New Terror

[The Ranger]

I have never claimed to be a puter Guru, far from it for the most part....But I do try to keep up with things that change in this industry....

I watched a very good special on PBS about the new terror that may, very soon effect not only our country, but those who support our policies as well....

It seems from this special, and what has been recovered in the mountains of Afgan. harddrives, and other puter software from the terrorist we are after.....Their new plan of terror will come in the shape of cyber wars.....At first, I like quite alot of other people thought this would only annoy us, and no real damage could occur......It was unique the way all our wireless modes of communication are tied together, and the effect a team of good hackers could cause....case in point...Scada.....Having worked in the electrical field for some years, and recieving a bit of training in how to disable it, it's really scary what a hacker could do in hacking this program.....From a computer, you can open, close, switch circuts, on most any electrical device that uses Scada, and almost all Scada's are tied together....Not only could they cause a black out, but death to those who may be working on the line, crime...etc.

They had a *Special* team called *RED TEAM* and the guy interviewed stated his team could hack Scada, and other programs in 2 minutes or less....Including all programs currently used by Air Traffic Controllers....Why hijack a plane when you can hack the program and have them crash in mid air.....They went on to show how Dams, water Utilities, Gas, and other day to day operations that could be hacked and cause economic hardships, and alot of other things that could occur....

This is just a few points the special brought out.....all in all, it was very enlighting.....

Like I said, I am by no means puter savy......What are your thoughts on this....crying wolf, or could this be a very legit threat to consider???

Ranger

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

In the near future no! No devasting attack will happen by Al Keda using this method! However in the future this will become an "Attack" of choice by foreign governments! And if the proper amount of "Safety Firewalls" are in place the task will have a lesser % of succeeding! But either way all parts of "Electronic" security must be improved! What the real "Fear" is a "Virus" will be unleashed that will not have a "Cure" such as the SARS virus for humans! Then short of disconnecting the "Networks" your going to have a hard time to stop the "Attack!"

It is my belief Al Keda will use crude E-bombs to carry out "Electronic" attacks soon!

 

[The Ranger]

What would happen if the entire country lost it's internet capabilities for a month or more....Personally, I feel most have forgotten the older ways of getting information out, or in, whichever the case may be....

Just curious is all.....

Ranger

 

[jnuts]

I can't remember where I read it, but I've read it in multiple places. The vast majority of network "hacking" is an inside job. It's *much* easier to probe a network when you are inside the firewall vs. outside the firewall.

Like anything, it's going to take a messy and public mistake to bring network weakness into public discussion. Something that will make a CEO or utility manager take the appropriate action to ensure robost network security.

The reason it's not done now? It is a huge pain in the ass, a pain in the pocket book and a pain with manpower. It requires a huge dedication on an IT team to keep things locked done. You can't have some shmuck MCSE who's running your DB, web servers and file servers also be your security guy. Network security is a full time job as the exploits happen daily and must be dealt with. That type of dedication costs $$.

 

[jnuts]

Personally, I feel most have forgotten the older ways of getting information out, or in, whichever the case may be....

The DOD lives and breaths email and powerpoint.

When the network goes down, it puts a huge crimp into things.

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

I can't remember where I read it, but I've read it in multiple places. The vast majority of network "hacking" is an inside job. It's *much* easier to probe a network when you are inside the firewall vs. outside the firewall.

Like anything, it's going to take a messy and public mistake to bring network weakness into public discussion. Something that will make a CEO or utility manager take the appropriate action to ensure robost network security.

The reason it's not done now? It is a huge pain in the ass, a pain in the pocket book and a pain with manpower. It requires a huge dedication on an IT team to keep things locked done. You can't have some shmuck MCSE who's running your DB, web servers and file servers also be your security guy. Network security is a full time job as the exploits happen daily and must be dealt with. That type of dedication costs $$.

That is why I believe "China" is the number one fear for this! They have so many "Corporate Agents" doing espionage in the US it's rediculus! And they have not done a bad job on the US security sector either! Just like the USSR spy's of old, their Female agents love to put out the "Nasty" to get the intel they seek!

 

[HULKSTER]

What would happen if the entire country lost it's internet capabilities for a month or more....Personally, I feel most have forgotten the older ways of getting information out, or in, whichever the case may be....

Just curious is all.....

Ranger

The worse that would happen is that we go back to a period of time no later than 1992.........when virtually no one had AOL; yahoo, google, etc. where nonexistent, and only the wealthy could afford cell phones----which were big and bulky compared to the ones used today. So what would happen....

1) EF would be nonexistent, and BBing in general would fall from no EF, as well as no internet to keep up SECURE communications between customers and domestic/international sources. What would we then do, order stuff from a snail-mail order company like Dan Duchaine's! Everyone would be busted in a month.

2)People would have to pull over to the side of the road, or a parking lot, to use a payphone if they had to make a NECESSARY phone call. That's what everyone did before cell phones, and this was as recently as 10 years ago. So why didn't so many people pull over while driving to use a payhone? Because their fucking phone calls weren't important!!! Cell phone users, on average, make very unimportant phone calls while on the road---or anyplace else for that matter.

3)We would only have VCR's instead of DVDs, and regular cable instead of Digital Cable. BOO HOO!!!

4)We would be paying far less money in federal and state taxes, as well as car insurance and gasoline....oh wait a minute....THAT'S A GOOD THING.

 

[The Ranger]

These red team guys were sharp as hell, and wouldn't go into great detail due to security, but did elaborate a bit on how they provided a support role in the war on terror, and that of Iraq....

Scary stuff what these fuckers can do and learn just by punching a few keys....

Neat shit....

Ranger

 

[jnuts]

These red team guys were sharp as hell, and wouldn't go into great detail due to security, but did elaborate a bit on how they provided a support role in the war on terror, and that of Iraq....

SCI level and above....

 

[jnuts]

That is why I believe "China" is the number one fear for this! !

Agreed, though Russia is also a major breeding ground for this.

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

These red team guys were sharp as hell, and wouldn't go into great detail due to security, but did elaborate a bit on how they provided a support role in the war on terror, and that of Iraq....

Scary stuff what these fuckers can do and learn just by punching a few keys....

Neat shit....

Ranger

Ah the struggles of being "Ranger!" To be a Mountain Man or an elite computer commando?

 

[HULKSTER]

Mankind, and especially Americans in general, are becoming so dependent on machines/computers for even their smallest, basic needs that the Terminator movies and the Matrix are looking more of a possibility with every passing day. Computers/machines in general were created by mankind to HELP mankind lead easier, longer, fuller and more productive lives. Instead, we have become so goddamn dependent on PCs, televisions, cell phones, etc. that many people in America wouldn't know what to do with themselves if all of these technologies disappeared. Well, the Americans who lived before all these inventions came along where able to lead full, happy lives......so why couldn't we? Electronics are meant to be a luxury to help us live our lives in more comfort; THEY ARE NOT MEANT TO BECOME OUR LIVES!!

 

[jnuts]

Ranger...

THE BALLAD OF THE POWER POINT RANGER
(sung to the tune of "The Green Beret")


Requests are made from day to day;
Briefings held and changes made.
Graphic slides, a must they say,
Power Point is the only way.

Computers crash and printers stall,
Overloading protocol.
Network's down and soldiers cry
Briefing's late, so heads will fly.

Pin Power Point slides upon my chest,
Full color slides, they look the best
100 slides were made that day
but only 10 made the final display.

Smiles upon the General's face
Slides were done, looked really great
Was up all night really working late,
Just to hear the General say ....

My soldier son, your slides were great,
Briefing's done, staff's up to date,
One problem son, you took too long,
So put in one more change, then go on home.

So tell my Mom I done my best,
Pin Power Point slides upon my chest
100 slides were made that day,
but only 10 made the final display.

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Agreed, though Russia is also a major breeding ground for this.

Yes, but they are our "Friends!" Not!

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Mankind, and especially Americans in general, are becoming so dependent on machines/computers for even their smallest, basic needs that the Terminator movies and the Matrix are looking more of a possibility with every passing day. Computers/machines in general were created by mankind to HELP mankind lead easier, longer, fuller and more productive lives. Instead, we have become so goddamn dependent on PCs, televisions, cell phones, etc. that many people in America wouldn't know what to do with themselves if all of these technologies disappeared. Well, the Americans who lived before all these inventions came along where able to lead full, happy lives......so why couldn't we? Electronics are meant to be a luxury to help us live our lives in more comfort; THEY ARE NOT MEANT TO BECOME OUR LIVES!!

I have tried to warn the Sheeple of this, but they don't want to listen! So unfortuantly their "Sperm Spawns" of the future will have to suffer! It all leads to "Control" by the GNWO and then the struggle between mankind and Artificial Intelligence!

 

[The Ranger]

junts, that was simply killer my man.....very cool...Now I hate ya though....I'll be walking around all damn day humming that fucking tune...you deserve all the credit....heh heh heh

Thanks,

Ranger

 

[JOKER47]

Ranger,
Hate to tell you this, but this "war" has been going on for several years already. There is a new virus pretty much every month, sometimes weekly.

I too work in corporate America, and these viruses have caused a tremendous amount downtime for our email and networks. As you are aware, the costs involved in this downtime are enormous.

Whether they eventually go after dams ro power companies or whatever, time will tell. But the affects will be the same whether they hit a computer company, ISP backbone, or a dam......


FWIW,
Joker

 

[jnuts]

junts, that was simply killer my man.....very cool...Now I hate ya though....I'll be walking around all damn day humming that fucking tune...you deserve all the credit....heh heh heh

Thanks,

Ranger

I can't take credit. That came from some Army guy. I can take credit from implanting the mind virus inside your melon.

 

[naturally anabolic]

Military Spec Firewalls are the best made, access points to things such as DOD, Army intelligence,etc are conceiveably unaccessible from the outside world. Now I know someone will think "but havent .mil websites been hacked and defaced?" sure they have thats because they are run on a regular network, with regular security and normal webservers often running IIS which has a host of problems that alot of net admins do not take the time to keep up on.

If a crew of terriorist foreign hackers took it upon themselves to attack the coporate or industrial shores of america via cyberspace, the reprocussion by the US hacking community would be swift. Shock and Awe would not be strong enough words to describe the amount of damage our own boys could do. The US government sent a message out, I will try to locate it basically telling the hacking community to lay off Iraq and Afghanistan because they were in essence cutting off those countries from internet access by use of D-O-S (denial of service) attacks and defacing such websites as Al-Jezeera.

 

[The Ranger]

Cool....Thanx for the info....Neat shit.

Ranger