option basically provides Web users with the option to
not have their online activity tracked. This type of data is highly
valuable to ad networks, which can use it to serve up more targeted
advertisements. In many cases, relevant ads can be helpful to the Web
surfer, but there is a concern that the average person has no idea what
type of information is actually being collected. "Do not track" will
provide them more control, according to supporters.
Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla already incorporate versions of "do not
track" into their browsers.
The "Advanced" screen in Mozilla's Firefox 4 Options tool now includes a
box that, when checked, tells Web sites that you want to opt-out of
tracking used for behavioral advertising. Mozilla added the feature to a
pre-build version of Firefox in January, and added it to the beta in
February.
Microsoft Tracking Protection was included in the release candidate of
Internet Explorer 9, which was announced earlier this year. At the launch
event for the RC, Microsoft also announced four partners for Tracking
Protection: Abine, TRUSTe, PrivacyChoice, and AdBlock Plus. These firms
will provide lists of sites that plant small tracking code on many other
Web sites to profile users' site history and habits. The Tracking
Protection feature in IE9, which was first introduced in December, will
allow users to block this snooping by either using one of these lists or
automatically determining the offending Web domains. In later February,
the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a Web standards body, gave
Microsoft's plan its stamp of approval.
Google, meanwhile, has a Chrome extension called Keep My Opt-Outs, which
empowers users to permanently opt out of ad-tracking cookies.
"Do not track" initiatives got moving in December when the Federal Trade
Commission unveiled a broad plan for online privacy, which included the
"do not track" provision.
Congress has also stepped into the debate. In February, Rep. Jackie
Speier introduced the Do Not Track Me Online Act of 2011, which would give
the FTC 18 months to come up with standards for companies to follow when
it comes to online tracking.
Just this week, Sens. John Kerry and John McCain also introduced a
commercial "privacy bill of rights" that would give users more control over
how their information is used on the Web, while Rep. Cliff Stearns, a
Florida Republican, introduced a similar measure in the House, dubbed the
Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2011.
Dell 15-Inch Tablet-Laptop Combo Revealed
Thanks to leaked FCC schematics and specs, word is out that Dell is
developing a new convertible tablet and notebook combo. The 15-inch
device, code named the "Dell Panerai", may follow in the footsteps of
the 10-inch Inspiron Duo convertible, though it's not clear whether the
Panerai will feature the same flip design.
What we do know from the FCC filing is that the Panerai will have both a
"laptop mode" and a "tablet mode" and that there's an Intel Centrino 6230
wireless chipset a/b/g/n.
That's not a lot to go on, but while we wait for an official Dell
announcement we can hope and dream that the Panerai will overcome the
Duo's shortcomings (namely, a short battery life and sluggish
performance from its underpowered Atom processor). One of those new
Intel Core i5 or i7 processors would be nice - and perhaps not
unreasonable, considering the presence of the Intel Centrino 6 series
card, typically paired with Sandy Bridge processors.
Asus Transformer, may offer the best of both worlds - if they can deliver
on both the touch experience and mobile computing power. The Panerai's
15-inch display size seems massive for a tablet, but roomy enough for
traditional laptop work and entertainment.
One thing we can be sure of is that computer manufacturers are getting
ever more inventive with tablet and laptop concepts.
Harvard Twins Stuck with Facebook Agreement
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that former Harvard University
schoolmates of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg can't undo their settlement
over creation of the social networking site.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday that Tyler and Cameron
Winklevoss were savvy enough to understand what they were agreeing to
when they signed the agreement in 2008. The deal called for a $20
million cash payment and a partial ownership of Facebook. A third
classmate, Divya Narendra, was part of the settlement with the twins but
did not pursue the second lawsuit seeking to undo the agreement.
Monday's ruling upholds a lower court decision enforcing the settlement
during the six years of litigation that grew so contentious that the
dispute was dramatized in the Oscar-nominated film, "The Social Network."
The settlement is now worth more than $160 million because of Facebook's
increased valuation.
The twins had alleged they were misled about Facebook's value when they
agreed to settle their lawsuit that claimed Zuckerberg stole their idea
to launch Facebook.
"At some point, litigation must come to an end," chief justice Alex
Kozinksi wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel "That point has now
been reached."
The twins alleged they were misled into believing the company was worth
$35.90 a share because of an investment by Microsoft Corp. But they
argued that the company later valued the company at $8.88 for tax
purposes. The twins argue they would have demanded more stock in the
company based on the lower valuation.
Kozinski said the twins were "sophisticated parties" when they agreed to
the settlement during a mediation meeting.
"They brought half-a-dozen lawyers to the mediation," Kozinksi wrote.
Facebook said Monday it was pleased by the ruling. Lawyers for the
Winklevoss twins said they are reviewing the decision and have not
decided on their next step. The twins could ask the Supreme Court to
consider the case.
Allure of iPad, Other Tablets Hurting PC Sales
Last year, the popularity of Apple Inc.'s iPad hurt PC sales. This year,
that trend is continuing, as new data from two market research firms
indicate PC shipments declined in the first three months of 2011.
On Wednesday, Gartner Inc. said that its research shows PC shipments
dipped 1.1 percent compared to the same period last year, to 84.3
million. IDC said its numbers show PC shipments fell 3.2 percent to 80.6
million. The companies measure the market in different ways.
Gartner had expected 3 percent shipment growth, while IDC was looking
for 1.5 percent growth.
Gartner principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa said that during the
January-March period consumers weren't as drawn to cheap PCs - usually a
category that keeps the market growing. Rather, they were interested in
tablet computers and other consumer electronics.
"With the launch of the iPad 2 in February, more consumers either
switched to buying an alternative device, or simply held back from
buying PCs," Kitagawa said. "We're investigating whether this trend is
likely to have a long-term effect on the PC market."
For years, companies tried to popularize tablets, but it wasn't until
Apple released the iPad last April that the category took off. Last
month, Apple started selling a new version of the device, and a bevy of
companies including Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and BlackBerry maker
Research In Motion Ltd. are trying to catch up by offering their own
takes on the tablet.
IDC attributes the PC shipment decline to several factors, including
frugal businesses and a lack of consumer interest. To be successful over
time, PC makers must find a better way to sell computers than simply
touting their hardware specifications, IDC senior research analyst Jay
Chou said.
"'Good-enough computing' has become a firm reality, exemplified first by
Mini Notebooks and now Media Tablets. Macroeconomic forces can explain
some of the ebb and flow of the PC business, but the real question PC
vendors have to think hard about is how to enable a compelling user
experience that can justify spending on the added horsepower," he said.
In the U.S., IDC said shipments fell 10.7 percent to 16.1 million.
Gartner has PC shipments falling 6.1 percent, also to 16.1 million.
Both firms have Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard Co. as the world's top
PC maker: Gartner said HP had nearly 18 percent of the market in the
first quarter, while IDC pegs it at almost 19 percent.
But Gartner puts Taiwan's Acer Inc. in the No. 2 spot, with almost 13
percent of the market and Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Inc. as No. 3,
with nearly 12 percent. IDC, meanwhile, has Dell in the second-place
spot, with almost 13 percent of the market, and Acer third, with
slightly more than 11 percent.
Stateside, they both agree HP and Dell took the No. 1 and No. 2 spots,
respectively, but Gartner's data placed Acer and Japan-based Toshiba
Corp. in third and fourth, while IDC's data showed Toshiba in third and
Apple, of Cupertino, in fourth.
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