Daily Report Thursday, November 2, 2006

Daily Highlights

The News & Observer reports that all 81 emergency sirens within a 10−mile radius of North Carolina's Shearon Harris nuclear plant were inoperable Monday morning, October 30, and again Tuesday morning, October 31. (See item 1)

CNN reports a Lufthansa plane headed to Frankfurt, Germany, with more than 300 people onboard bumped an empty Continental Airlines Boeing 757 on Tuesday, October 31, at NewarkLiberty International Airport. (See item 14)

Reuters reports an explosive device blew out a thick, plate−glass window Tuesday evening, October 31, at the Silicon Valley, California, headquarters of PayPal, the online payments unit of eBay Inc. (See item 41)

Information Technology and Telecommunications Sector

34.
November 01, eWeek — Microsoft confirms critical Visual Studio zero−day. An "extremely critical" vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 could put users at risk of remote code execution attacks, the company confirmed Wednesday, November 1. The software maker issued a security advisory with pre−patch workarounds and warned that the flaw is already
being used in zero−day attacks.
Microsoft Security Advisory:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/927709.mspx
Source: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2048968,00.asp

35.
November 01, Associated Press — ICANN: Multi−lingual system could permanently break the Internet. The body that oversees global Internet functions warned Wednesday, November 1, that a mistake in a creating multi−lingual address system could "permanently break the Internet." The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) made the warning at a United Nations−organized conference on the future of the Internet being held in Greece. More multi−lingual Internet is a key issue at the forum, with future Web growth predicted in developing countries where the Latin alphabet is often unfamiliar. "ICANN expects that these final tests and discussions will reach a resolution by the end of 2007," CEO Paul Towney said in a statement. "But this is no simple task. If we get this wrong we could very easily and permanently break the Internet." Experts at the forum have also warned that mixed use of alphabets in Internet addresses could allow cybercriminals a greater opportunity to post imitation Websites typically created for illegally collecting personal banking details. The four−day Internet Governance Forum ends Thursday, November 2.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061101/ap_on_hi_te/greece_un_in ternet_governance

36.
October 31, U.S. Department of Defense — Department of Defense: Extremists use sophisticated Internet assaults. A group calling itself “Electronic Jihad” has begun an Internet program that bombards Websites it considers anti−Islamic with spam messages until they shut 12 down. It is the most sophisticated Web−based program known to be used by terrorists to date. Electronic Jihad are “Internet activists” who “support the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance,” and who claim that “thousands...are participating” in the attacks, according to Pentagon policy reports. These activists are promoting their cause on various Websites and calling on other militant radical Islamic groups to join them. Government and business Websites around the globe could be threatened by these tactics. In addition, Pentagon policy experts warn that participating in Web−based assaults are low risk for groups wanting to support the militant Islamic cause and could lead to more extreme actions in the future.
Source:
http://www.defenselink.mil/home/dodupdate/enemy−update/docs/
10−31−06_Nature_of_Enemy.pdf