[wordup] Word Up Quickies ...

[Adam Shand]

There's too much going on, to report it all would take my whole work day
and have ya'll being spammed 24x7.  Anyway here's some links to
interesting stuff.

Adam.

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The nimda (admin backwards) virus which started almost exactly on the one
week aniversary of the terrorist attack is a new and nasty one.  My web
server has been close to 10,000 times since tuesday morning with sites
trying to exploit it.  Fortunately for me it only effects NT systems,
unfortunately for you there's a lot of those out there.

BEWARE:  A Windows computer can *actually* get this virus by visiting a
web site or reading an email (if you use Outlook and IE).  No opening of
attachments or downloading of files is required.  Now is the time to
update IE, Outlook and your antivirus software to the lastest versions.
Now is an even better time to install a free operating system!  Go
download Linux or FreeBSD :)  More at:

  http://www.cert.org/body/advisories/CA200126_FA200126.html

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Via: http://www.memepol.com/

Peoples writing from New York city.  Some of this is amazing first hand
accounts.

  http://www.worldnewyork.org/

And some old propagada videos to help you all remember what war's actually
about.

  http://carmen.artsci.washington.edu/propaganda/video/index.html

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Via: politech at politechbot.com
From: Jack Reed <jr0280 at albany.edu>

Declan,

You may have already received this information, but some of the expanded
wiretapping capability that Ashcroft is seeking is already available.
Specifically, the ability to target a person rather than a telephone
number was written into law in ECPA and further modified in 1998. Here's
an excerpt from the 2000 Wiretap Report (p. 9):

   Since the enactment of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of
   1986, a specific location need not be cited in a federal application if
   the application contains a statement explaining why such specification
   is not practical or shows "a purpose, on the part of that person (under
   investigation), to thwart interception by changing facilities (see 18
   U.S.C. 2518 (11)). In these cass, prosecutors use "roving" wiretaps to
   target a specific person rather than a specific telephone location. The
   Intelligence Authorization Act of 1999, enacted on October 20, 1998,
   amended 18 U.S.C. 2518 (11)(b) so that a specific facility need not be
   cited "if there is probable cause to believe that actions by the person
   under investigation could have the effect of thwarting interception
   from a specified facility."...

   For 2000, authorizations for 27 wiretaps indicated approval with a
   relaxed specification order under 18 U.S.C. 2518(11).

   http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2518.html

   Sec. 2518. Procedure for interception of wire, oral, or electronic
   communications

Via: politech at politechbot.com
From: Len Sassaman <rabbi at quickie.net>

Hi Declan,

I thought your Politech readers might be interested in how the remailer
network looks, just over a week after the September 11th incidents. Feel
free to pass this on.

Initial reports gave the impression that the network was weakened because
of reactions to the terrorist attacks. On Sept 11th, two remailers
(cracker and orange) went offline. According to their operators, however,
this was a result of ongoing problems with their ISPs.  Cracker did come
back online shortly thereafter. Two other remailers shifted into the less
conspicuous "middleman mode" to avoid potential abuse situations.

Overall, the remailer network has grown in the past week. At present,
there are 37 remailers operating[1]. Five of these came online in the past
week, and I know of at least three more slated to go live in the next few
days, in response to concerns that the network may lose nodes. There have
been no reported requests from law enforcement for information about
remailer users yet, however.

Commercial anonymity service provider Anonymizer is currently offering an
anonymous gateway to the FBI's tip site for people who have information
concerning the attacks[1]. Likewise, the remailer network could provide a
safe mechanism for informants to provide information to the authorities.

Also, the latest version of the Mixmaster remailer software was released
today, in anticipation of these additional new remailers[3].

--Len.

[1] http://mixmaster.shinn.net/stats/mlist show the currently active remailers, and their reliability statistics.
[2] http://www.anonymizer.com
[3] ftp://ftp.zedz.net/pub/crypto/remailer/mixmaster/mix-2.9b31.tar.gz