Anti-virus company F-Secure has posted details of a Windows virus which can use a Symbian handset to transport itself between systems. The Mobler worm infects a Windows system, hides the Windows folder and sets about copying itself into different directories and on to any removable media available.

It also creates a Symbian installation file which, if executed by an unwary user, installs a copy of the virus onto any removable media on the handset. Once there it depends on a curious user to execute it when attached to another computer.

In many ways this is a blast from the past in terms of virus design: when a virus would copy itself into an application and rely on that application being moved between systems. Indeed; on systems which have floppy drives Mobler will repeatedly attempt to copy itself onto a disk even if there isn’t one present, the sounds of which should present a clue that something is amiss. In these days when infection can follow opening a dodgy e-mail or just visiting the wrong web site, it’s harking back to simpler times to require the user to actually execute the infection themselves.

But apparently F-Secure received a copy of Mobler from an infected customer, so normal warnings apply: keep anti-virus software up to date, don’t open dodgy e-mails and, additionally, don’t run applications which suddenly appear on your removable media.

Source : The Register - Symbian phones targeted as carriers for Windows worm

“The European Commission has opened a public consultation on the use of surveillance technology in civil society.

At the initiative’s heart is the desire to work with industry to create more and better surveillance systems that it can use to monitor the public in order to prevent terrorist attacks.

The EC Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security said in a statement it would publish a green paper*, inviting consultation on “what role the Union could play in order to foster detection technologies in the service of the security of its citizens”.

The green paper was drawn up from the results of a conference of “major European business” and the public sector last November, called the Public-Private Security Dialogue: Detection Technologies and Associated Technologies in the Fight against Terrorism……”

Read more at : The Register - Tell the EC about surveillance

On September 2, 2006 a revised version of the NSA Central Security Service policy 1-23 was noticed to contain the following allowances which clearly breach the freedoms of American Citizens…

(S/SI) Foreign communications of, or concerning, United States persons that are intercepted by the United States Signals Intelligence System may be retained in their original form or as transcribed only:

(a) if processed so as to eliminate any reference to United States persons;

(b) if necessary to the maintenance of technical data bases. Retention for this purpose is permitted for a period sufficient to allow a thorough exploitation and to permit access to data that are, or are reasonably believed likely to become, relevant to a current or future intelligent requirement. Sufficient duration may vary with the nature of the exploitation. In the context of a cryptanalytic effort, sufficient duration may consist of a period of time during which encrypted material is subject to, or of use in, cryptanalysis. In the case of international commercial communications that may contain the identity of United States persons and that are not enciphered or otherwise thought to contain secret meaning, sufficient duration is one year unless the Deputy Director for Operations, National Security Agency, determines in writing that retention for a longer period is required to respond   to authorized foreign intelligence or counterintelligence requirements;

D. (C) Signals Intelligence: Search and Development.

The United States Signals Intelligence System may conduct search and development activities with respect to signals throughout the radio spectrum under thefollowing limitations:

1. Collection. Signals may be collected only for the purpose of identifying those signals that:

(a) may contain information related to the production of foreign intelligence or counterintelligence;

(b) are enciphered or appear to contain secret meaning;

(c) are necessary to ensure efficient signals intelligence collection or to avoid the collection of unwanted signals; or

(d) reveal vulnerability of United States communications security.

The following is taken from the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App, notice is hereby given that the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) will meet Thursday, September 14, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Friday, September 15, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. All sessions will be open to the public.

The Advisory Board was established by the Computer Security Act of 1987 (Pub. L. 100-235) and amended by the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347) to advise the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of NIST on security and privacy issues pertaining to Federal computer systems. Details regarding the Board’s activities are available at http://csrc.nist.gov/ispab/

Public Participation: The Board agenda will include a period of time, not to exceed thirty minutes, for oral comments and questions from the public. Each speaker will be limited to five minutes. Members of the public

The meeting will take place at the George Washington University Cafritz Conference Center 800 21st Street, NW., Room 101, Washington, DC.

The Agenda:

• Welcome and Overview.
• NIST Computer Security Division Update.
• Overview of the Privacy Civil Liberties Oversight Board Activities
• Data Security Breaches.
• Privacy Technology Project Discussion.
• Safeguarding Personal Information– Government Steps and Lessons Learned.
• Update Status of Security and Privacy Legislation.
• OMB Update.
• HSPD-12 Status Briefing.
• Wrap-Up.

If you are in the US, this is a good opportunity to enquire about the changes to your civil liberties and pose any questions you may have.

Techworld reports that “There’s a new video codec out there that claims to offer ‘up to 40 percent better video quality’ but that resets your computer’s DNS settings — opening the way for Trojans, rootkits, or whatever. Techworld warns that zCodec looks professional enough, is widely available, and comes in at 100KB. What’s the bet the media companies are behind this somewhere?”

“A new Toronto Star article from Michael Geist not only describes why Canadian Ministers of Education are pushing a copyright proposal that will harm Internet access, but also reveals how a copyright group is seeking to create a new license for Internet content. Access Copyright, a copyright collective, wants to use a new international text standard to license everything from books to blogs. Geist outlines in his blog how Canadians can fight back against these bonehead proposals.”

A hacker who broke into the systems of T-Mobile USA and lifted the personal details of around 400 people, including a US Secret Service agent, has escaped imprisonment. Nicholas Lee Jacobsen, 23, was sentenced to one year of home detention and a fine of $10,000 in compensation to T-Mobile over the 2004 attack.

Even though Jacobsen was left able to access personal data held by Special Agent Peter Cavicchia on a sidekick mobile device, the Secret Service is ruling out the possibility that any investigations might have been compromised.

Source : The Register - T-Mobile hacker escapes imprisonment

Ever get annoyed when looking at photos and you just can’t remember where it was taken? Well soon that will be a thing of the past. It’s almost September, the second month of the year when Sony changes its product range. This September sees the release of the GPS-CS1, a 9cm GPS receiver. The idea behind the CS1 is to allow photographers to overlay their images onto the Google maps framework. It does this by synchronising the GPS log file with the timestamp found in your photo’s EXIF metadata.

Updating every 15 seconds, the CS1 records your position via GPS to a plain text log file. Using this data, the photograph’s timestamp and the bundled Picture Motion Browser web software, you can view the exact location where you took the picture, along with a thumbnail of the image itself. Example here: http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/Peripheral/GPS/GPS-CS1K/TryMapView/try.html (Internet Explorer Only)

Sony has guaranteed that the unit will work with all Sony cameras released after August, perhaps as the software will start to come in the box. However, providing your camera supports the EXIF 2.1 metadata standard, there is no reason that the software wouldn’t work with your camera.

Sony GPS-CS1 Specification

Of course there are certain privacy issues that come into play when dealing with GPS, and the CS1 is no exception. Get hold of one and you have a full history of where the owners been. Drop one in a bag and you have a relatively cheap surveillance device - perfect for stalking that desired girl or unfaithful partner. The software works with Google maps, meaning the data is being sent over the Internet and available for snoopers to get a hold of and if Google logs, then its trivial for the government to find out where you’ve been and at what time.

A new piece of software is set to launch in the UK, which will allow public mobile phone users the ability to encrypt all or some of their mobile comms. In partnership with German company: Safe-com, and the military, One Day Mobile is offering its encryption application, Babylon nG, to users in the public domain. Unfortunately, the software will send the encrypted traffic over the data channel via GPRS, rather than the voice channel. This could lead to breaks, lag and interruptions, as the GPRS system has no rigorous controls over transmission as GSM does.

Update: I have just been contacted by Danielle Newman of marketing & PR company Pazang Ltd, who has informed me that the mobile encryption software will only be available to businesses, the government and the military.

Earlier this week we reported on the re-application of the RIPA act with all of its glorious additions. Yet once again, as before, the proposal is coming under fire left right and center. For example, it is likely that people will start to disregard the security implications that encryption has to offer, after all, why encrypt data when you have to decrypt it for any moron who asks, and who wants to go to prison because they forgot their key to 2006_financial_report.pdf.enc

More Information: BBC - Police decryption powers ‘flawed’