Government Looking To Improve Security Through 3-D Biometrics

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The Department of Defense hopes that by the middle of next year it will be able to test at the nation’s boarders wireless mobile identification technology that can snap three-dimensional images of people moving into and out of the United States and check those images against a database of 3-D mug shots.

The government already has invested $700,000 in the project, which is being run by Unisys Corp. and A4Vision Inc., a provider of 3-D facial-imaging and recognition systems.

Together, Unisys and A4Vision are working to make 3-D biometrics more commonplace as a tool to improve national security and guard against identity theft. “The aftereffects of 9/11 have accelerated demand for and development of biometric technology for security purposes,” says Ed Schaffner, director of positive-identification and access-control programs for Unisys’ worldwide global public-sector group.

Research firm IDC expects the market for biometric technology will be $887 million next year, while research firm Frost & Sullivan predicts the market will more than double by 2006 to $2.05 billion.

Three-dimensional facial images are captured either using a number of digital cameras positioned around the subject’s face or by using a structured light grid that captures facial-structure data. This data is then stored in a back-end database, where it can be retrieved and compared against new facial images. Although two-dimensional images can be compared today, the accuracy of this process is hindered by lighting and the subject’s pose, as well as the effects of aging, weight fluctuation, and use of facial ornamentation such as eyeglasses, Schaffner says.

The companies are creating 3-D biometric image standards.

http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=W1V2TLCAWMPHIQSNDBNCKHSCJUMEKJVN?articleID=55301179

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Phishing Web sites grew by 33% in November

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The group received reports of 1,518 active phishing sites during November, up from 1,142 in October.

Reports of phishing Web sites have grown by an average rate of 28% monthly since July, as scam artists broadened their efforts to lure customers of companies that do business online, according to Peter Cassidy, secretary general of the APWG.

The APWG is an industry group of representatives from law enforcement and private sector companies, including leading Internet service providers, banks and technology vendors.

Phishing scams are online crimes that use spam to direct Internet users to Web sites that are controlled by thieves, but designed to look like legitimate e-commerce sites. Users are asked to provide sensitive information such as a password, bank account information or a credit card number, often under the guise of updating an account.

Customers of 51 online brands were targeted by phishing scams in November, compared with 44 brands in October, Cassidy said. However, just six companies drew more than 80% of all phishing scams, he said.

The APWG no longer identifies the organizations that were the most popular targets of phishing scams, citing resistance from the group’s industry members, he said. However, eBay and Citibank were phishers’ top targets in past months, according to previous APWG reports.

The creation of phishing Web sites in October and November resumed the torrid pace it reached in mid-August, after dropping off for much of September. Phishing attacks have emerged as a potent threat in 2004. More than 18 million e-mail messages linked to the attacks have been stopped this year by e-mail security provider MessageLabs.

Industry groups, including the APWG, responded by calling attention to new attacks and working to shut down Web sites used in the scams to harvest personal information from unsuspecting Internet users.

Recently, leading companies and law enforcement agencies unveiled a new antiphishing initiative. Digital PhishNet brings together companies such as Microsoft, America Online and VeriSign with the FBI, Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service to improve coordination when identifying and shutting down phishing sites.

Like other companies, including Internet service provider Earthlink and eBay, GeoTrust distributes a free Web browser plugin that warns users when they visit phishing Web sites.

http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/1210phishwebs.html

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Chinese cybercops ‘nailing virus writers’

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The Chinese antivirus police team will visit the Kaspersky Labs offices in Moscow next week to discuss virus development.

“China has worked effectively in fighting virus writers,” said Natalya Kaspersky, chief executive of Kaspersky Labs, on Thursday. “They are much more active than anyone. They have special antivirus police that co-operates with industry. They want to learn more and I think that’s a good practice. They regularly hire people and really seem to care about viruses.”

But she added that hi-tech crime police in other countries are failing to perform as well as the Chinese in hunting virus writers. “European police have realised the problem, but don’t know what to do about it because it’s a virtual problem. I think they have a lot of work to do.”

Kaspersky said she wanted her company to work more closely with government and police forces around the world. “We are very proud that we caught one virus writer,” she said. “But the sentence was something like [a fine of] $300. It was the first case of its kind. The problem for us is that in Russian law, you have to prove the damage someone has done. How could you find a witness to prove someone started an attack?”

The UK’s National Hi-Tech Crime Unit is dedicated to fighting organised online crime, but currently individual users may only report isolated virus attacks to their local police station. Russia’s counterpart to the NHTCU is its Ministry of Internal Affairs K Department.

Last week, security lobbyist EURIM said it was pushing the government to employ IT professionals as special constables. The group said that the proposed Serious Organised Crime Agency should be a central point of contact for computer crimes.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39180202,00.htm

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Linux server market to be ‘worth $9bn by 2008’

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Revenue from Linux servers is expected to grow annually at 22.8 percent, compared to 3.8 percent for the overall server market, IDC said. In addition, Linux servers should account for 25.7 percent of server unit shipments in 2008, up from 15.6 percent in 2003, IDC said.

The results highlight the spread of the operating system, a relatively new competitor to Unix versions such as Sun’s Solaris and to Microsoft Windows. The top four server sellers — IBM, HP, Sun and Dell — all support Linux, though Sun steers customers to Solaris. The top sellers of Linux and accompanying software are Red Hat and Novell.

IDC also said Linux is disproportionately popular for blade servers — thin systems that plug into a chassis with shared networking and power infrastructure, and a fast-growing part of the overall server market. Linux is used on about half of blade servers today, compared to 20 percent of rack-mounted servers and 11 percent of free-standing servers.

IDC also said Linux has is now most often used on dual-processor servers instead of single-processor machines, an indication that it’s running more important tasks on more powerful machines. Single-processor machines are the second most widely used option, followed by four-processor systems.

Linux also can be run as a partition on powerful machines such as IBM mainframes and Power processor-based servers and on HP’s Superdome servers.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39179180,00.htm

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Trend Micro Extends Anti-Virus Software to Mobile Market

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As the number of people using the devices increases, so they become more enticing targets for virus writers,” said Raimund Genes, President of EMEA Operations at Trend Micro. “By offering the first version of Trend Micro Mobile Security free of charge, Trend Micro wishes to provide its customers and their data-centric devices a secure holiday season.”

The software will protect mobile devices from new threats in “real time,” as malicious code attempts to install itself on mobile devices.

Despite the attention from antivirus companies, most experts agree that mobile phone viruses and worms are in their infancy. The first mobile phone worm, dubbed Cabir, appeared in June.

http://www.ebcvg.com/articles.php?id=447

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Asia Pacific: Combat cyber crime, firms told

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Speaking at the ‘Crime and Policing in Malaysia’ forum at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang, Othman said with the fast moving pace in information technology (IT), it was important for all parties to work together.

He added when crimes were investigated, physical evidence such as fingerprints, marked bills, DNA or video footage are collected but in cyberspace, global networks lacked effective identification mechanisms.

“Therefore, it is important for the police to learn from the private sector about intrusion attempts and susceptibilities,” said Othman.

http://penang.thestar.com.my/content/news/2004/12/7/9550869.asp

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