Provided by CommunityDNS, the information in this post consists of news items in the security-based Internet community.

Zombies bite into Symbian smartphones

YXES-B is the first known spam bot client for 3G phones. Posing as a legitimate application, the malware will steal the subscriber, phone and network information from its victims. Spam SMS messages can then be sent to the user’s contacts. Symbian uses a code-signing process to ensure such threats never happen.

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Scam detectives handcuffed

Costing the Australian economy close to $980 million in 2007 alone, cyber scams are having an impact on everyone. Detectives find chasing the criminals, when the jurisdiction becomes multinational, difficult because scam classification systems are largely incompatible between nations. While multiple classification schemes exist, a consistent classification scheme does not exist.

The following link provides a way to guard against this vulnerability until Microsoft releases a patch.

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Child protection groups undermine Aussie Firewall

Censordyne, The Australian cyber filter program designed to protect the public from inappropriate and harmful content came under fire from mainstream children’s charities. The charities feel the tens of millions of dollars the program will cost can be diverted to appropriate child protection authorities for the prevention of child abuse. Also, for parents who wish to protect their children from inappropriate contact should have PC-level filtering software provided.

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New Zealand proposes new “3 strikes” process for P2P users

Having scrapped the law earlier this year, New Zealand has gone back to the drawing board to craft a new 3-strikes law that provides for due process. If one is disconnected from the Internet for alleged copyright infringements, users should be able to contest the claims, have access to mediation and to possibly appeal penalties to the normal legal system.

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CRTC to decide on new rules for internet service providers

Canada’s Internet regulator is conducting hearings on whether ISPs should be allowed to selectively slow down applications when the Internet is congested. Citing the popularity of bandwidth hungry applications such as gaming and video should they have the same priority as time sensitive applications such as VOIP or online gaming where delays make playing with other Internet users difficult?

The consensus from consumer and public interest groups, along with businesses and artists believe that practices used by ISPs to deal with congestion were acceptable as long as there was no favoring certain protocols or applications over others.

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Internet Regulator Mulls Cybersquatter Block

Already having an advantage of securing domain names based by trademark holders, people are concerned that if 500 additional TLDs arrive on the market costs would mushroom in having to purchase names on all new TLDs just to protect trademarks. ICANN is considering a centralized website of trademark holders that would create hurdles for non-trademark holders who try to purchase a name that would infringe on an organization’s trademark. Called the “IP Clearinghouse”, supporters feel such a system would protect them and their budgets from having to defensively register domains.

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