[iwar] [fc:Hacker's.war.on.terrorism.draws.tepid.response.from.experts]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-11 07:18:16


Return-Path: <sentto-279987-2867-1002809719-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com>
Delivered-To: fc@all.net
Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Thu, 11 Oct 2001 07:19:06 -0700 (PDT)
Received: (qmail 8501 invoked by uid 510); 11 Oct 2001 14:18:11 -0000
Received: from n21.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.71) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 11 Oct 2001 14:18:11 -0000
X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-2867-1002809719-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com
Received: from [10.1.1.224] by n21.groups.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 11 Oct 2001 14:18:19 -0000
X-Sender: fc@big.all.net
X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com
Received: (EGP: mail-7_4_1); 11 Oct 2001 14:15:18 -0000
Received: (qmail 58053 invoked from network); 11 Oct 2001 14:15:18 -0000
Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by 10.1.1.224 with QMQP; 11 Oct 2001 14:15:18 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta1 with SMTP; 11 Oct 2001 14:18:17 -0000
Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id HAA16801 for iwar@onelist.com; Thu, 11 Oct 2001 07:18:16 -0700
Message-Id: <200110111418.HAA16801@big.all.net>
To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List)
Organization: I'm not allowed to say
X-Mailer: don't even ask
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1]
From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com
Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com
Precedence: bulk
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 07:18:16 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Hacker's.war.on.terrorism.draws.tepid.response.from.experts]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hacker's war on terrorism draws tepid response from experts 
By Rob Lever, Agence France-Presse, 10/11/2001
<a href="http://www.securitynewsportal.com/article.php?sid=1900&mode=thread&order=0">http://www.securitynewsportal.com/article.php?sid=1900&mode=thread&order=0>

WASHINGTON (October 10, 2001 3:02 p.m.  EDT) - Hackers are waging a
cyberwar against Osama bin Laden and his allies, despite warnings from
government and security experts that this activity could be
counterproductive. 

The latest effort came this week when Kim Schmitz, a German
hacker-turned security consultant, launched a website to recruit hackers
to track down funds and other evidence linking bin Laden to the
September 11 terrorist attacks. 

Schmitz, who was convicted of hacking into NASA and Pentagon computers
in the 1990s, has offered a 10 million dollar reward for information
leading to the arrest and conviction of the exiled Saudi who is the
prime suspect of US officials. 

"I am offering my creativity, name and money to fight terror," Schmitz
says on his website. 

"I think the free world must unite NOW.  We can only beat terrorism if
everybody, everywhere is fighting against it ...  In a few years
terrorists will have nuclear and biological weapons and they won't kill
5,000 but 5 million people with one strike."

Schmitz's efforts come in the wake of an organized effort by a US-based
hacker group known as "the Dispatchers," which launched a campaign
against sites deemed to be linked to bin Laden and the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan. 

The Dispatchers claim to have shut down the website of the presidential
palace of Afghanistan, as well as some Iranian and Palestinian sites. 
"We are a group of computer security enthusiasts, who are outraged at
the acts of terrorism and such which are taking place in this day in
age," the group said in a message replacing the official websites.  "It
is our cause to fight back in every way which we can ...  Our current
targets are those of nations who support terrorism and groups of
terrorism." But the group also hit -- possibly by mistake -- a site
operated by the financial services group Aon, which had the word
"terrorism" in its Internet address.  Aon was among the firms located in
the World Trade Center.  Endler said it is impossible to control the
activities of a broad array of hackers -- ranging from adventurous to
malicious -- and that some may violate laws or ethics and obtain or
modify confidential data.  He noted that YIHAT hackers "did break into a
Sudanese bank and get some account information on bin Laden and
supposedly gave that information to the FBI, but it's not clear what
kind damage was done to that bank."

The FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center echoed that
sentiment with a statement pointing out that such conduct "is illegal
and punishable as a felony, with penalties extending to five years in
prison."

"Those individuals who believe they are doing a service to this nation
by engaging in acts of vigilantism should know that they are actually
doing a disservice to the country," the agency said.  Indeed, some
hacker groups, notably the German-based Chaos Computer Club, is
eschewing the effort to hack the sites of enemies, saying, "Given the
tense situation, we should not cut off means of communication and open
up an even bigger gulf in understanding between peoples." But Schmitz
said his goal is to assist law enforcement and urges YIHAT members to
follow ethical guidelines. 

"We are generating leads for the FBI," he told AFP by e-mail.  "Our goal
is to work with the authorities and not against them.  Our mission is to
find terror money.  Those who join YIHAT respect our rules, cracking
(damaging data) is strictly prohibited just like defacing websites."


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get your FREE VeriSign guide to security solutions for your web site: encrypting transactions, securing intranets, and more!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/UnN2wB/m5_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

------------------
http://all.net/ 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:54 PST