The RISKS Digest
Volume 14 Issue 66

Tuesday, 1st June 1993

Forum on Risks to the Public in Computers and Related Systems

ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy, Peter G. Neumann, moderator

Please try the URL privacy information feature enabled by clicking the flashlight icon above. This will reveal two icons after each link the body of the digest. The shield takes you to a breakdown of Terms of Service for the site - however only a small number of sites are covered at the moment. The flashlight take you to an analysis of the various trackers etc. that the linked site delivers. Please let the website maintainer know if you find this useful or not. As a RISKS reader, you will probably not be surprised by what is revealed…

Contents

Possible RISK in data retrieval?
Dale Drew
X application to finger
Nandakumar Sankaran
Re: Fake ATM Machine Steals PINs
Brinton Cooper
COMPASS '93 ANNOUNCEMENT (14-17 June)
Dolores Wallace
Info on RISKS (comp.risks)

Possible RISK in data retrieval?

Dale Drew <d44758@druid.Tymnet.COM>
Thu, 20 May 93 12:26:27 PDT
Has anybody seen this?  I can forsee many potential risks in an on-line
data retrieval system involving Probationers.  How do the Probation Officers
call in to check or (:gasp:) update their data?  I've asked BI Inc., but
have not heard a reply:


   BOULDER, Colo., May 12 /PRNewswire/ — BI Inc. (NASDAQ-NMS: BIAC), the
nation's leading provider of electronically monitored systems for corrections,
today announced receipt of notification from the United States Patent Office
of issuance of a patent to BI on April 20, 1993.  BI's newly granted patent
includes the application presented in the BI PROFILE(TM) automated
administrative caseload management system.
    At no cost to corrections agencies, BI PROFILE provides automated
administrative caseload management via a computer located at BI Monitoring
Corp.'s central station.  Probationers are assigned individual PIN numbers and
security passwords, and required to call a 900 number once a month to report
any administrative changes.  BI's computer asks the callers a series of
questions (i.e., change in home telephone number, address, employment, etc.).
Each call placed averages 2 or 3 minutes in duration and is charged to the
probationer's home telephone bill.  Considered exception reporting, BI PROFILE
only provides reports to corrections agencies if probationers fail to call in
on their pre-assigned monthly date or if any status changes are reported
during the calls.  Prior to BI PROFILE, administrative caseload management of
probationers has been via a manual system which has put a significant burden
on corrections agencies as the number of probationers continues to rise at the
federal, state and local levels.
    Additional options available on BI PROFILE are features to insure that
probationers are calling from the designated telephone number, that
probationers have not previously called in for the month, collection of
monthly probation supervision fees and 800 telephone service for the indigent
population.  BI has additional patents pending on these and other BI PROFILE
options as well.
    BI PROFILE services are offered to the corrections market by BI through
its wholly owned subsidiary, BI Monitoring Corp. (BIMCORP).  "BI PROFILE is
another service offering from BI Monitoring Corporation that is the direct
result of BI's strategy to expand its recurring revenue base," said John K.
Fulda, Jr., BI's corporate vice president in charge of BI Monitoring.  "We
believe that the BI PROFILE family of services offers tremendous growth
potential for BI Monitoring Corporation in the years ahead," he concluded.

  CONTACT:  Joanna Manley of BI, 303-530-2911; or Tom Dean of
Innovative Research, 212-421-2543, for BI

  [Dale Drew, Sr. Information Security Specialist, BT North America, Inc.
  (408) 922-6004   d44758@druid.Tymnet.COM]


X application to finger

<nandu@cs.clemson.edu>
Fri, 21 May 93 13:54:00 EDT
Here is an interesting episode.

I run an X application (public domain) that, given a list of remote sites and
a list of userids, periodically "finger"s the sites, searching to see if the
named users are logged on. If yes, they are updated on a small screen window.

Following is a mail I received from the security officer at one of the
sites...It was interesting to note that sys admins *are* on the lookout
for even those minor chances of hacking

 -------- The mail --------

I assume since you're logged into the console, you have some responsibility
for machine.cs.univ.edu:

It appears that somebody may have cracked your system, and is using it as a
base to attempt to break into other systems: every six minutes, some process
on your machine contacts the finger daemon on cs.anotheruniv.edu and attempts
to see who is logged on.  This is generally taken as an attempt to extract
usernames, preparatory to hacking the system.

Strangely, this seems to be correlated to your being logged in.  It appears
to have started on May 12th.  I've ignored it before now since until this
point it has been only a minor annoyance.  We would appreciate your looking
into this matter, and seeing that it ceases.

Nandakumar Sankaran, Graduate Student, Computer Science Department

G34, Jordan Hall, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634    (803) 656 6979
nandu@cs.clemson.edu


Re: Fake ATM Machine Steals PINs

Brinton Cooper <abc@BRL.MIL>
Wed, 19 May 93 17:13:49 EDT
<eric@cadkey.com> describes the now-well-known fake ATM scam for capturing
account and PIN numbers for subsequent forging in order to relieve consumers
of the burden of large account balances.  Recall that the ATM "scam artists"
obtained permission from officials of the shopping Mall where the scam took
place.

He asks, "How are you supposed to stop this new trick???"  Like many RISKS,
you don't "stop" the trick but you minimize the RISK:

    1. You needn't be the first in your block to use the new ATM.

    2. Watch for announcements from your bank or credit union of new
locations.  Our credit union announces in its newsletter *every* new ATM which
it owns/installs (i.e., were members pay no fee for access).  One could have
been suspicious of the (around here) then-uncommon installation in local
groceries, but they were announced as mentioned.

    3. You could always phone the bank whose name appears on the
ATM.  If there's no name, who's running the machine?

_Brint


COMPASS '93 ANNOUNCEMENT

Dolores Wallace <wallace@swe.ncsl.nist.gov>
Tue, 1 Jun 93 11:37:52 EDT
    [FOR SOME REASON THE CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT DID NOT SEND THIS ANNOUNCEMENT
    TO RISKS UNTIL 1 JUNE, WHICH IS AFTER THE ANNOUNCED DEADLINE FOR DISCOUNTED
    REGISTRATION.  Karen Ferraiolo (see below) has agreed to give a special
    deal to RISKS SUBSCRIBERS, SO THAT YOU MAY REGISTER UNTIL THE END OF THIS
    WEEK AT THE REDUCED RATE.  However, she asks that you let her know ASAP.
    We do not generally run conference announcements in full, but in light of
    the closeness of the date and the special consideration for RISKS readers,
    it seemed appropriate.  This conference has always been closely related to
    the RISKS subject matter.  PGN]


                                   COMPASS '93
                 Eighth Annual Conference On Computer Assurance:
            Systems Integrity, Software Safety, and Process Security

                               June 14-17, 1993
                                Gaithersburg, MD

                           U.S. Department of Commerce
                            Technology Administration
                 National Institute of Standards and Technology

COMPASS              IEEE Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society
Sponsors             IEEE National Capital Area Council

In Cooperation with  British Computer Society

Conference           Arca Systems, Inc.
Sponsors             ARINC Research Corporation
                     Control Systems Analysis, Inc.
                     CTA, Inc.
                     IBM
                     Logicon, Inc.
                     National Institute of Standards and Technology
                     Naval Research Laboratory
                     Naval Surface Warfare Center
                     Systems Safety Society
                     TRW Systems Division
                     U.S. General Accounting Office

The goal of COMPASS, an acronym formed from COMPuter ASSurance, is to advance
the theory and practice of the creation and use of critical systems through
the medium of scientific and engineering meeting and publications.  COMPASS
expresses the idea of "Pointing the Way" and of "enCOMPASSing" many
technologies and technical disciplines.  The logo, a variation of yin-yang
overlaying a compass rose, symbolizes both of these ideas.  We invite you to
participate in COMPASS activities and increase the benefits of COMPASS.

Monday, 14 June 1993
 --------------------
 8:00 am                    Registration Opens
 9:00 am - 4:00 pm          Tutorials (Parallel Sessions)

       1.     "Formal Methods with Automated Support Using PVS", John
              Rushby, SRI International

       This tutorial provides an introduction to formal methods with
       special focus on the use of automated support tools such as
       PVS, a Prototype "next generation" Verification System that
       attempts to provide the benefits of powerful and effective
       automation for an expressive specification language.  Worked
       examples will be demonstrated "live" and include examples from
       hardware design, fault tolerance, and real-time.

       2.     "Federal Criteria (New Orange Book)", Janet Cugini, NIST

       This tutorial, on the preliminary draft of the Federal
       Criteria for Information Technology Security, will cover
       background, future work, protection profiles, TCB functional
       components, development assurance requirements, and evaluation
       assurance requirements.  It includes constructing a protection
       profile and the seven defined protection profiles.

Tuesday, 15 June 1993
 ---------------------
 8:00 am      Registration Opens

 9:00 am      Welcome
              James H. Burrows
              Director, Computer Systems Laboratory, NIST

              Opening Remarks
              Judith Bramlage, COMPASS '93 General Chair

 9:15 am      Program Information
              John J Marciniak, COMPASS '93 Program Chair

 9:30 am      Keynote
              Peter Neumann, SRI International
              "Myths of Dependable Computing: Shooting the Straw
              Herrings in Midstream"

 10:30        Break

 11:00 am     Technical Session 1  "Verification Technology"
              Moderator: Connie Heitmeyer, Naval Research Laboratory

              "A Tool for Reasoning about Software Models", Sidney
              Bailin, CTA, Inc.

              "An Incremental Protocol Verification Method for ECFSM-based
              Protocols", C. Huang, National Cheng Kung University

              "A Verifier for Distributed Real-Time Systems with Bounded
              Integer Variables", Farn Wang and Al Mok, University of Texas

 1:00 pm      Lunch

 2:00 pm      Special Topics (Invited talks)
              Moderator: Peter Neumann

              "Global Protection against Limited Strikes (Trusted
              Software Methodology)", Carol Taylor, National Security Agency

              "Application of the High Trust Process Model to
              Complexity Management and System Architecture in the
              SDI", John McHugh, University of North Carolina, and Greg
              Chisholm, Argonne National Laboratory

 3:00 pm      Break

 3:30 pm     Special Topics continued

              "Using Ada in Secure Systems", Roberta Gotfried,
              Hughes Aircraft Company

              "A Risk-Based Approach to Cost-Benefit Analysis of
              Software Safety Activities", Stephen C. Fortier, Intermetrics,
              and James Bret Michael, Argonne National Laboratory

 4:30         Adjourn from NIST

 7:00 pm      Birds of a Feather (Parallel Sessions; held at Marriott)
              "Processes (Capability Maturity Model)", John Baumert, CSC
              "Standards for Formal Methods", Roger Fujii, Logicon, Inc.

              (Dessert will be provided)

Wednesday, 16 June 1993
 -----------------------
 8:00 am      Registration Opens

 9:00 am      Keynote Address
              Rona Stillman, Chief Scientist, U.S. GAO

 10:00 am     Break

 10:30 am     Technical Session 2  "Reliability Measurement"
              Moderator: Reginald Meeson, Institute for Defense Analyses

              "Rare Conditions - An Important Cause of Failures", Herb
              Hecht, SoHaR, Inc.

              "Experimental Evidence of Sensitivity Analysis Predicting
              Minimum Failure Probabilities", Jeffrey Voas, Jeffrey
              Payne, and Chris Michael, Reliable Software Technologies,
              Corp. and Keith Miller, College of William and Mary

              "Assigning Probabilities for Assurance in MLS Data Base
              Design", Lucien Russell, Argonne National Laboratory

 1:00 pm      Lunch

 2:00 pm      Technical Session 3  "System Safety"
              Moderator: Michael L. Brown, Naval Surface Warfare Center

              "Risk and System Integrity Concepts for Safety-Related
              Control Systems", Ron Bell, Health and Safety Executive (UK)

              "Identifying Generic Safety Requirements", Jarrellann
              Filsinger, Booz-Allen & Hamilton and J.E. Heaney,
              The Mitre Corporation

              "Software Safety and Program Slicing", Keith B.
              Gallagher, Loyola College and NIST, and James R. Lyle, NIST

 3:30 pm      Break

 4:00 pm      Debate
              Moderator: Emilie J. Siarkiewicz, Rome Laboratory
              Resolved: "Productivity & Techniques of Assurance Can Co-exist"

              Debaters: Peter Neumann (SRI), Charles Bonneau (Mitre),
              Phil Parker (CTA, Inc.), John McHugh (UNC), and Jon Dehn (IBM)

 5:00 pm      Adjourn

 6:30 pm      Banquet (at Marriott Hotel)
              Speaker: Dorothy Denning, Georgetown University

Thursday, 17 June 1993
 ----------------------
 8:00 am      Registration Opens

 9:00 am      Technical Session 4  "Management and Developmental Issues"
              Moderator: Charles Payne, NRL

              "Developing Secure Systems in a Modular Way", Qi Shi and
              John McDermid, University of York

              "On Security Policy Modeling", James Freeman, CTA, Inc.

              "Management Aspect of Software Safety", Stephen Cha,
              Aerospace Corporation

 10:30 am     Break

 11:00 am     Panel 1  "Developing Standards and Issues"
              Moderator: Dolores Wallace, NIST

              "MIL-STD-SDD (Software Development and Documentation)",
              Raghu Singh, SPAWAR, U.S. Navy

              "Software Safety Standards - A European Perspective",
              Robin Bloomfield, Adelard

              "ISO 9000 Standards", Taz Daughtrey, Babcock & Wilcox

              "MIL-STD-882C", Michael L. Brown, Naval Surface Warfare Center

 1:00 pm      Lunch

 2:00 pm      Panel 2  "Results of Workshops/Studies"
              Moderator: H.O. Lubbes, Naval Research Laboratory

              "Mitre Critical Assurance Workshop", Chuck Howell,
               Mitre Corporation

              "An International Survey of the Industrial Applications
              of Formal Methods", Susan Gerhart, National Science Foundation

              "Federal Criteria (Report on Comments Workshop)", Eugene
              Troy, NIST

 3:30 pm      Awards and Closing Ceremony


Location      NIST, located in Gaithersburg, MD, is approximately 25
              miles northwest of Washington, D.C.  The meeting will be
              held in the Green Auditorium of the Administration Building.

Social Functions
 ----------------
Birds of a Feather (Dessert) will be held at the Gaithersburg Marriott on
Tuesday, June 15th at 7:00 pm.  A banquet with a cash bar and banquet speaker
will be held at the Gaithersburg Marriott on Wednesday, June 16th at 6:30 pm.

Transportation
 --------------
BWI Limo, 301/441-2345, offers commercial van service from
Baltimore-Washington Airport to Gaithersburg area.  Call for reservations.
Airport Transfer Van Service, 301/948-4515, is available from Dulles
International and Washington National Airports to Gaithersburg.  The
Washington Metro has subway service to Gaithersburg.  Metro can be boarded at
Washington National Airport.  Take a Yellow Line train marked "Mount Vernon
Square" to Gallery Place and transfer to a Red Line train marked "Shady Grove"
to Shady Grove.  Service is every 6 to 15 minutes depending on the time of
day.  The Shady Grove station is approximately four miles from the Marriott
Hotel.  Contact Marriott for shuttle information.

Accommodations
 --------------
Conference registration does not include your hotel reservation. A block of
rooms has been reserved at the Gaithersburg Marriott Hotel, 620 Perry Parkway,
Gaithersburg, MD 20877.  The hotel phone number is 301/977-8900.  The special
room rate is $70.00 single or double.  To register for a room, please use the
enclosed hotel reservation form and send it directly to the hotel no later
than May 31, 1993.  After that date the rooms will be released for general
sale at the prevailing rates of the hotel.   [PERHAPS KAREN CAN HELP NEGOTIATE
A LATER DATE HERE...  PGN]

Registration       Karen Ferraiolo
Information        COMPASS '93 Registration
Contact            Arca Systems, Inc
                   8229 Boone Blvd, Suite 610
                   Vienna, VA 22172
                   Phone: 703/734-5611
                   Fax:   703/790-0385

Technical          Judith Bramlage
Information        U.S. General Accounting Office
Contact            441 G Street NW
                   Washington, DC 20548
                   Phone: 202/512-6210
                   Fax:   202/512-6451

Driving Instructions
 --------------------
>From northbound I-270 take Exit 10, Rt. 117 West, Clopper Road. At
the first light on Clopper Road, turn left on to the NIST grounds.
>From Southbound I-270 take Exit 11B, Route 124 West, Quince Orchard
Road. At the second light turn left on to Clopper Road. At the
first light on Clopper Road, turn right on to the NIST grounds. To
reach the Administration Building, turn left after passing the
guard office. Signs will direct you to visitor parking.

Transportation will be provided to and from the Gaithersburg
Marriott and NIST Monday through Thursday.

               ==============================

Conference Registration Card

Advance Registration (Before 30 May 1993) [4 JUNE FOR RISKS READERS]

       Conference Registration (includes 1 copy of proceedings)_____
       Proceedings Only                                        _____
       Extra Proceedings _____ copies                          _____
       Tutorial #1 - Formal Methods                            _____
       Tutorial #2 - Federal Criteria                          _____

       Name_________________________________________________________
       Company______________________________________________________
       Street Address_______________________________________________
       Rm. No./Mail Code____________________________________________
       City, State, ZIP_____________________________________________
       Country______________________________________________________
       Business Telephone___________________________________________
       IEEE Membership Nbr__________________________________________
       Co-Sponsor Name______________________________________________
       Total Amount US $____________________________________________

       _____ Check here is you will be using the shuttle to and from
       the Marriott and NIST (free!).

Form of Payment

       _____         Check enclosed made payable to COMPASS '93. (Checks
                     from outside the USA must be written on a USA
                     bank.)
       _____         MasterCard No.________________________Exp._____
       _____         VISA Card No._________________________Exp._____
       _____         Diners Club No._______________________Exp._____
       _____         American Express No.__________________Exp._____
       Authorized Signature_________________________________________

       Request for refunds after 30 May 1993 will be subject to a $15
       administrative fee.

See below for registration fees and mailing instructions.

"In reviewing the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers' plans
for COMPASS Conferences, The Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
finds this event meets the standards for participation by DoD personnel under
instruction 5410.20 and DoD Standards of Conduct Directive 5500.7.  This
finding does not constitute DoD endorsement of attendance which must be
determined by each DoD component."

Registration Fees

       NOTE:         Members belong to sponsoring or cosponsoring
                     organizations.

       Advanced (before 30 May 1993)  [4 JUNE FOR RISKS READERS]
       -----------------------------
                                                    Speakers,
                                        Non-        One-Day &
                          Members      Members      Students
       Conference           250          315          100
       Tutorial              50           70           50
       Proceedings Only      20           30           20

       On-Site (after 30 May 1993)  [4 JUNE FOR RISKS READERS]
       ---------------------------
                                                    Speakers,
                                        Non-        One-Day &
                          Members      Members      Students
       Conference           300          375          100
       Tutorial              70           90           50
       Proceedings Only      20           30           20

       Fee includes coffee breaks, lunches, and social functions

Place Conference Registration Card in envelope and mail to :

                   Karen Ferraiolo
                   COMPASS '93 Registration
                   Arca Systems, Inc
                   8229 Boone Blvd, Suite 610
                   Vienna, VA 22172
                   Phone: 703/734-5611
                   Fax:   703/790-0385

               ==============================

Hotel Registration Card
Marriott Hotel, 301/977-8900

       Name________________________________________________________
       Company_____________________________________________________
       Street Address______________________________________________
       Rm. No./Mail Code___________________________________________
       City, State, ZIP____________________________________________
       Country_____________________________________________________
       Business Telephone__________________________________________
       Arrival Date________________________________________________
       Departure Date______________________________________________
       Number of Persons___________________________________________

       Rate $70 single or double (apply 12% tax to rate).  All
       reservations must be received by 30 May 1993.  All room
       reservations must be guaranteed by a one-night deposit.
       Deposit will guarantee first night availability, and will be
       credited to last night of reservation.  Deposit refunded if
       request received 48 hours prior to reserved arrival.

Form of Payment

       _____         Check enclosed made payable to The Gaithersburg
                     Marriott
       _____         One night deposit enclosed $___________________
       Guaranteed by_______________________________________Exp._____
       Card No._____________________________________________________
       Authorized Signature_________________________________________

Please place in envelope and mail to:

                 The Gaithersburg Marriott
                 620 Perry Parkway
                 Gaithersburg, MD 20877

               ==============================

Board of Directors
 ------------------
Chair:               Dolores R. Wallace, NIST
Vice-Chair:          Anthony Shumskas, Logicon, Inc.
Treasurer:           Dario DeAngelis, Logicon, Inc.
Secretary:           Michael L. Brown, Naval Surface Warfare Center
IEEE AESS:           Robert Ayers, ARINC, Inc.
IEEE NCAC:           Arthur Cotts
Members:             Judy Bramlage, U.S. General Accounting Office
                     John Cherniavsky, National Science Foundation
                     Frank Houston, Weinberg Associates
                     H.O. Lubbes, Naval Research Laboratory
                     Juan Zumbado, IBM

Conference Committee
 --------------------
General Chair:       Judith L. Bramlage, U.S. General Accounting Office
Program Chair:       John J. Marciniak, CTA, Inc.
Arrangements:        Laura M. Ippolito, NIST
Publications:        Ann Boyer, Control Systems Analysis
Publicity:           Paul Anderson, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
Registration:        Karen Ferraiolo, Arca Systems, Inc.
Treasurer:           Bonnie P. Danner, TRW Systems Division
Tutorials:           Michael L. Brown, Naval Surface Warfare Center

Program Committee
 -----------------
Paul Ammann, George Mason University
Michael L. Brown, Naval Surface Warfare Center
Albert Mo Kim Cheng, University of Houston
Jarrellann Filsinger, Booz-Allen & Hamilton
John J. Marciniak, CTA, Inc.
Reginald N. Meeson, Jr, Institute for Defense Analyses
Matthew Morgenstern, Xerox Design Research Institute
Adam Porter, University of Maryland
James Purtilo, University of Maryland
Marvin Schaefer, CTA, Inc.
Cynthia Wright, Defense Information Systems Agency
Tony Zawilski, The Mitre Corporation

Please report problems with the web pages to the maintainer

x
Top