------------------------------ From: Various Contributors Subject: The CU in the news Date: 28 July, 1990 ******************************************************************** *** CuD #2.06: File 5 of 5: The CU in the News *** ******************************************************************** (Washington, DC)--CONGRESS TO APPROVE BILL BANNING SOFTWARE RENTALS The Senate and the House Judiciary Committee have passed bills that will allow software publishers to prevent computer stores and businesses from renting out their software. Rep. Mike Synar of Oklahoma (a democrat) has sponsored the House's Bill, and Congress is expected to pass his bill (or the Senate's proposal) before October. Mike Synar's bill is aimed at preventing video rental stores from renting microcomputer software, since software pirates who don't own modems can easily obtain commercial software through them. Interestingly enough, the bill does NOT prevent video rental stores from renting out Nintendo Game Cartridges, since Nintendo games can't be copied by software pirates. It seems that Nintendo earns revenue from cartridge sales, since they manufacture ALL Nintendo game cartridges.... (reprinted with permission from: STReport "Your Independent News Source" September 28, 1990 16/32bit Magazine copyright 1990 No.6.39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: Computerworld, September 24, 1990, p. 122, Inside Lines: "And a Merry Christmas to All?" An almost identical version of the IBM Christmas virus that infected thousands of computers on IBM's internal mail in December 1987 has reportedly been posted on the Bitnet network. The virus puts a tree and seasonal greeting message on the screen of infected computers and is known to replicate wildly, shutting down computers. No word of any infections, however. Bitnet connects computers at more than 200 universities as well as to the Earn network in Europe, the entry point of the original virus. IBM was forced to shut down its 350,000-terminal network for nearly three days to get rid of the virus. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >From the JOHNSON CITY PRESS, Wednesday, October 3, 1990 HACKER ALTERING RECORDED PHONE MESSAGES By Leslie Loyd Associated Press Writer KINGSPORT, TN - A computer hacker is tapping into voice mail telephone messages and replacing them with explicit sexual descriptions, a telephone company spokesman said Tuesday. Phil Timp, a spokesman for United Telephone Co., said the company has received 70 complaints. "All of the sudden in the last two weeks, we've had a barrage of complaints," Timp said. "What the motive is we don't know... Obviously they're very disturbed." The FBI and Kingsport police were called in Tuesday to investigate. ... (portion omitted describing voice mail) ... "(Subscribers) are checking their messages and hearing this," Timp said. "Imagine if your mother called." He said subscribers frequently use the last four digits of their telephone number as their access code because it is easy to remember. But that also makes the code easy to break. Timp said subscribers should check messages and change access code frequently. Timp said someone is using a computer to tap into the system and figure out the codes. "It's a knowledgeable user," Timp said. He said he doesn't know if any subscribers have canceled because of the explicit messages. "We're doing everything we can to make sure these people can continue their voice mail service," Timp said. "It's the first time we've had a problem to this degree," he said. The company began offering the service two years ago and has had a few isolated incidents like this. (Submitted by Paul Schmidt) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Ithaca Journal Tuesday September 25, 1990 (reprinted by permission) "IHS student unleashes computer viruses" by Chris Swingle Journal Staff A 16-year-old Ithaca High School student created computer viruses that spread during the summer to dozens of Macintosh personal computers in Ithaca, officials reported Monday. Computers at Ithaca High, BAKA Computers Inc. and Cornell University were affected, but the problems are now believed solved. The viruses took hundreds -- or even thousands -- of work hours to fix, one official estimated. "It can be described as a nuisance," said Ted Palmer, a senior investigator with the New York State Police in Cortland who specializes in computer crime investigations. The Ithaca High School teenager, whose name wasn't released, isn't being prosecuted because he cooperated and agreed to help police in future investigations, Palmer said. Computer viruses are miniature programs that can replicate and spread from one computer to another, much as microorganism do. These viruses can wreak havoc -- tying up computer's memory, interrupting normal operations, causing errors or even destroying data. The IHS case comes almost two years after a Cornell University graduate student drew national attention with a similar type of rogue program called a "worm," which jammed some 6,000 government, military and university computers. Robert T. Morris Jr. was convicted on federal charges of computer tampering in January, and he was sentenced to 400 hours of community service and fined $10,000. This summer's two local viruses, which additionally had variations, didn't destroy any information, but did spread quickly from disk to disk. The virus "infected" a new computer by moving into the hard disk core of the computer, then hopping onto the next disk that was put in the computer. "All that was necessary is that a disk be inserted, to be infected," said Mark Anbinder, a technical consultant for BAKA. "So it was a particularly annoying one." "I would describe it as serious in that it interferes with the computers' operation," he added. One virus was first discovered in May, and another strain appeared in August, Anbinder said. A police investigation started Aug. 22 and ended Sunday, Palmer said. State police and Cornell public safety investigators worked with virus experts to analyze the computer bug and trace its origin. In the spring of 1988, Macintosh computers at Cornell were infected by a virus called Scores that made the machines act increasingly erratically, then stop working altogether. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ IBM US News Bulletin Dateline - September 18, 1990 IBM, MERIT AND MCI FORM NEW ORGANIZATION TO EXPAND NATIONAL COMPUTER SUPERHIGHWAY IBM, MCI Communications Corporation, and Merit, Inc., a consortium of eight Michigan universities, has announced the establishment of Advanced Network and Services, Inc. (ANS), a new company that will help propel high-speed computer networking into the next century for the nation's research and education communities. The new not-for-profit organization will manage and operate the federally funded National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) backbone, under subcontract to Merit, as well as provide a broad spectrum of networking services to researchers and educators in universities, federal laboratories and the private sector. These services range from basic network monitoring to complete networking connectivity and support. ANS will begin to connect additional educational, industrial and government institutions to the nation's largest public computer superhighway at speed up to 45 megabits per second. ANS is being established to help build and expand current networking capabilities to meet the skyrocketing demand by the nation's scientists, engineers and academics for high-speed networking. The goals of ANS are: * To assist in the expansion of the existing national network so that it broadly serves the research and education community. * To increase the speed and capability of the network, maintaining it at the leading edge of technology. * To provide the highest quality network and services in helping to advance research and education. IBM and MCI are providing ANS with initial funding, as well as leading edge technology. Merit, Inc. will add its expertise in network operations, engineering and planning, in addition to network information services. IBM, MCI and Merit have been partners in NSFNET since 1987. Headquarters for ANS are in Elmsford, Ney York. -- Dan Ehrlich /Voice: +1 814 863 1142/FAX: +1 814 865 3176 ******************************************************************** ------------------------------ **END OF CuD #2.06** ******************************************************************** Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253 12yrs+