TELECOM Digest     Wed, 9 Nov 2005 19:35:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 511

Inside This Issue:                            Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Phishers Lure Google Users With Bogus Cash Prizes (Jay Wrolstad)
    New York Times Signs Up 135,000 New Online Subscribers (AP News Wire)
    Eircom to Give Swisscom Exclusive Window (USTelecom dailyLead)
    Re: French Youth Use Internet to Plan Riots (john.brewer)
    Re: NN0 Central Office Codes (Garrett Wollman)
    Re: High-Tech Sniffers Try to Stop 'Dirty' Bombs (AES)
    Re: Verizon POTS (Mark Atwood)
    Re: Verizon Reduces Prices For Phone Service (lena)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Jay Wrolstad <newsfactor@telecom.digest.org>
Subject: Phishers Lure Google Users With Bogus Google Cash Prizes
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 17:19:24 -0600


Jay Wrolstad, newsfactor.com

An online scam offering the lure of free money through a bogus Google
Web site has been uncovered by security company Websense, which
reported that the site was shut down about 30 hours after it was first
discovered on Monday.

The phishing attack employed a page that closely resembled the real
Google home page, with a banner message claiming "You won $400.00!"

Users were instructed to collect their prize money by transferring it
to a credit card. To do so, they were asked to provide their account
numbers.  They also were asked to provide their home addresses and
phone numbers.

After the sensitive personal information was collected, users were
redirected to Google's legitimate Web site. The phishing site was
hosted in the U.S., Websense said.

Direct Approach

"This is a little different than other phishing attacks in that it
attempted to entice people into divulging their credentials and using
the Google name, as opposed to attacks that target banks or e-commerce
sites," said Dan Hubbard, senior director of security research at
Websense.

This particular phishing site did host other attacks targeting
financial institutions, he added, noting that the approach taken by
these criminals was fairly rudimentary when compared with attacks that
use a Trojan horse or log a user's keystrokes.

Attacks on the Rise

And the Google mimicry reflects a disturbing trend. A recent Gartner
survey showed that phishing attacks grew at double-digit rates last
year in the U.S. 

In the 12 months ending in May 2005, some 73 million U.S. Internet
users said they received an average of more than 50 phishing e-mails
in the prior year; some users reported a dozen or more daily. 

And an estimated 2.4 million online consumers report losing money
directly because of the phishing attacks. Of these, approximately 1.2
million consumers lost $929 million during the year preceding the
survey, Gartner reported.

"The standard security rules apply in protecting yourself from a
phishing attack," said Hubbard. "Don't click on links in e-mail
messages, type in the address of a bank yourself, run the latest
antivirus software, and obtain the latest security patches."

"And," Hubbard noted, "you can assume that anyone offering you some
sum of money on the net is most likely just a crook."
 
Copyright 2005 NewsFactor Network, Inc.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
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http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

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------------------------------

From: Associated Press News Wire <ap@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: New York Times Signs Up 135,000 Online Subscriptions
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 17:17:28 -0600


The New York Times Co. said Wednesday it had signed up about 135,000
paying subscribers to its new online service that offers access to
Op-Ed columns and other premium content.

The new service, TimesSelect, launched Sept. 19, and is free to home
delivery subscribers. Non-subscribers can get access to the service
for $49.95 a year or $7.95 every month.

The Times said it had signed up more than 270,000 subscribers to the
service since it began, and that about half of them are online-only.

TimesSelect marks the latest attempt by newspaper companies to bring
in new revenue from the Internet, where many people are increasingly
going for news.

Newspapers are facing long-term declines in their paid circulation,
and more and more advertising dollars are moving from traditional
print outlets to the Internet. The Times and other newspaper
publishers have also been reporting higher revenues from online
advertising at their own sites.

So far The Wall Street Journal, which is published by Dow Jones & Co.,
has had the most success in convincing users to pay for access to
online editions. The Journal now has 764,000 subscribers.


Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. 

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

For _totally free_ access to various newspapers around the USA with
_no registration, and no login requirement_ check out the Telecom
Digest Extra pages here; just a few of the several features we offer
are:   

http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/index.html  (general index of features) 
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html (news headlines and AP audio)
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra.nytimes.html (about 90 percent of each
    day's New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and NPR reports.)
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/internet-news.html (USA Today, others)
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html (telecom, internet news)
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/TDNewsradio.html (our own news radio)
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/BBC.html (audio from BBC and news)
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/KOSU.html (NPR News and classical music)

The index.html page gives a full listing of what is available; the
above is only a small sample. And remember, _no login, no registration_
for anything; the way the net should be!  

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 13:06:04 EST
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: Eircom to Give Swisscom Exclusive Window


USTelecom dailyLead
November 9, 2005
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/xJqkatagCwyZqFjRrZ

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* Eircom to give Swisscom exclusive window
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Report: DSL could catch cable by 2006
* Verizon lowers price for unlimited calling plans
* Report: Cisco poised to enter mesh networking market
* BellSouth inks marketing pact with home builder
* Gates: A fundamental shift for Microsoft
* Deutsche Telekom reports earnings
USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT
* Bookstore Best-Seller: VoIP Implementation and Planning Guide
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
* WiMAX "plugfest" puts gear on display
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* Japan opens its mobile phone market

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/xJqkatagCwyZqFjRrZ

------------------------------

Subject: Re: French Youth Use Internet to Plan Riots 
From: john.brewer@us.schneider-electric.com
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 13:41:04 -0500


> Young rioters are using blog messages to incite violence and
> cellphones to organize attacks in guerrilla-like tactics they have
> copied from anti-globalisation protesters, security experts say.

I find it interesting that the news media portrays the rioters as
comprised of those marginalized by poverty,(as if that were
justification for burning your neighbors car) yet according to this,
they're well enough heeled to afford computers and cellphones.

There must be a new-age definition of poverty.

John
twoube@yahoo.com

------------------------------

From: wollman@khavrinen.csail.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman)
Subject: Re: NN0 Central Office Codes
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 19:24:39 UTC
Organization: MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory


In article <telecom24.510.12@telecom-digest.org>, Fred Goldstein
<SeeSigForEmail@wn6.wn.net> wrote:

> If there was ever an Allston CO, it was gone many years ago.

I don't think so.  It's located on the short diagonal street behind
the gas station at the corner of Western and Harvard.  Now it's
probably just a remote wirecenter on the Brighton CO.

(When I lived in Brighton, I also had an ASPinwall (617-277) number
and Brookline ZIP code.  This did not result in lower insurance rates;
the insurance companies have maps that show where the town line lies
 -- as do the city and town parking offices.  The other important
Brookline exchange you didn't mention was BEAcon (617-232).)

> The 617-931 choke exchange is listed in the LERG to the Cambridge 02T 
> tandem, a DMS-200.  It's one of two tandems in VZ's 210 Bent St. CO 
> (the other is a 5E; a 4E next door, at 250, has been 
> decommissioned).  If MIT still gets its dial tone from VZ, it comes 
> out of Bent St.

MIT has its own 5ESS and has for a long time (it was one of the first
5E's sold to a non-telco customer).  There's a project on now to
figure out what to do about it before it comes up for renewal next in
a few years' time.


Garrett A. Wollman    | As the Constitution endures, persons in every
wollman@csail.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own
Opinions not those    | search for greater freedom.
of MIT or CSAIL.      | - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)

------------------------------

From: AES <siegman@stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: High-Tech Sniffers Try to Stop 'Dirty' Bombs
Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:41:44 -0800
Organization:  Stanford University


In article <telecom24.510.3@telecom-digest.org>, Mark Clayton
<csm@telecom-digest.org> wrote:

> By Mark Clayton, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

> If a terrorist tried to sneak a "dirty" bomb into the United States,
> would anyone notice?

> Possibly. Radiation detectors rushed into service since 9/11 might
> sound the alarm at seaports, border checkpoints, and mail-handling
> facilities.

                 (snipped)

> Innovative technologies:   One possible technology, from Lawrence
> Livermore National Laboratory, is RadNet, a kind of global positioning
> system married to a radiation detector packed into a cellphone. The
> idea is that this "cellphone sniffer" could be carried by police
> officers on their daily routes -- all the while detecting radiation
> and transmitting coordinates to a computer that maps hot zones for
> investigation.

Or perhaps rudimentary radiation detectors (and possibly sensors of
other types, bio or chemical) built into _every_ cell phone: one
sensor per phone, randomly allocated, not available to user control.

If the sensor detects a signal above a set threshold, the phone just
silently dials in to a collection center computer, reports the fact,
then shuts down for a selected dead time.

The collection center computers collect and collate all these reports,
and if a sufficient density of reports start showing up in a given
area (or along a given track), alerts a human to take a look at the
accumulated data, and maybe send a human responder out to look at the
general location, or perhaps just auto-query other phones in the same
area.

Location to the nearest cell tower ought to be enough for a start; GPS
location accuracy not required, at least not initially.  The problem
of occasional false positives is greatly reduced by having a large
ensemble of reporting devices.

If you can build a complete camera into a cell phone for, what is it,
about $10 or $20, seems like, with a little development, you should be
able to put in just a single rudimentary sensor for the same or less.

If I were to post this same idea to comp.risks, I suspect a lot of
potential downsides and unanticipated problems with it would also
emerge.  Seems worth thinking about nonetheless.

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Verizon POTS
From: Mark Atwood <me@mark.atwood.name>
Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy!
Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 22:50:37 GMT


> In article <telecom24.508.12@telecom-digest.org>, 
> userid@camsul.example.invalid says:

>>> I get a dial tone. However, when I dial a number, I get a message
>>> saying to call Verizon if I want telephone service.

>> That's known as soft dial tone.  You can call 911 (and maybe the
>> telco's business office), but nothing else.

My (disconnected) telco pair in my house has such a "soft dial tone".

When I tried to do a 911 test, it didnt go to 911, it instead went
to the telco "try to sell me service".


Mark Atwood             When you do things right, people won't be sure
me@mark.atwood.name     you've done anything at all.
http://mark.atwood.name/   http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus

------------------------------

From: Lena <lenagainster@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Verizon Reduces Prices for Phone Service
Date: 9 Nov 2005 15:58:06 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Well, I called customer Service at Verizon and asked about plans that
have dropped their rates in the order of $15 per month.  The rep was
only aware of a Verizon Freedom package that cost $39.95 per month.  If
it was the Verizon Freedom Extra package at $56.95 per month, it still
says $56.95 per month on the website.

(Heck, my bank was advertising free online billpaying for the past six
months, and the website still indicated it cost $6.95 per month until
I emailed them about the discrepancy).

Verizon won't entice me back until they drastically drop the cost of
their unlimited local calling, included caller id and call waiting, and
add a very low rate long distance plan.  I just don't use enough LD to
pay a fixed amount per month for unlimited LD calls.

Lena


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And if you had not issued that
challenge to the rep (showing that you had some sort of clue about
their new rate structure) and had ordered the service -- either from
the web site or the phone call -- you would still be getting charged
at the $56.95 rate. Ditto SBC; there are _so many_ different
promotional rates in effect at any given time, most of which are tied
to various lengths of time and with varying conditions, you can get
most anything you want at any price from them these days. Two
questions you may wish to ask the rep on a subsequent phone call: (1)
is this new rate a promotional thing for new/returning subscribers
only and if so (2) how many months is it good for? Is any contract
required, and if so, for how long?

A couple other questions it might be fun to ask: Like (the old) AT&T
long distance plans which could never get installed correctly on the
local telco computers, do you need to call them month after month to
get the credit issued; is there any conditions now or in the future
regarding a 'tie-in' to DSL service where you must take the one to get
the other; and three, not at all very politic but interesting none the
less: telco is _supposed to be_ a common carrier utility operated at
cost. Did the operating costs suddenly make it feasable to offer this
'reduced rate' now; if it was feasable earlier, _why wasn't it offered
earlier_? If this new deal is for _all customers_ and not just new
customers, should existing customers expect sometime soon to see a
notice in their bills about the new rate structure? You may quote TD
as the source of these nuisance questions if you wish.   PAT]

------------------------------


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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #511
******************************