January 2005 - cypherpunks-legacy

'No Place to Hide': Nonstop Scrutiny, as Orwell Foresaw
by R.A. Hettinga 28 Jan '05

28 Jan '05

<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/25/books/25kaku.html?8bu=&pagewanted=print&p…> The New York Times January 25, 2005 BOOKS OF THE TIMES | 'NO PLACE TO HIDE' Nonstop Scrutiny, as Orwell Foresaw By MICHIKO KAKUTANI NO PLACE TO HIDE By Robert O'Harrow Jr. 348 pages. Free Press. $26. icture "Minority Report" combined with Orwell's "1984" and Francis Ford Coppola's "Conversation": in an effort to prevent future crimes and predict what certain individuals are likely to do, the government has begun working with high-tech titans to keep tabs on the populace. One company has come up with a digital identity system that has tagged every adult American with a unique code. Another company is intent on gaining control of all records - including state and local files, financial information, employee dossiers, DNA data and criminal background checks - that define our identity. In addition to iris scanners, voice analyzers and fingerprint readers, there now exist face recognition machines and cameras that can identify an individual by how he or she walks. One government group is working on infrared detectors that could register heat signals around people's eyes, indicating an autonomic "fight or flight" response; another federal agency has floated a proposal to assess risk by examining airline passengers' brain waves with "noninvasive neuro-electric sensors." This surveillance state is not a futuristic place conjured in a Philip K. Dick novel or "Matrix"-esque sci-fi thriller. It is post-9/11 America, as described in Robert O'Harrow Jr.'s unnerving new book, "No Place to Hide" - an America where citizens' "right to be let alone," as Justice Louis Brandeis of the Supreme Court once put it, is increasingly imperiled, where more and more components of our daily lives are routinely monitored, recorded and analyzed. These concerns, of course, are hardly new. Way back in 1964, in "The Naked Society," Vance Packard warned about encroachments on civil liberties and the growing threat to privacy posed by new electronic devices, and in 1971, in "The Assault on Privacy," Arthur R. Miller warned that advances in information technologies had given birth to "a new social virus - 'data-mania.' " The digital revolution of the 1990's, however, exponentially amplified these trends by enabling retailers, marketers and financial institutions to gather and store vast amounts of information about current and potential customers. And as Mr. O'Harrow notes, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, "reignited and reshaped a smoldering debate over the proper use of government power to peer into the lives of ordinary people." Some of the material in "No Place to Hide" is familiar from news coverage (most notably, the author's own articles about privacy and technology for The Washington Post), from a recent ABC News special (made in conjunction with Mr. O'Harrow's reporting) and from recent books like Jeffrey Rosen's "Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age" and Christian Parenti's "Soft Cage: Surveillance in America From Slavery to the War on Terror." Still, Mr. O'Harrow provides in these pages an authoritative and vivid account of the emergence of a "security-industrial complex" and the far-reaching consequences for ordinary Americans, who must cope not only with the uneasy sense of being watched (leading, defenders of civil liberties have argued, to a stifling of debate and dissent) but also with the very palpable dangers of having personal information (and in some cases, inaccurate information) passed from one outfit to another. Mr. O'Harrow also charts many consumers' willingness to trade a measure of privacy for convenience (think of the personal information happily dispensed to TiVo machines and Amazon.com in exchange for efficient service and helpful suggestions), freedom for security. He reviews the gargantuan data-gathering and data-mining operations already carried out by companies like Acxiom, ChoicePoint and LexisNexis. And he shows how their methods are being co-opted by the government. The Privacy Act of 1974, enacted in the wake of revelations about covert domestic spying by the F.B.I., the Army and other agencies, gave individuals new rights to know and to correct information that the government was collecting about them, but the government's current predilection for outsourcing data-gathering to private companies has changed the rules of the game. As Mr. O'Harrow notes: "Among other things, the law restricted the government from building databases of dossiers unless the information about individuals was directly relevant to an agency's mission. Of course, that's precisely what ChoicePoint, LexisNexis and other services do for the government. By outsourcing the collection of records, the government doesn't have to ensure the data is accurate, or have any provisions to correct it in the same way it would under the Privacy Act. There are no limits on how the information can be interpreted, all this at a time when law enforcement, domestic intelligence and foreign intelligence are becoming more interlinked." Privacy and civil liberties advocates have put the brakes on some government projects, like the Total Information Awareness initiative promoted by John Poindexter, the former vice admiral (of Iran-contra notoriety), and a surveillance engine known (half jokingly) as the Matrix (for the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange) that would combine criminal and commercial records in one blindingly fast system. Yet Mr. O'Harrow points out: "The drive for more monitoring, data collection, and analysis is relentless and entrepreneurial. Where one effort ends, another begins, often with the same technology and aims. Total Information Awareness may be gone, but it's not forgotten. Other kinds of Matrix systems are already in the works." Even now, one mini-me version of Big Brother or another is monitoring Americans' daily lives, from the computer "cookies" that map our peregrinations around the Net, to the MetroCards, E-ZPasses and car-installed Global Positioning System devices that track our travels, to the security cameras that eyeball us at banks and stores. Mr. O'Harrow writes that RFID (radio frequency identification) tags will be attached soon to credit cards, bank passbooks and "anything else that will enable businesses to automatically 'know you' when you arrive," and that several organizations "are working on a standard that would enable every manufactured item in the world to be given a unique ID, at least theoretically." "Before long," he adds, "our phones, laptop computers, Palm Pilots, watches, pagers and much more will play parts in the most efficient surveillance network ever made. Forget dropping a coin into a parking meter or using a pay phone discreetly on the street. Those days are slipping by. The most simple, anonymous transactions are now becoming datapoints on the vast and growing matrix of each of our lives." It is an alarming vision of the future uncannily reminiscent of the world imagined by Orwell in "1984": a world where "you had to live - did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized." It just arrived some two decades later than Orwell predicted. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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FROM DE LOTTO NETHERLANDS INTERNATIONAL
by paulvan01＠mail2world.com 28 Jan '05

28 Jan '05

FROM: GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED LOTTERY PROMOTERS. WINNING NOTICE FOR CATEGORY "A" WINNER Dear Lucky Winner, RE: BONUS LOTTERY PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of De Lotto Netherlands International Lottery programs. The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 25,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. No tickets were sold. After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as one of two winners in the category "A" with the following: Ref Number: 35149/337-5247/LNI Batch Number:26371545-LNI/2004 Ticket Number:54866235 You as well as the other winner are therefore to receive a cash prize of 1,500,000.00. (ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAN EUROS ONLY) each from the total payout. Your prize award has been insured with your e-mail address and will be transferred to you upon meeting our requirements, statutory obligations, verifications, validations and satisfactory report. To begin the claims processing of your prize winnings you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited claims agent for category "A" winners with the information below: Mr.Paul VanFrant Financial Director, Netherlands Development Finance Company, De Amsterdamse Poort Bijlmerplein 888 1102 MG Amsterdam 1000 BV Amsterdam E-mail:paulvan@mail2world.com E-mail:paulvan@walla.com Phone number +31-617-628-678 Fax number +31-847-499-712 NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 20 days. After this date all unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake. Remember to quote your reference information in all correspondence. You are to keep all lotto information away from the general public especially your reference and ticket numbers. (This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained). Anybody under the age of 18 and members of the affiliate agencies are automatically not allowed to participate in this program. Thank you and congratulations!!! Yours faithfully, Mrs. Mildred Hugo Games/Lottery Coordinator. De Lotto Netherlands International www.lotto.nl

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RE: Gripes About Airport Security Grow Louder
by Trei, Peter 28 Jan '05

28 Jan '05

> -----Original Message----- > From: owner-cypherpunks(a)minder.net > [mailto:owner-cypherpunks@minder.net]On Behalf Of Steve Thompson > Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 12:13 PM > To: cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net > Subject: RE: Gripes About Airport Security Grow Louder > > > --- Tyler Durden <camera_lumina(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > [airport security] > > More indications of an emerging 'Brazil' scenario, as opposed to a > > hyper-intelligent super-fascist state. > > As if. > > There already is a kind of intelligent super-fascist state in place > thoughout much of society. My bugbears of the moment are the > police and > courts, so you get my take on how they are organised so as to be > 'intelligent' without seeming so -- which further enables a > whole lot of > fraud to masqerade as process and incompetence. The > super-fascist part > comes about because the system avoids public accountability while also > somehow evading any sort of reasonable standard of performance. > > What's the error rate, that is the false arrest, prosecution, and/or > conviction rate of a Western countries' judiciary and police > divitions? > If it's even ten percent, and it's probably much higher, then > there is no > reason to respect the operation and perpetuation of the system. One chilling data point. Remember a few years ago the (pro death penalty) governor of Illinois suspended all the death sentences in has state? The reason being was that with the introduction of DNA testing, 1/3 of the people on death row were found to be innocent. I don't know how many other innocents the state planned to murder, but presumably there were some cases where DNA evidence was not available. If, in a capital case, where the money to pay public defenders is usually maximally available, and the appeals process, checks, and cross-checks are the more thorough than in any non-capital prosecution, you STILL get at least a 33% error rate, then what is the wrongfull conviction rate in non-capital cases, where there are far fewer appeals, and public defenders are paid a pittance? Peter Trei

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MPAA files new film-swapping suits
by R.A. Hettinga 28 Jan '05

28 Jan '05

> The MPAA's new software, "Parent File Scan," is aimed at identifying >file-swapping software applications and multimedia files on a computer, so >that--in theory--parents can evaluate whether the files on their computer >have been legally acquired and talk with children about the legalities of >peer-to-peer activity. Cheers, RAH -------- <http://news.com.com/2102-1030_3-5551903.html?tag=st.util.print> CNET News MPAA files new film-swapping suits By John Borland Story last modified Wed Jan 26 13:43:00 PST 2005 Hollywood studios filed a second round of lawsuits against online movie-swappers on Wednesday, stepping up legal pressure on the file-trading community. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) also made available a new free software tool so parents can scan their computers for file-swapping programs and for movie or music files which may be copyrighted. The group said its lawsuits were targeting people across the United States, but did not say how many people were being sued. "We cannot allow people to steal our motion pictures and other products online, and we will use all the options we have available to encourage people to obey the law," MPAA Chief Executive Officer Dan Glickman said in a statement. "We had to resort to lawsuits as one option to help make that happen." After initially letting record labels take the lead, movie studios have launched their own aggressive legal campaigns against online film-trading in recent months, targeting individual computer users as well as Web site and server operators that serve as hubs of file-trading networks. The group filed its first set of lawsuits against individual computer users in November, and followed up with a worldwide campaign against the operators of BitTorrent, eDonkey and DirectConnect networks. As a result, some of the most popular Web sites that served as file-trading hubs, such as Suprnova.org and Yourceff.com have gone offline. At least one, LokiTorrent.com, has remained online and is soliciting donations from its visitors to pay for legal fees. The MPAA's new software, "Parent File Scan," is aimed at identifying file-swapping software applications and multimedia files on a computer, so that--in theory--parents can evaluate whether the files on their computer have been legally acquired and talk with children about the legalities of peer-to-peer activity. Unlike the network-monitoring software often installed in businesses or corporate networks, the MPAA-backed software does not monitor or block downloads. In practice, the software, developed by the DtecNet Software company in Denmark, casts an extremely wide net. It searches for and identifies virtually any audio or video file, including popular formats like MP3, Microsoft's Windows Media, the AAC files that Apple Computer's iTunes software often uses, or MPEG video. The software makes no distinction between legally acquired or illegally downloaded files, however--which can total in the thousands. Parent File Scan also uses a very liberal definition of file-swapping software. In a test on a CNET News.com computer, the software identified Mirc--a client for the Internet Relay Chat network, where files can be swapped, but where tens of thousands of wholly legal conversations happen every day--and Mercora, a streaming Web radio service that uses peer-to-peer technology but does not allow file swapping. The software is primarily aimed at use by parents, and does not report any information back to the MPAA or any other group, the trade association said. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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US to slap tourists with RFID
by R.A. Hettinga 27 Jan '05

27 Jan '05

<http://management.silicon.com/government/print.htm?TYPE=story&AT=39127374-3…> US to slap tourists with RFID Jo Best silicon.com January 26, 2005 The US Department of Homeland Security has decided to trial RFID tags in an effort to make sure only the right sort of people get across US borders. The controversial US-VISIT scheme for those visiting the US from abroad already fingerprints holidaymakers on their way into the country and is now adding RFID to the mix in order to improve border management, the department said. The trials will start at a "simulated port" in the spring and will then be extended to Nogales East and Nogales West in Arizona; Alexandria Bay in New York; and Pacific Highway and Peace Arch in Washington by the end of July. The testing phase will continue until the spring of next year. The exact way RFID will be used with the travellers is not yet known. RFID chips will be used to track both pedestrians and vehicles entering the US to automatically record when the visitors arrive and leave in the country. So far, over 400 people have been turned away from the country or arrested as a result of US-VISIT checks. US Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security, Asa Hutchinson, said in a statement: "Through the use of radio frequency technology, we see the potential to not only improve the security of our country, but also to make the most important infrastructure enhancements to the US land borders in more than 50 years." The US government has already shown a marked fondness for the tagging technology. The US Department of Defense mandated its suppliers to use the technology, while the Food and Drug Administration is encouraging the pharmaceutical industry to use the chips in an attempt to beat counterfeiters. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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Offline ID crimes still more severe
by R.A. Hettinga 27 Jan '05

27 Jan '05

<http://news.com.com/2102-1029_3-5552000.html?tag=st.util.print> CNET News Offline ID crimes still more severe Story last modified Wed Jan 26 14:45:00 PST 2005 Though identity theft using the Internet seems to get all the attention, most of the financial loss linked to fraud is still from offline crime, a new study shows. Losses related to an average case of Internet-initiated fraud were $551, compared to $4,543 lost from fraud tracked back to paper statements, according to the 2005 Identity Fraud Survey conducted by the Better Business Bureau and Javelin Strategy & Research. The survey, which follows an earlier study carried out by the Federal Trade Commission in 2003, indicated that Internet-related crimes are actually less severe, less costly and not as widespread as previously thought. The amount of money lost to identity fraud in 2004 was $52.6 billion--about the same as in 2003. And the number of victims dropped to 9.3 million in 2004 from 10.1 million the year before. "This new research contradicts some common assumptions about identity-theft fraud and points to new paths of prevention. There are several steps consumers can take to improve their identity safety and protect themselves against this type of fraud," Ken Hunter, CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, said in a statement. The survey said computer crimes accounted for only 11.6 percent of identity fraud in 2004 in which the cause was known. Half of those crimes stemmed from spyware, software that surreptiously tracks users online or causes ads to pop up when the consumer is online. "Our numbers show that fears about online identity fraud may be out of proportion to the relative risk, causing consumers to ignore the most glaring issues," James Van Dyke, Javelin's founder, said in a statement. "Indeed, most instances of identity fraud occur through traditional channels and are paper-based, not Internet-based." Users can protect their financial data by using updated software that protects against spyware and viruses and by and not responding to suspicious e-mail ploys that request personal data. By managing their financial accounts through a password-authenticated Web site, the report added, "consumers can reduce access to personal information on paper bills and statements that may be used to commit identity theft and fraud." Also revealing was the finding that half of those who committed the online crimes are closely related to the victim as a friend, family member or neighbor. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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Terrorists don't let terrorists use Skype
by Eugen Leitl 27 Jan '05

27 Jan '05

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Crypto expert: Microsoft flaw is serious
by R.A. Hettinga 27 Jan '05

27 Jan '05

<http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsid=3027> Techworld.com - 27 January 2005 Crypto expert: Microsoft flaw is serious Microsoft should sort flaw and abandon RC4 in favour of better ciphers, says PGP creator. By John E. Dunn, Techworld Cryptography expert Phil Zimmermann has said he believes the flaw discovered in Microsoft's Word and Excel encryption is serious and warrants immediate attention. "I think this is a serious flaw - it is highly exploitable. It is not a theoretical attack," said Zimmermann, referring to a flaw in Microsoft's use of RC4 document encryption unearthed recently by a researcher in Singapore. "The lay user ought to be entitled to assume that the encryption produced by Microsoft is adequate. [ ] If Microsoft wants to earn the respect of the cryptographic community and the public it must rise to the occasion by producing competent security." Microsoft has been dismissive of the seriousness of the flaw, which relates to the way it has implemented the RC4 encryption stream cipher. As explained by Hungjun Wu of the Institute of Infocomm Research, it would allow anyone able to gain access to two or more versions of the same password and encrypted document to reverse engineer the scheme used to make it secure. "Stream ciphers have to be used most carefully. Any failure to do this will result in a disastrous loss of security," Zimmermann said. "Even with a properly chosen initialisation vector, you have to run it for a while before the quality of the stream cipher is good enough to use." Contrary to Microsoft's claims that the issue was a "very low threat", he countered that gaining access to a document would not present problems for a determined hacker. "There are tools one can use to cryptanalyse messages in this way." Even if the flaw was fixed, in his view a more fundamental problem was Microsoft's use of RC4, licensed from RSA Security. "Why does Microsoft continue to use RC4 in this day and age? It has other security flaws that have been published in other papers," adding that "RC4 is a proprietary cipher and has not stood up well to peer review. They should just stop using RC4. It would be better to switch to a block cipher." When contacted Microsoft, was unable to commit to a timescale for correcting the flaw but issued the following statement by way of a spokesperson: "Microsoft is still investigating this report of a possible vulnerability in Microsoft Office. When that investigation is complete, we will take the appropriate actions to protect customers. This may include providing a security update through our monthly release process." Zimmermann, meanwhile, emphasised the need for responsible disclosure of such problems. "The best way is to quietly disclose the problem to the vendor and then allow the vendor 30 days to fix the problem. Then go public," he said. Phil Zimmermann is best-known as the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), a desktop encryption program that was powerful enough that the US authorities attempted to have its distribution stopped and Zimmermann imprisoned for writing it. The case was abandoned 1996. PGP was bought out by Network Associates, though an independent company, PGP Corporation, has since been spun out to develop its core technology. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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Dough-Doughs
by R.A. Hettinga 27 Jan '05

27 Jan '05

<http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/21575.htm> The New York Post DOUGH-DOUGHS By DAN MANGAN January 27, 2005 -- Two bozo bandits threw away nearly a million dollars because they didn't realize that the $900,000 worth of bonds they stole from a New Jersey home could be spent as easily as the $100,000 cash they kept, cops said. "They had no idea what they had," Ramsey Police Chief Bryan Gurney said of the teenage crooks who walked off with the 100-pound safe. "That's why I think they just got rid of them. The defendants may not have been aware . . . even how to negotiate these types of bonds." The 19-year-olds were nabbed after bragging about their caper and blowing through a quarter of the cash on adult toys, officials said. Now Gurney is afraid of setting off a treasure hunt. He believes the safe and the bearer bonds - whose detachable dividend coupons can be redeemed by anyone possessing them - are still somewhere in northern New Jersey. "We have an idea where the safe is, but we don't want to put it out because if somebody beats us to it, we're thinking we could have another theft," Gurney said. Gurney said he did not know why the owner of the burgled house, Joseph Bonaro, was keeping so much cash - mainly in $100 bills - and bonds in the small, locked safe in a closet. Bonaro, 79, declined comment at his home in the upper-middle-class town. Police believe the two New Jersey men arrested for the theft, William Kittredge of Upper Saddle River, and Dominic Puzio of Mahwah, had known the safe was there before they allegedly broke into the unoccupied home sometime between Jan. 11 and Jan. 14. The men, who have been charged with burglary and theft, were busted last Friday and later released on $10,000 bail. "All indications are that they knew where to go," Gurney said. "They went directly to where this safe was and they grabbed it." Gurney said the thieves first tried to get in the house by turning a key that had been left in the outside lock of the back door. When it broke off, he said, they went through an open window. In addition to the safe, the men swiped two watches and some coins, Gurney said. Cops nailed the culprits after getting a tip that a "couple of guys were bragging about a burglary they did, and were out buying a bunch of stuff," Gurney said. When police arrested Kittredge and Puzio, they recovered about $75,000 as well as items they allegedly bought with the loot, including a Suzuki motorcycle, a watch, golf clubs, a TV and a DVD player, cops said. Additional reporting by John Doyle -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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Driver's license scandals raise national security worries
by R.A. Hettinga 26 Jan '05

26 Jan '05

<http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/state/ny-bc-ct--illegallicenses0115jan1…> Driver's license scandals raise national security worries By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN Associated Press Writer January 15, 2005, 5:30 PM EST BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Tracy Lucas-Stevenson earned $40,000 as a state motor vehicle employee, so she raised investiators' eyebrows when an acquaintance said she bragged about buying a Lincoln Navigator, a pool and a new kitchen within a year. What authorities uncovered was a web of illegal immigrants, shady middlemen with names like "Chile" and "El Gordo" and motor vehicle examiners like Lucas-Stevenson who are accused of issuing illegal driver's licenses. Connecticut had developed a reputation from as far away as Florida as a place where people could buy fraudulent driver's licenses for as much as $3,500 without having to produce any identification. DMV workers also took payoffs for stealing the identities of legitimate license holders, police say. Investigators suspect hundreds of licenses were fraudulently issued, sparking worries about illegal immigration, identity theft and even threats to national security. "It's an alarming number, frankly," said prosecutor John H. Malone. "If we find that many so soon in the investigation, I'd be surprised if there weren't more as the investigation progresses." Similar scams have occurred around the country: _ In New Jersey, nine state motor vehicle employees pleaded guilty to a scheme that involved payoffs for bogus licenses. _ In Illinois, a federal investigation into the trading of bribes for driver's licenses led to dozens of convictions and the indictment of former Gov. George Ryan on racketeering and other charges. _ In Virginia, more than 200 people are losing their licenses because of suspected fraud by a former Department of Motor Vehicles worker who allegedly sold licenses for as much as $2,500 each. The federal intelligence overhaul law signed by President Bush last month imposes new standards on information that driver's licenses must contain. Many states, meanwhile, are cracking down by implementing extra measures to get licenses. In North Carolina, new driver's license photos are compared to mug shots of suspected terrorists, while Minnesota is starting to use new technology designed to thwart counterfeiters. The fraud alarms officials amid fears of identity theft and terrorism. Fake ID cards made it possible for the Sept. 11 terrorists to board commercial flights. "The clear and present danger that fraudulent licenses are in the hands of terrorists or anyone who would harm our country requires the strongest possible action," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Investigators are working with federal authorities to compare the names on questionable Connecticut licenses with terrorist databases. There have been no matches so far, officials said. State and local authorities have made 10 arrests, including three employees at the Department of Motor Vehicles. More arrests are expected as investigators try to determine if higher ranking DMV employees were involved. "Presumably a superior would have some knowledge of what the subordinates are doing," Malone said. Lucas-Stevenson, who faces forgery charges, declined comment. She has been placed on administrative leave with pay. The other two DMV employees face bribery charges. Investigators also have uncovered the first identity theft cases. A $4,000 line of credit was taken out in the name of Patrick Milling, an assistant principal in Farmington, to buy an expensive watch and diamonds. Another fake ID card was used to withdraw $11,500 from the bank account of a Bristol man. A DMV employee allegedly received an envelope containing $700 for issuing one of the fake ID cards. Authorities also are investigating more than 200 registrations and 18 driver's licenses traced to a business in Danbury that caters to immigrants from Ecuador. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the Fairfield County city is struggling with a wave of illegal immigration. "We're literally being overrun," Boughton said. The scandal prompted Gov. M. Jodi Rell to order the DMV to examine all aspects of licensing. The agency last week announced a plan that includes a reorganization, new technology to prevent fraud and measures designed to tighten internal oversight of how the DMV issues drivers' licenses. "While I know that the vast majority of our employees are honest and committed to integrity, a few abused that public trust," DMV Commissioner Gary DeFilippo wrote in a letter to employees. "However, the severity of the matter has caused us to look at how this problem started and what might be done to prevent reocurrences." Henry William Pardo, a Florida businessman, warned DMV about the problem after he learned that several Brazilians he hired obtained phony licenses in Connecticut. "Every illegal Brazilian person in this country knows about the Connecticut DMV and the person who sells it," Pardo wrote in a letter to DMV a year ago. That left Pardo _ and authorities _ wondering who else might get an illegal license. "Any al-Qaida member could go to the same place, pay his money and obtain a license and go about his business," Pardo said. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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