McAfee program goes berserk, reboots PCs
Hospitals, schools, company computers around the world affected by error
NEW YORK - Computers in companies, hospitals and schools around the world got stuck repeatedly rebooting themselves Wednesday after an antivirus program identified a normal Windows file as a virus.
McAfee confirmed that a software update it posted at 9 a.m. Eastern time caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file. It has posted a replacement update for download.
McAfee could not say how many computers were affected, but judging by online postings, the number was at least in the thousands and possibly in the hundreds of thousands.
McAfee said it did not appear that consumer versions of its software caused similar problems. It is investigating how the error happened "and will take measures" to prevent it from recurring, the company said in a statement.
The computer problem forced about a third of the hospitals in Rhode Island to postpone elective surgeries and stop treating patients without traumas in emergency rooms, said Nancy Jean, a spokeswoman for the Lifespan system of hospitals. The system includes Rhode Island Hospital, the state's largest, and Newport Hospital. Jean said patients who required treatment for gunshot wounds, car accidents, blunt trauma and other potentially fatal injuries were still being admitted to the emergency rooms.
Deborah Montanaro of North Kingstown, R.I., told The Providence Journal her son was turned away by the hospital and not given the spinal radiation therapy he needed to treat his leukemia.
"It is impacting patient care," she told the newspaper. "They have no Plan B. I am very upset."
The hospital's computers came back online around 4:30 ET, Jean told the newspaper.
In Kentucky, state police were told to shut down the computers in their patrol cars as technicians tried to fix the problem. The National Science Foundation headquarters in Virginia also lost computer access.
Intel appeared to be among the victims, according to employee posts on Twitter.
"For PCs that have been affected and are in a state of reboot, Intel IT is still working on how to get the deleted files back on the operating system, which will allow PCs to boot normally again," spokesman Bill MacKenzie told The Oregonian.
"We do have instructions out that are working for some people and not for others. We are continuing to work the issue."
Peter Juvinall, systems administrator at Illinois State University, said that when the first computer started rebooting it quickly became evident that it was a major problem, affecting dozens of computers at the College of Business alone.
"I originally thought it was a virus," he said. When the tech support people concluded McAfee's update was to blame, they stopped further downloads of the faulty software update and started shuttling from computer to computer to get the machines working again.
In many offices, personal attention to each PC from a technician appeared to be the only way to fix the problem because the computers weren't receptive to remote software updates when stuck in the reboot cycle. That slowed the recovery.
It's not uncommon for antivirus programs to misidentify legitimate files as viruses. Last month, antivirus software from Bitdefender locked up PCs running several different versions of Windows.
However, the scale of this outage was unusual, said Mike Rothman, president of computer security firm Securosis.
"It looks to be a train wreck," Rothman said.
In Utah, at least 700 of Utah Valley University's 5,000 computers on campus were affected, but university spokesman Chris Taylor said all computers were back up and running by noon Wednesday, as IT officials "were right on top of it."
In Sarasota County, Fla., school district officials said about 800 computers experienced the problem, and power was pulled quickly on the PCs. Officials said they were able to get computer systems up in running again in a little more than half an hour.
Msnbc.com’s Bob Sullivan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36694120/
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Stolen goods on EBay
Early this week a California couple was sentenced to more than a year in prison for selling stolen toys on eBay. The couple might have never been caught had they not boasted about their exploits on the popular TV show "Dr. Phil" in 2008.
Today they're behind bars, and if eBay's new partnership with the National Retail Federation goes as planned, more retail criminals will be caught and punished in the near future.
Retail crime is a growing problem, reports the NRF. In a recent NRF survey, 73 percent of retailers polled said organized retail crime has increased in the past year. And 92 percent of those retailers said they had been victims of organized crime. The total cost of these schemes is an estimated $115 billion a year, according to reports.
In partnership with eBay, the group aims to decrease these numbers through regular meetings to discuss ways to prevent online crimes, identify criminals and collaborate on new technologies that will help reduce the number of crimes, and by working on new legislation to increase the number of resources allotted to fight organized retail crime.
"For years we have engaged online marketplaces, including eBay to partner with our retail members and take an aggressive stance against these illegal operations," notes Joe LaRocca, the NRF's senior asset protection adviser, on the organization's blog.
“NRF and eBay are putting criminals on notice that they will no longer be able to… abuse the online marketplace for profit”
"NRF has done a great job of shining a spotlight on the issue of organized retail crime, but retailers cannot fight this problem alone," says Paul Jones, eBay's global director of asset protection. "Through this partnership, NRF and eBay are putting criminals on notice that they will no longer be able to steal from retailers and abuse the online marketplace for profit."
The partnership will also allow for more information sharing among the two organizations to help law enforcement apprehend criminals.
"eBay has invested in a number of new resources and is making tremendous strides to assist retailers and law enforcement with tracking illegal behavior," LaRocca continues. "The partnership between NRF and eBay will create standards and best practices to stop criminals from fencing their stolen goods."
Relations between eBay and NRF have not always been harmonious. Recently, the two organizations were at odds over legislation aimed at thwarting online fencing activity—bills eBay asserted were more anti-competitive than anti-crime.
Source Auctiva
Today they're behind bars, and if eBay's new partnership with the National Retail Federation goes as planned, more retail criminals will be caught and punished in the near future.
Retail crime is a growing problem, reports the NRF. In a recent NRF survey, 73 percent of retailers polled said organized retail crime has increased in the past year. And 92 percent of those retailers said they had been victims of organized crime. The total cost of these schemes is an estimated $115 billion a year, according to reports.
In partnership with eBay, the group aims to decrease these numbers through regular meetings to discuss ways to prevent online crimes, identify criminals and collaborate on new technologies that will help reduce the number of crimes, and by working on new legislation to increase the number of resources allotted to fight organized retail crime.
"For years we have engaged online marketplaces, including eBay to partner with our retail members and take an aggressive stance against these illegal operations," notes Joe LaRocca, the NRF's senior asset protection adviser, on the organization's blog.
“NRF and eBay are putting criminals on notice that they will no longer be able to… abuse the online marketplace for profit”
"NRF has done a great job of shining a spotlight on the issue of organized retail crime, but retailers cannot fight this problem alone," says Paul Jones, eBay's global director of asset protection. "Through this partnership, NRF and eBay are putting criminals on notice that they will no longer be able to steal from retailers and abuse the online marketplace for profit."
The partnership will also allow for more information sharing among the two organizations to help law enforcement apprehend criminals.
"eBay has invested in a number of new resources and is making tremendous strides to assist retailers and law enforcement with tracking illegal behavior," LaRocca continues. "The partnership between NRF and eBay will create standards and best practices to stop criminals from fencing their stolen goods."
Relations between eBay and NRF have not always been harmonious. Recently, the two organizations were at odds over legislation aimed at thwarting online fencing activity—bills eBay asserted were more anti-competitive than anti-crime.
Source Auctiva
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Misspelling of OxyContin Leads to Okla. Drug Arrest
OKLAHOMA CITY --
An Oklahoma City pharmacist knew something wasn't quite right when a prescription for OxyContin came in misspelled.
An employee at a CVS pharmacy, located at 4540 NW 23rd St., called the phone number on the prescription pad, according to a police report.
Police said a man answered the phone and said it was a legitimate prescription. However, the pharmacist told authorities he was not convinced.
After some more investigating to determine the prescription was a fraud, the police were called.
Police arrived and arrested the suspect on suspicion of forgery.
Story by koco.com
An Oklahoma City pharmacist knew something wasn't quite right when a prescription for OxyContin came in misspelled.
An employee at a CVS pharmacy, located at 4540 NW 23rd St., called the phone number on the prescription pad, according to a police report.
Police said a man answered the phone and said it was a legitimate prescription. However, the pharmacist told authorities he was not convinced.
After some more investigating to determine the prescription was a fraud, the police were called.
Police arrived and arrested the suspect on suspicion of forgery.
Story by koco.com
Monday, March 29, 2010
Nine Teens Charged With Bullying In Girl's Suicide
March 29, 2010
Insults and threats followed 15-year-old Phoebe Prince almost from her first day at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts. Officials say the Irish immigrant was targeted in the halls, library and in vicious text messages.
Ostracized for having a brief relationship with a popular boy, Phoebe reached her breaking point and hanged herself in January after a day that officials say included being hounded with slurs and pelted with a beverage container on her way home from school.
Now, nine teenagers face charges in what a prosecutor called "unrelenting" bullying; two boys have been charged with statutory rape, and a clique of girls have been charged with stalking, criminal harassment and violating Phoebe's civil rights.
School officials won't be charged, even though authorities say they knew about the bullying and that Phoebe's mother brought her concerns to at least two of them.
Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, who announced the charges Monday, said the events before Phoebe's death on Jan. 14 were "the culmination of a nearly three-month campaign of verbally assaultive behavior and threats of physical harm" widely known among the student body.
"The investigation revealed relentless activity directed toward Phoebe, designed to humiliate her and to make it impossible for her to remain at school," Scheibel said. "The bullying, for her, became intolerable."
Scheibel said the case is still under investigation and that one other person could be charged. It wasn't immediately known Monday whether the teens who have been charged have attorneys.
Scheibel said the harassment began in September, occurring primarily in school and in person, although some of it surfaced on the social-networking site Facebook and in other electronic forms. At least four students and two faculty members intervened to try to stop it or report it to administrators, she said.
Schiebel refused to discuss the circumstances of the rape charges.
School officials weren't charged because they had "a lack of understanding of harassment associated with teen dating relationships," and the school's code of conduct was interpreted and enforced in an "inconsistent" way, Scheibel said.
"Nevertheless, the actions — or inactions — of some adults at the school are troublesome," she said.
South Hadley Schools Superintendent Gus A. Sayer could not be reached for comment Monday.
Phoebe was born in Bedford, England, and moved to County Clare, Ireland, when she was 2. She moved to South Hadley last summer. Her family has since moved away and could not immediately be located for comment.
"The Prince family has asked that the public refrain from vigilantism in favor of allowing the judicial system an opportunity to provide a measure of justice for Phoebe," Scheibel said at a news conference to announce the charges.
Some students accused of participating in the bullying have been disciplined by the school and will not be returning to classes.
The Massachusetts Legislature cited Prince's death and the apparent suicide of 11-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover of Springfield last year when members passed anti-bullying legislation earlier this month.
South Hadley is among several college towns in western Massachusetts that pride themselves on their urbane cultural offerings, good schools and safe streets. After Phoebe's death, the community formed an anti-bullying task force that drew more than 400 people to its first meeting in February.
Robert Judge, a South Hadley selectman and task force member, said hundreds of people have become involved in hope that something good comes from the incident.
"Like most towns, we like to think of ourselves as a good place to live, and then this happens and your reputation is sullied nationally and even internationally, and people look at you differently, and they make assumptions," Judge said.
Scheibel said the teens will be issued summonses to appear in court on undetermined dates. The teens who face criminal charges under the indictments announced Monday are:
- Sean Mulveyhill, 17, of South Hadley. Charged with statutory rape, violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. A woman who answered the phone at his home Monday would not identify herself and told The Associated Press, "You don't know the full story."
- Kayla Narey, 17, of South Hadley. Charged with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. A message left at a number listed to a Narey family was not immediately returned; another line was out of service.
- Austin Renaud, 18, of Springfield. Charged with statutory rape. A telephone number could not immediately be found.
- Ashley Longe, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. A telephone number could not immediately be found.
- Sharon Chanon Velazquez, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with stalking and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. There was no telephone listing.
- Flannery Mullins, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with stalking and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. A message left at a Mullins home was not immediately returned.
Three 16-year-old South Hadley girls, whose names were not released, face delinquency charges that include the civil rights offense, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly
Source AP.
Insults and threats followed 15-year-old Phoebe Prince almost from her first day at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts. Officials say the Irish immigrant was targeted in the halls, library and in vicious text messages.
Ostracized for having a brief relationship with a popular boy, Phoebe reached her breaking point and hanged herself in January after a day that officials say included being hounded with slurs and pelted with a beverage container on her way home from school.
Now, nine teenagers face charges in what a prosecutor called "unrelenting" bullying; two boys have been charged with statutory rape, and a clique of girls have been charged with stalking, criminal harassment and violating Phoebe's civil rights.
School officials won't be charged, even though authorities say they knew about the bullying and that Phoebe's mother brought her concerns to at least two of them.
Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, who announced the charges Monday, said the events before Phoebe's death on Jan. 14 were "the culmination of a nearly three-month campaign of verbally assaultive behavior and threats of physical harm" widely known among the student body.
"The investigation revealed relentless activity directed toward Phoebe, designed to humiliate her and to make it impossible for her to remain at school," Scheibel said. "The bullying, for her, became intolerable."
Scheibel said the case is still under investigation and that one other person could be charged. It wasn't immediately known Monday whether the teens who have been charged have attorneys.
Scheibel said the harassment began in September, occurring primarily in school and in person, although some of it surfaced on the social-networking site Facebook and in other electronic forms. At least four students and two faculty members intervened to try to stop it or report it to administrators, she said.
Schiebel refused to discuss the circumstances of the rape charges.
School officials weren't charged because they had "a lack of understanding of harassment associated with teen dating relationships," and the school's code of conduct was interpreted and enforced in an "inconsistent" way, Scheibel said.
"Nevertheless, the actions — or inactions — of some adults at the school are troublesome," she said.
South Hadley Schools Superintendent Gus A. Sayer could not be reached for comment Monday.
Phoebe was born in Bedford, England, and moved to County Clare, Ireland, when she was 2. She moved to South Hadley last summer. Her family has since moved away and could not immediately be located for comment.
"The Prince family has asked that the public refrain from vigilantism in favor of allowing the judicial system an opportunity to provide a measure of justice for Phoebe," Scheibel said at a news conference to announce the charges.
Some students accused of participating in the bullying have been disciplined by the school and will not be returning to classes.
The Massachusetts Legislature cited Prince's death and the apparent suicide of 11-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover of Springfield last year when members passed anti-bullying legislation earlier this month.
South Hadley is among several college towns in western Massachusetts that pride themselves on their urbane cultural offerings, good schools and safe streets. After Phoebe's death, the community formed an anti-bullying task force that drew more than 400 people to its first meeting in February.
Robert Judge, a South Hadley selectman and task force member, said hundreds of people have become involved in hope that something good comes from the incident.
"Like most towns, we like to think of ourselves as a good place to live, and then this happens and your reputation is sullied nationally and even internationally, and people look at you differently, and they make assumptions," Judge said.
Scheibel said the teens will be issued summonses to appear in court on undetermined dates. The teens who face criminal charges under the indictments announced Monday are:
- Sean Mulveyhill, 17, of South Hadley. Charged with statutory rape, violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. A woman who answered the phone at his home Monday would not identify herself and told The Associated Press, "You don't know the full story."
- Kayla Narey, 17, of South Hadley. Charged with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. A message left at a number listed to a Narey family was not immediately returned; another line was out of service.
- Austin Renaud, 18, of Springfield. Charged with statutory rape. A telephone number could not immediately be found.
- Ashley Longe, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. A telephone number could not immediately be found.
- Sharon Chanon Velazquez, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with stalking and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. There was no telephone listing.
- Flannery Mullins, 16, of South Hadley. Charged as a youthful offender with stalking and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. A message left at a Mullins home was not immediately returned.
Three 16-year-old South Hadley girls, whose names were not released, face delinquency charges that include the civil rights offense, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly
Source AP.
US thieves sentenced after boasting on TV show
A US couple who boasted on a TV show they made as much as $3,500 (£2,318) a week by selling shoplifted toys online have been sentenced to prison terms.
Matthew Eaton, 34, got 27 months in jail. His wife Laura Eaton, 27, was sentenced to one year.
The couple from southern California pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen goods.
The pair were arrested last September - nearly a year after an appearance on the Dr Phil television show.
The couple from San Marcos, north of San Diego, were sentenced by a district judge on Monday.
Assistant US Attorney Nicole Acton Jones had earlier said the couple made at least $100,000 from June 2007 to March 2009 by stealing Lego toy kits, transporting them across state lines and selling them on eBay and other online auction sites, the San Diego 6 website reported.
Source BBC News
Matthew Eaton, 34, got 27 months in jail. His wife Laura Eaton, 27, was sentenced to one year.
The couple from southern California pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen goods.
The pair were arrested last September - nearly a year after an appearance on the Dr Phil television show.
The couple from San Marcos, north of San Diego, were sentenced by a district judge on Monday.
Assistant US Attorney Nicole Acton Jones had earlier said the couple made at least $100,000 from June 2007 to March 2009 by stealing Lego toy kits, transporting them across state lines and selling them on eBay and other online auction sites, the San Diego 6 website reported.
Source BBC News
US 'Christian militants' charged after FBI raids
Nine alleged members of a radical US Christian militia group have been charged with conspiring to kill police officers and wage war against the US.
Eight suspects were detained in a series of FBI raids across the Mid-West, while one remains at large.
Prosecutors say the eight men and one woman belonged to the Hutaree group.
It is alleged they planned to kill a police officer in Michigan and then stage a second attack on the funeral, using landmines and roadside bombs.
Preparing for the Antichrist
The FBI raided properties Michigan, Ohio and Indiana over the weekend in the belief that the group was planning a reconnaissance exercise.
"The indictment... outlines an insidious plan by anti-government extremists to murder a law enforcement officer in order to lure police from across the nation to the funeral where they would be attacked with explosive devices," said Attorney General Eric Holder.
"Thankfully, this alleged plot has been thwarted and a severe blow has been dealt to a dangerous organisation that today stands accused of conspiring to levy war against the United States."
A website in the name of the group shows video footage of military-style training exercises and describes Hutaree as "Christian warriors". It is edited to a backing track of rock music.
A statement on the website says the group are preparing to defend themselves upon the arrival of the Antichrist.
The website says Hutaree is "preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive".
In the indictment, Hutaree is described as an "anti-government extremist organisation" advocating violence against the police.
Source BBC News
Eight suspects were detained in a series of FBI raids across the Mid-West, while one remains at large.
Prosecutors say the eight men and one woman belonged to the Hutaree group.
It is alleged they planned to kill a police officer in Michigan and then stage a second attack on the funeral, using landmines and roadside bombs.
Preparing for the Antichrist
The FBI raided properties Michigan, Ohio and Indiana over the weekend in the belief that the group was planning a reconnaissance exercise.
"The indictment... outlines an insidious plan by anti-government extremists to murder a law enforcement officer in order to lure police from across the nation to the funeral where they would be attacked with explosive devices," said Attorney General Eric Holder.
"Thankfully, this alleged plot has been thwarted and a severe blow has been dealt to a dangerous organisation that today stands accused of conspiring to levy war against the United States."
A website in the name of the group shows video footage of military-style training exercises and describes Hutaree as "Christian warriors". It is edited to a backing track of rock music.
A statement on the website says the group are preparing to defend themselves upon the arrival of the Antichrist.
The website says Hutaree is "preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive".
In the indictment, Hutaree is described as an "anti-government extremist organisation" advocating violence against the police.
Source BBC News
Friday, March 26, 2010
US credit card hacker sentenced
Computer expert Albert Gonzalez has been jailed for 20 years in the US for his part in stealing more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers.
The judge who sentenced him described the case as "the largest and most costly example of computer hacking in US history".
Gonzalez, from Miami, pleaded guilty at his trial in September 2009.
He was accused, along with two Russian co-conspirators, of hacking into retailer payment systems.
They targeted more than 250 US companies including payment processor Heartland Payment Systems, food and drink store 7-Eleven and American supermarket Hannaford Brothers Co.
Gonzalez was found to have used SQL injection attacks to exploit weaknesses in payment software programmes and access data, stealing millions of customer card details.
He blamed "curiosity and addiction" for his crimes. As part of a plea bargain, he had handed over to the court expensive jewellery, watches, his car and home.
He also gave $1m in cash that he had buried in his parents' garden.
"Hackers continue to put up a persistent and very real threat to enterprise systems," said Amichai Shulman, chief technology officer of cyber security firm Imperva.
"The current data security spend is focused on enterprise networks, yet the Gonzalez attacks took distinct advantage of weaknesses in the database and applications. This is an industry-wide problem."
Source BBC News
The judge who sentenced him described the case as "the largest and most costly example of computer hacking in US history".
Gonzalez, from Miami, pleaded guilty at his trial in September 2009.
He was accused, along with two Russian co-conspirators, of hacking into retailer payment systems.
They targeted more than 250 US companies including payment processor Heartland Payment Systems, food and drink store 7-Eleven and American supermarket Hannaford Brothers Co.
Gonzalez was found to have used SQL injection attacks to exploit weaknesses in payment software programmes and access data, stealing millions of customer card details.
He blamed "curiosity and addiction" for his crimes. As part of a plea bargain, he had handed over to the court expensive jewellery, watches, his car and home.
He also gave $1m in cash that he had buried in his parents' garden.
"Hackers continue to put up a persistent and very real threat to enterprise systems," said Amichai Shulman, chief technology officer of cyber security firm Imperva.
"The current data security spend is focused on enterprise networks, yet the Gonzalez attacks took distinct advantage of weaknesses in the database and applications. This is an industry-wide problem."
Source BBC News
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