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HSFPP Weekly Update # 143—Downloading Viruses?

Message from Bob: The first of this week’s articles In the New$... shows how the widespread (and unethical) practice of making illegal copies of music CDs—both professional bootlegs, which are common in other countries, and illegal filesharing by fans—has led a major corporation to introduce CDs with added software designed to prevent copying by reporting on the user via Internet. Of course, this is only possible when the CD is played on a computer, but many people do listen to CDs on their computers. An unfortunate side-effect of the software is that it compromises all uses of the music CDs, both legal and illegal, when played on a computer. But even worse is that the software used on these CDs compromises the computers themselves, in effect hijacking the computer and weakening its antivirus and firewall protection, opening the way for identity thieves to steal the user’s private information.

This use of CDs affects families in ways that most teens are not likely to realize. A teenager who uses the family computer could jeopardize his or her parents’ computer security; if the parents do banking and investing online, their personal financial information is at risk; thus, teens, without ever realizing it, can put their parents at greater risk of identity theft, a crime that has the potential to wreck the lives of its victims and their families. We do many updates on identity theft and related matters because we feel it is important to inform teens of the dangers involved with the Internet and personal finances.

Note: Based on user feedback, we are again making changes in the format of the weekly updates. We have moved the Student Discussion section and the Student Activity section (now called Follow-Up Activity) under the Notes to Educators section (previously Activity for Educators). We also provide information on how the follow-up activities can be used by educators covering different subject matter.

In addition, we  have reworded that  High School Financial Planning Program  Web site description at the end of every weekly update to better reflect the changes made on the homepage last summer, showing how the HSFPP addresses the Kentucky core concepts, as well as the addition of a new order form for program material that you can access directly from our Web site.

I hope these changes will help make the HSFPP more useful to you and your students. Please let us know whether you like or dislike the changes, as well as any changes you could suggest, by e-mailing me at rflashma@uky.edu.

Message from Chris: The way people listen to music has changed a great deal in recent years, largely due to changes in the technology. Teens like to download music from the Internet and burn CDs so they can use music from CDs in other ways, such as listening to it on an iPod. Although fee-based downloading services have made it possible for listeners to download their music legally, illegal downloading is still widespread, and its impact on profits remains debatable. For major recording artists, downloading probably does reduce profits; but, for the rest, it might actually help them become better known and sell more music. While some musicians remain adamant that their fans are stealing from them, others embrace the new filesharing technology and make it a vital part of their marketing. The major labels, however, are against it; hence the numerous lawsuits by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), not to mention the Motion Picture Association of America, which is determined to stop filesharing of movies.

Sony-BMG, one of the major labels, has now put software on their CDs to help them find out who is copying their CDs. When users listen to Sony-BMG’s newest CDs on their computers, the software reports on them, without their knowledge or consent, over the Internet. The industry’s thinking seems to be that, by tracking music pirates over the Internet, they will quickly put a stop to copyright infringement. While this thinking could be overly optimistic, it does make some sense. The problem is that this software hijacks users’ computers, whether they’re doing wrong or not, prevents them from using the CD in legal, as well as illegal ways—for instance, the law allows you to make one backup copy of any music you buy legally, but studios are now preventing consumers from doing that—they would rather make you buy a new CD if you drop or scratch one you already bought—and can invite viruses such as RATs (discussed in the second of this week’s articles In the New$...) when the user opens the files on the CD.

Related Updates:

Update # 141 - Phishing Revisited - 14 November 2005
Update #126 - Revisiting File Sharing - 25 April 2005
Update #66 - Music File Sharing - 22 September 2003

 

Website Pick of the Week:

http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/onlinebrokerage.htm

This page of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Web site is a great place to learn how to protect your money and personal information when dealing with online banks and brokerage accounts.

 

Notes to Educators:

Have students read this week’s articles In the New$.... Then, for the discussion activity, students should move to different sides of the room depending on their answers to each discussion question. Based on comments on Update # 132, on cheating, teachers found that having teens move to one side of the room or the other helps in keeping their attention. It involves everyone; and, by visibly taking sides, teens get a better idea how many of their peers engage in a particular behavior. They see who chooses which side and, perhaps, based on these observations, gain a greater perspective on a given issue.

 

 

Discussion Questions:

After teens read this week’s articles In the New$..., have them answer the following questions:

1.) If you believe that what Sony did is ethical, please stand and go to the right side of the room, and be ready to explain why you feel this way. Those of you who believe what they did is unethical, please go to left side of the room, and be ready to tell why you feel the way you do.

 

2.) Those who believe that what Sony did is legal, please move to left side, and be ready to tell why you feel this way. Those of you who believe what they did is illegal, please go to the right side of the room, and be ready to tell why you feel this way.

 

3.) If you have ever downloaded music for free, please move to the right side of the room. Those who have not, please stand on the left side of the room.

 

4a.) If you now pay to download music or you no longer download music for free, please move to the right side of the room and explain why you have made this choice. Those who still download music for free, please move to the left side of the room and explain why you still download music without paying. If any of you do not download music, please explain why you do not.

 

4b.) Do you think it is illegal to download copyrighted music for free?

 

4c.) Do you think it is unethical to download copyrighted music for free?

 

Follow-up Activity:

English class: Have students write a two-page paper taking one of the following positions: (1) defending Sony’s action to protect their copyrighted music; (2) explaining why they feel they should be allowed to make copies of CDs for themselves or share music files with others, free of charge; or (3) explaining why they feel Sony has violated music fans’ privacy.

Math class: Have one set of students research how much money Sony and other music companies are losing in sales because consumers are downloading copyrighted music without permission or copying CDs and swapping them with friends. Have another set of students research how much recording artists are losing in royalties. Have the two groups
share their findings in class; then, once again, ask them the discussion questions above. How many change their opinion? How many change their behavior?

History class: Have teens write a paper on the music industry, the companies, the managers, and/or the parents of young performers. Ask them to focus on how well performers have been treated. Students could be assigned a musician or music group and research whether they were treated fairly or were taken advantage of by parents, managers, or the music industry. Or they could focus on a class of musicians such as African-American musicians in the 1950s or teenage musicians in the 1990s. Do they find changes in industry policy or treatment of musicians over time? If so, what is the significance of any changes? Do they see a particular direction that the music industry should take in the future?

Business class: Educator could discuss copyright law, contracts, and the importance of having any contract read by your lawyer before you sign. Using video or DVD, you could show relevant sections from the recent movie, “Ray,” about musician Ray Charles, dealing with copyright and the importance of contracts.

 

In the New$... First Trojan Using Sony DRM spotted

Music label Sony-BMG has placed software on its CDs that can enable viruses to attack your computer. In an article for British publication The Register, John Leyden says, “Virus writers have begun taking advantage of Sony-BMG’s use of rootkit technology in DRM software bundled with its music CDs.” Recent media reports discuss a new type of virus, “remote access Trojans” [see next article], which can collect your personal financial information and send it to criminals when you bank or invest online.

Leyden says: “Sony-BMG’s rootkit DRM technology masks files whose filenames start with ‘$sys$’. A newly-discovered variant of the Breplibot Trojan takes advantage of this to drop the file ‘$sys$drv.exe’ in the Windows system directory.

“This means, that for systems infected by the Sony DRM rootkit technology, the dropped file is entirely invisible to the user. It will not be found in any process and file listing. Only rootkit scanners, such as the free utility RootkitRevealer, can unmask the culprit,” warns Ivan Macalintal, a senior threat analyst at security firm Trend Micro.”

Source: Adapted from “First Trojan using Sony DRM spotted,” by John Leyden, The Register, 11/10/05.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/10/sony_drm_trojan/

 

In the New$... Forget Phish, Start Fumigating for RATs

“Clever computer criminals have recently become much more sophisticated in their attacks against online banks, experts say. The Internet is now awash in programs called ‘remote access Trojans,’ or RATs, that feed on online banking passwords.”

“These new remote-access Trojans are designed specifically to lurk in the background, waiting until the unsuspecting user types the name of a well-known bank into a Web browser. Then, the program springs into action, copying every keystroke. The data is sent back to the criminal, who can now raid the online bank.”

“Generally, banks are loath to discuss fraud, so there is precious little hard data about its extent. But the Antiphishing Working Group, a consortium set up by financial firms and security companies, has noticed a dramatic uptick in RAT programs, says spokesman Dave Jevans.”

“Why the shift to ratware? There is some evidence that phishing activity has finally peaked. Jevans said the number of phishing attacks in September leveled off. Consumers may have finally gotten the message that e-mails which appear to be from major financial institutions are often fakes; so criminals have upped the ante, shifting their attention to these more sophisticated methods that don’t require a consumer mis-step.”

Source: Excerpted from “Forget phish, start fumigating for RATs: ‘Remote access Trojans’ harvest online bank passwords as you type them,” by Bob Sullivan, Technology Correspondent, MSNBC, 11/02/05. From: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9898957/ (The original article, much more extensive than the excerpts included here, is well worth reading in full.)

 

Kentucky High School Financial Planning Program

http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/hsfp

The purpose of the HSFPP weekly updates and Web site is to assist county Extension agents, credit union educators, high school teachers, and parents who home-school their teenagers so that they may help improve the economic well-being of our teenagers; and also to show educators how the HSFPP and the weekly updates meet Kentucky core concepts. The Web site and weekly updates are provided by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, and are free to all educators. The list of core concepts and order form for free program materials including student guide and instructor’s manual can be found on the Kentucky HSFPP home page.