Forwarded from: security curmudgeon <jericho@attrition.org>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
X-Sender: declan@mail.well.com
To: politech@politechbot.com
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2001 08:53:04 -0500
Subject: FC: FAA.gov ran open mail relay, could let people forge FAA email
[Excerpted from RISKS Digest Vol 21 Issue 73. (ftp://ftp.sri.com/risks) --DBM]
[...]
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 17:15:16 -0500 (EST)
From: Bill Duncan <bduncan@beachnet.org>
Subject: FAA Asleep at the Control Column?
A few days ago while looking through the e-mail rejection logs, I was
surprised to find some e-mail blocked by virtue of being in an RBL
list and coming from a host in the FAA.GOV domain. The e-mail was
obvious spam, as I'd blocked the same sender (from a domain in the UK)
from various other addresses.
Being a new private pilot and with the recent of September events
fresh in my mind, I quickly investigated. Sure enough, there was a
host on their network, loaded with software from that outfit in
Redmond, and happily spewing relayed mail. (I tested whether it would
relay mail from anywhere to anywhere else by telneting to its smtp
port.)
Furthermore, to get on this exclusive RBL list, the e-mail relay
must've been in operation for some time.
Imagining scenarios where relaying e-mail through the FAA system might
at best be an embarrassment, and at worst might be some kind of a
security threat, I immediately e-mailed whatever addresses I could
find on their website as well as the usual postmaster@faa.gov etc.
So far, no response, and according to my log files, I'm still
rejecting spam from them.
While many US Federal Government agencies are discovering the virtues
of Open Source for security, I'm dismayed to find that the FAA is
still using software well known for insecurities on their website as
well as other hosts connected to the Internet. Getting junk e-mail
relayed through the FAA might be just an annoyance, but it might also
point to other security issues there.
So if you get any e-mail from the FAA, be careful. It's probably just
SPAM, but it might be worse.
Follow-up: Mon, 5 Nov 2001 15:41:11 -0500 (EST)
I didn't want to include the identifying IP address in the original
submission, to protect the guilty, but it looks like they took it off
this morning. I tried pinging the address and they are no longer
there. The last SPAM which was sent my way from that address was at
1:15 this morning EST.
Although I e-mailed about 4 addresses at the FAA, including one for
emergency response, I've received no replies as yet. But I guess the
message finally got through this morning. Maybe they'll take it as a
wakeup call, which I didn't think they'd really need after the recent
events...
Here's the last log entry from my mail log, with the local address
changed. I'm using Exim.
2001-11-05 01:15:18 recipients from atos.faa.gov [204.108.10.130] refused
2001-11-05 01:15:18 recipient <localname@domain.com> refused
from atos.faa.gov [204.108.10.130]
sender=<masterdisc8745@gmx.co.uk> (host_reject_recipients)
Bill Duncan, VE3IED http://www.beachnet.org bduncan_at_BeachNet.org
+1 416 693-5960
[...]
Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 20:39:12 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Sony uses DMCA against Aibo Enthusiast's Site
Sony Dogs Aibo Enthusiast's Site
Courts: The company uses a controversial law to stop owners from altering
the robotic pet. Some consumers balk.
Sony Corp. is using a controversial U.S. law aimed at protecting
intellectual property to pull the plug on a Web site that helps owners of
Aibo, Sony's popular and pricey robotic pet, teach their electronic dogs new
tricks. Aibo owners are outraged, and hundreds have vowed to stop buying
Sony products altogether until the company backs off. Sony has sold more
than 100,000 Aibos worldwide since 1999, at prices ranging from $800 to
$3,000. The dogs have spawned a community of enthusiasts who fuss over the
mechanical marvels as if they were real canines. [Source: Article by Dave
Wilson and Alex Pham, *Los Angeles Times*, 1 Nov 2001]
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-000086726nov01.story?coll=la-headlines
[...]
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Received on Wed Nov 7 05:10 CST 2001