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Al-Qaeda, Computer security, Defense contractor, John McCain, Lynn Massachusetts, Pentagon, Stuxnet, United States

Government Increases Hysteria Over Cyber Attacks in Push to Crack Down on Internet

In Uncategorized on July 25, 2011 at 11:50 pm

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Last week Republican senator John McCain called for the government to establish a special panel to come up with legislation to address supposed cybersecurity threats facing the United States. “The only way to move comprehensive cyber security legislation forward swiftly is to have committee chairmen and ranking members step away from preserving their own committees’ jurisdiction … (and) develop a bill that serves the national security needs of all Americans,” McCain said.http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1 As if on cue, the Pentagon announced two previously unpublicized attacks following McCain’s call for a bipartisan action. On Thursday, out-going deputy secretary of defense Bill Lynn said a foreign intelligence service had stolen 24,000 files on a sensitive weapons system from a defense contractor’s network. Lynn said the Defense Industrial Base Cyber Pilot was established to work with the private sector in the battle against cyber foes. “Our success in cyberspace depends on a robust public-private partnership,” said Lynn. “The defense of the military will matter little unless our civilian critical infrastructure is also able to withstand attacks.” Lynn cranked up the paranoia in February when he speculated that al-Qaeda might get its hands on the Stuxnet virus. He said “it is possible for a terrorist group to develop cyberattack tools on their own or to buy them on the black market.” The highly sophisticated malware virus was engineered by the United States and with Israeli Mossad assistance placed on an Iranian industrial computer network in order to undermine the country’s nuclear energy program.

Globaltechfirm.com

Prison Planet.com ” Government Increases Hysteria Over Cyber Attacks in Push to Crack Down on Internet (gunnyg.wordpress.com)
Still Recovering from Largest Cyber Attack on Record, U.S. Military Creates ‘Cyber Unit’ (blogs.forbes.com)
Maybe it’s not cyberwar after all (infocult.typepad.com)
Pentagon: Cyberspace is the New Front Line | The Americano (jamespatrick1.wordpress.com)
U.S. Military Outlines Cyber Security Strategy (informationweek.com)
U.S. Senator: We Need to Look Into Anonymous, Pronto (escapistmagazine.com)
Department of Defense unveiled a cyber-security strategy (robbiz1978.blogspot.com)
Revenge of China’s Cyber-Spies (thedailybeast.com)
You hack, we shoot: Pentagon discusses armed counterstrikes to cyberattacks (csmonitor.com)
US unveils cyber defence strategy (bbc.co.uk)

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anonymous, Denial-of-service attack, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Financial Times, Mastercard, Operation Payback, United States, Wikileaks

FBI Raids Dozens In Pro-Wikileaks Hacktivist Investigation

In Uncategorized on February 21, 2011 at 7:39 am

FBI - HACKTIVIST

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The FBI executed more than 40 search warrants today in connection with its investigation into Operation Payback, last month’s wave of cyber attacks targeting companies that cut off Wikileaks. Things are not looking good for Anonymous.

Last month, The loose-knit hacking collective Anonymous retaliated against Visa, Mastercard and Paypal for cutting ties with Wikileaks, hitting their websites with distributed denial of service attacks—floods of traffic that overwhelmed their servers. Authorities have since launched a globe-spanning investigation, including a raid on a Texas server farm suspected of hosting Anonymous chat rooms, and the arrests today in the UK of five suspected Anonymous members, aged 15-25. (There were no arrests in the U.S.)

A guy claiming to be at the receiving end of one of the American raids, Georgia Tech freshman Zhiwei Chen, posted a copy of the warrant, and the business card of the FBI agent who served it, to Reddit. He writes: “They came in the dorm room bustin in @ 7:00, and pushed everyone out of bed. They searched the place and questioned all people involved.”

Chen says he’s a former administrator of the Operation Payback chat room, where most of the planning occurred.

Anonymous released a statement today in relation to the UK raids, calling them a “serious declaration of war.” “Arresting somebody for taking part in a DDoS attack is exactly like arresting somebody for attending a peaceful demonstration in their hometown,” the press release reads.

But Anonymous is clearly hurting, even as members continue to organize in support of the protests in Tunisia and Egypt. “Subdued” is how the Financial Times describes the mood in Anonymous chat rooms. “We lost a lot of our brothers today,” wrote one user in the “Operation Payback” channel today.

The collective’s greatest strength lies in the fact that any moderately-savvy Joe Internet User can hop into a public Anonymous chat room, download a push-button program, and join a DDoS attack. Thousands of small clicks add up to outsized results (and media coverage.) But even though they inflict no lasting damage, DDoS is a crime—punishable by 10 years imprisonment, according to the feds!—and Anonymous’ inclusiveness makes it easy for the authorities to spy on every move: Imagine a gang of diamond thieves plastering the Internet with slick advertisements for a new heist, inviting anyone to participate, no questions asked.

If there’s ever another Operation Payback, Anonymous might need to figure out how to be a bit more anonymous.