In brief: Microsoft helps FBI bring down alleged phisher

Microsoft teamed with the FBI to help bring down an alleged phisher. Jayson Lucas Harris pleaded not guilty in an Iowa court last week to charges of scamming computer users with fake e-mail notices from Microsoft. He was charged with 75 counts of wire fraud in the phishing scam.

According to court documents, Harris for 11/2 years tried to scam MSN users into sending credit card information via a fake Web site. The messages were addressed "Dear MSN Customer" and appeared to be from "billing@msn.com." Reportedly one such e-mail went to the mother-in-law of a Microsoft employee, who passed it on to the company's lawyers. The case was the first of more than 100 brought by Microsoft against suspected phishers. A trial is set for October.

Three people accused of sending massive amounts of spam face possible prison sentences after being indicted by a grand jury in Arizona and accused of violating the Can-Spam Act of 2003 and other charges, the U.S. Department of Justice says.

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Microsoft teamed with the FBI to help bring down an alleged phisher. Jayson Lucas Harris pleaded not guilty in an Iowa court last week to charges of scamming computer users with fake e-mail notices from Microsoft. He was charged with 75 counts of wire fraud in the phishing scam.

According to court documents, Harris for 11/2 years tried to scam MSN users into sending credit card information via a fake Web site. The messages were addressed "Dear MSN Customer" and appeared to be from "billing@msn.com." Reportedly one such e-mail went to the mother-in-law of a Microsoft employee, who passed it on to the company's lawyers. The case was the first of more than 100 brought by Microsoft against suspected phishers. A trial is set for October.

Three people accused of sending massive amounts of spam face possible prison sentences after being indicted by a grand jury in Arizona and accused of violating the Can-Spam Act of 2003 and other charges, the U.S. Department of Justice says.

Named in the indictment are Jennifer R. Clason, Jeffrey A. Kilbride and James R. Schaffer. The three are accused of sending spam that advertised pornographic Web sites, according to a Justice Department statement . They could make money from commissions the Web sites paid in return for directing traffic to the sites. The defendants' operation was ranked as one of the 200 largest sources of spam on the Internet by The Spamhaus Project, a group that tracks and battles spam. AOL received more than 600,000 complaints between late January and early June last year related to spam from the operation.

Carly Fiorina has reached a deal to pen a memoir about her dramatic career, which went on hiatus in February following her ouster from HP after a turbulent five-year run as the company's chief executive. Due out in late 2006, Fiorina's book will blend writing about her career with her views on topics such as leadership, how women can thrive in business and how technology will reshape the world, her publisher says. Portfolio didn't disclose the terms of its contract with Fiorina, but it's a good bet she isn't writing the book for the money. Fiorina picked up $21 million in cash as a severance payment when she left HP.

Air Force officials at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, say a network intrusion there, which they believe was carried out in May or June by someone using a legitimate user's logon information, has resulted in the data theft of personal information of about 33,000 Air Force officers. The data breach is said to include Social Security numbers, marital status, number of children and academic records. The Air Force discovered the breach, which is being investigated by military and civilian law enforcement, after noticing from log files that one individual was accessing the Air Force online career-management system an inordinate number of times. The affected personnel were advised to monitor their credit reports closely for signs of identity thefts.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons has ordered former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers to serve his 25-year prison term at a medium-security facility in Oakdale, La., rather than a less-tightly guarded location closer to his home. Federal officials made the decision even after U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones recommended that Ebbers, 63, be sent to a minimum-security prison in Yazoo City, Miss., near his family and friends. The Louisiana prison is 200 miles from Ebbers' hometown. Ebbers must report to prison by Oct. 12.