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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1995)
Hackers pose threat to Internet security systems NEW YORK (AP) Intruders havi* learned how to penetrate tophiiiiuitcd bar riers ami hijoc k computer sys toms linked to the Internet, posing a vast now un urity throat on the global network, authorities said Monday Millions of computers linked to the Internet are vulnerable to theft and eaves dropping by people who use the new technique, first des< rd>ed in an academ ic paper JO years ago hut known to he used slic e esifully only in recent weeks es|M*rts void Intruders c an gain "root" or top level act ess to host computers then copy or destroy documents or do other damage by masquerading as an authorized user on the hew! system, the government-financ «h) Computer Emergent y Response Team said "One •• the aflat k IS completed, it is dif ficult to detect,” the team said in an advi sorv distributed Monday on (lie Internet An unknown numiier of attac ks already have been reported, Tom Eongstaff, man ager of researc h and development at the CERT coordination center in Pittsburgh, said in a telephone interview For many computer systems. "Even when you bought a sec uhtv pat kage for the Internet there was no wx urity " from the new type of attai k, Longstafl said Thai's t*i .aus** Ihe attat Jurrs have learned how to defeat sophisticated hardware and software "firewall'' defenses An estimated 20 million people use the Internet, most losing In through "host" computers at universities or commercial a(«ess providers In coining months the Internet is exper led to i ontinue growing rapidly as a medium for < otnmert <». with expanded use of i red it card numbers and the intro durtion of "digital cash'' — all of which im reuses the security threat "There have been a lot of cases where credit card information has Imm-ii asked for and given" on line, said Sanford Slier iron, president of Data Sts urit) Systems, a < (insulting firm in Nat it k Mass Peo ple might as well stand on a street comer and veil the information out. or get « plane and trail it in the ski "We're in a real Iwittle now . Slieriren said "There are a lot of people, beyond h.u kers. who are the real computer crim inals who are interested in industrial espionage” and other white-collar t rime and who could use the new technique. Sheri zen said The new attat kx. initially reported Mon.I lV l*v Thr \ew Ynrk TnUr\ were first deter ted in a Christmas Day break-in at the < omputer of Tsutomu Shunomura, a computer security sjhs mlist at the San thego Supercomputer Center The culprit eir culprits controlled the computer for more than o day and elec tronically stole a large number of uri ty programs that Shimomura had written "They destroyed some records and attempted to destroy others." Shimomura said in a telephone interview "I think they were Using to prevent u* finding out what technique they went using to break in.'1 Only after four days of investigation were officials at the uniter able to confirm what had happened, Shimomura said The Times said federal officials are investigating subsequent break-ins at m*v era! organization* computers FBI offi cials wouldn't i eminent Monday Shimomura i ailed the attack "a new order of sophistication " "I expect that atttti ks like this will uin tinue. espei tally ns there is more i am menu on the 'net until \se have real sei urity and strong cryptography in place” to encode digital transmissions, Shimomura added The new technique is called Internet protocol spoofing The Internet breaks computer messages into digital data ”pa< kets" with addressing information — the protocols — used by network com puters known as routers, which deliver the data Spoofing fools the router into believing a message is coming from a trusted source. potentially giving the intruder complete a< i ess to what wa* considered a weil-guardod system. "Intruders i an use II* spoofing to gain root m i>v« for any purpose," the CKR7 advisory said Om e inside the system, intruders ran use a "biiai king tool" to take over con nections from any user on the system, the advisory said, adding that there's no way to prevent use of the "hijacking tool" once an intruder ha* gained a< i ess to a computer system. Tlie attai ks were des« rihed in theory in aradeinu papers in l&HSand 1989, (,KRT said The advisory listed types of i omputors, routers and software npplu ations that are vulnerable to Internet proto* ol spoofing. Some tyi«*s of networks already include filters that should prevent the attacks, hut for other types, a filter must be installed. I‘he solutions are difficult. I.ongstaff said. "Sometimes it's hard to understand why you're doing a solution, even for experts, which is what makes this partic ular problem so insidious " Classified government computer sys tems are not thought to lx- at risk because they are not directly connected to the Internet, the Times said The Internet originally was created by academic researchers to share computer data easily around the world. We the People members indicted for fraud, theft DhNV'KR (AIM Eleven memirefis of a group that win* aiders the nation s hanking system illegal were indicted an < barges of bilking more than $.100,000 out of people who thought they were shar ing m prix Mili from a > ourt victory Meniliers of We the People, based in f art Collins. face charges of securities fraud, conspiracy, criminal imper sonation and theft, state Attor ney (ioneral (atIt* Norton said Monday The money was collet ted from people w ho were told that the group was authorized to colled millions of dollars on liehalf of anyone who paid taxes, had a hank account or oven used current Norton VI III Despite wurningii by the state about the group's prac in ns. more than 1.000 Col orado resident* paid the group a $30Q 'Tiling fee" touted as a way to share in the proceeds of a court victory the group claimed, she said Group founder Roy Sc hwnsinger. who is named in the indictment, c burned the U S Supreme* Court had dec Inred the nation's hanking system, the Federal Reserve and the Internal Revenue Ser vie e illegal because of a We the People c lass ac tion law suit The group's lawsuit was dismissed w ithout going to tri al on grounds it had no legal basis, Norton said Teen pleads guilty to slaying tourist MONTH II.IO Fla (AP) A 1f> year oid pleaded guilty Mon ilay to a reduced for fatal Iv shooting a British tourist and wounding his companion at a highway rest stop, the latest in a year of road attacks on Florida visitors Prosecutors were prepared to claim that Atindrn Akins was the triggerman in the attack that killed («iry Colley and wounded Margaret |agger He becomes the third of four youths to plead to lesser t.barges in the case Akins, who was 14 at the time of the 1993 attar k. pleaded guilty to sei ond-degree murder and attempted murder about an hour liefore his trial was to begin. As part of the plea bargain, he fa< es a maximum 40 years in prison and will testify against John "Hil ly |oe" Oumitie, an 18 year-old facing a s»h ond trial after a jury w as unable to reach a verdict the first time around (agger was in court with her mother. Muriel, and said after ward she was happy another phase of the t;as« had ended "I was consulted in all this,” laggor said in a brief statement 'Tin pleased it's happened. I'm glad it s over with at the moment." Colley, t4. and )agger, .16. do ml in a rental car at an Inter state H) rest stop during a drive from New Orleans to South Flori da when the youngsters tried to rob them on Sept 14, 1 ‘HO When Colley tried to bat k up the tar to escape, Akins and Crunn tie opened fire, hitting Colley in the neck and wounding (agger, prosecutors said. Prosei utors said Akins fired the fatal shot. His lawyers had called the case weak The state hasn't recovered the guns and has little physical evident e linking the suspects to the crime In exchange for Akins' plea, the state dropped lesser charges of attempted armed robbery ami shooting into an occupied vehi cle lit> fin i*s t h roe to 40 years in prison. Sentencing was sched uled for April 11 Akins could have received life in prison if convicted of first degree murder. (Volley was the ninth foreigner killed on Florida roads in a sin gle year The unrelated shootings bettered the state’s tourism trade and prompted lawmakers to pass tough juvenile justice reforms Derail Spear. 1H. pleaded guilty to t.onspirm y to commit armed robbery and a< i essary after the fact. Spear, who said he drove the getaway car. faces up to 10 years in prison at his March t-t sen tencing Spear's half-brother, 14-yeor old Cedrick Green, pleaded no contest to lesser charges He was sentenced last month to commu nity control, placed on a curfew and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service MtSamBtoCMBMBMBttBttM This Week s Luncheon Special Mee Slam Rice noodle cooked with chicken, eggs and vegetables, served with special hot sauce $4.75 CHINA BLUE RESTAURANT Tty ow osnrm too L 079 I 13th • towjrt *r»f ro to aeon fart wamnmmmmmmMmmtMm 343-7932 • T**f out Av*tob* | BtaftKjwaaittUBgi’iwai.iiM LIVE ENTERTAINMENT NIGHTLY FREE POOL twfj day until • pjn -Vuiwlny | Mouh| nil day Pm b*ll tl FREE FooabdU Satoltara Wtkuu Sm oar ctMutrl a K<duW U Frtdayfc ILnttrtatnmant Mutton RIGHT ON TARGET Emerald CALL OUR ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT: 344-3712 Freshman Interest Groups LOOKING FOR A WAY TO GET INVOLVED AND HELP OTHERS? 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