Daily Report Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Daily Highlights


The Associated Press reports passengers on a commuter train on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, crossing the Delaware River between Philadelphia and New Jersey, were evacuated to a catwalk on the bridge Monday, December 18, after smoke was detected in one of the cars. (See item 15)
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The Toledo Blade reports thirty.five passengers boarding a noontime Delta Connection flight at Toledo Express Airport were evacuated, and the plane was removed to a remote area of the airfield for inspection, after a passenger found a bomb threat scrawled on an aircraft information card in a seat pocket. (See item 18)
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Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich has announced a new guide .. School Guidance During an Influenza Pandemic .. for Illinois schools that provides the tools they need to proactively plan and prepare for a pandemic flu outbreak. (See item 35)

Information Technology and Telecommunications Sector

38. December 18, eWeek — Free Software Foundation launches BadVista.org. The Website's name tells it all. BadVista.org, a Website run by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), is devoted to the mission of exposing the harms inflicted on computer users by Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system and promoting free software alternatives that respect users' security and privacy rights. BadVista.org, launched by the FSF Monday, December 18, is a blog that expresses both the FSF's opinions and links to Vista.related selected news stories and reviews.
Source: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2074193,00.asp

39. December 18, IDG News Service — NEC desktops have caught fire in Japan. Two NEC desktop computers in Japan have caught fire since late last year and NEC is now offering to replace faulty power units at the root of the problem, the electronics giant said on Monday, December 18. The first Valuestar computer caught fire in October 2005 and the second in November this year, said Akiko Shikimori, an NEC spokesperson. The culprit is a component within the power unit inside the computer. The component and the power unit are not manufactured by NEC.
Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/12/18/HNnecdesktopscatch fire_1.html

40. December 18, NewsFactor — New worm attacks through Symantec antivirus application. The software vulnerability through which the Big Yellow worm is able to penetrate Windows PCs was patched by Symantec in May 2006. But according to eEye Digital Security, many IT departments have not yet rolled out the fix, leaving these computers vulnerable to attack. A new worm is making the rounds, attacking some business computers through a known .. and already patched .. flaw in a popular antivirus software suite from security firm Symantec. The worm, called "Big Yellow" and discovered initially by eEye Digital Security, zaps vulnerable computers with malicious code and turns them into remote.controlled zombie machines. Big Yellow exploits a vulnerability in the remote.management interface for Symantec AntiVirus and Symantec Client Security software packages. Marc Maiffret, eEye's founder and CTO, said that the threat appears to be widespread.
Source: http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=102003ILKSHI