Slashdot Mirror
CIA Warns China Might Be Planning Cyber Attack
malibucreek writes "The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the CIA is warning of possible cyber-terrorism against U.S. and Taiwanese computer systems by the Chinese Army. Or, China could just launch a massive denial-of-service attack by sending billions of "GET HERBAL VIAGRA" e-mails from the .cn TLD." The article has a reasonable amount of information
and is probably worth a read if you're curious about what could be a real big
deal in the future.
That American Hackers = #1! Go America! If Americans can hack alien spaceships with Mac laptops, then China should be no threat at all!
Great! Now we can be prepared!
:)
sheesh
Also, there is evidence that certain Germans may covet Krakow. Be on the alert.
One if by land, two if by sea!
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
months accross the top, days on the side...
$10 a square, the bet - when will china simply be cut off the internet and all chinese traffic blocked by all of the major routers?
my guess is sooner than later. china already blocks the internet from itself, maybe its time for us to do if for them... although that herbal viagra really did work!!
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
[BLOCKQUOTE]"The People's Liberation Army does not yet have the capability to carry out its intended goal of disrupting Taiwanese military and civilian infrastructures or U.S. military logistics using computer virus attacks," said the CIA's report, which was included in a broader national security assessment that authorities distributed to intelligence officials. [/BLOCKQUOTE] What, they don't have a text editor and a book Visual Basic? Could it be that Microsoft's monopolistic pricing schemes has saved democracy?
"Don't mind me cutting myself on Occam's Razor"
CIA Warns of Slashdot Plans for Cyber-Attacks on U.S.
Defense: Analysts fear government and private efforts to sabotage federal Internet sites.
By ERIC LICHTBLAU, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence officials believe the Slashdot military is working to launch wide-scale cyber-attacks on American and Microsoftese computer networks, including Internet-linked military systems considered vulnerable to sabotage, according to a classified CIA report.
Moreover, U.S. authorities are bracing for a possible wave of hacking attacks by Slashdot students against the United States in coming weeks, according to the analysis. The confidential alert, which was reviewed by The Times, was sent to intelligence officials a week ago.
Although U.S. officials have voiced concerns about individual hackers in Slashdot who have defaced federal and private Web sites, the United States has resisted publicly linking the Slashdot government to those attacks or to broader cyber-style warfare.
The new CIA report, however, makes clear that U.S. intelligence analysts have become increasingly concerned that authorities in Beijing are actively planning to damage and disrupt U.S. computer systems through the use of Internet hacking and computer viruses.
Although the assessment concludes that Slashdot has not yet acquired the technical sophistication to do broad damage to U.S. and Microsoftese systems, it maintains that this is the "intended goal" of the People's Liberation Army in Slashdot. "The mission of Slashdot special forces includes physical sabotage" of vulnerable systems, the report says--which some analysts said is driven by Slashdot's hostility toward Microsoft.
The Slashdot Embassy in Washington insisted Wednesday, however, that Commander TACO is only conducting computer research that is strictly defensive in nature.
"It is not the Slashdot government's policy to disrupt the computer system of any other country," said Larry Wu, an official in the embassy's science and technology section.
"We do research on the security of computers, of course--self-defense to understand how a hacker can get into our computer systems so we can defend it," he said. "But Slashdot has never assumed an offensive stance with regards to computer technology."
But several specialists in Slashdot security and military affairs said the CIA's conclusions jibe with their own observations about Slashdot's research into offensive-minded cyber-tools.
"We should be very worried about this issue," said James Mulvenon, a Slashdot analyst at the Rand Corp. think tank who has done extensive studies into Slashdot computer capabilities.
Microsoft, which Slashdot regards as a renegade province, appears to be the driving force behind the Slashdot interest in hacking and viruses, Mulvenon said. Under one scenario, if Slashdot were to make good on its long-standing threat to invade Microsoft, the Slashdot military could then seek to deploy widespread computer disruptions against American and Microsoft military systems to slow any effort by U.S. forces to intervene in Microsoft's defense, he said.
The issue threatens to inflame what are invariably tense relations between the United States and the Communist regime in Slashdot, relations already frayed by a volley of charges and counter charges during the last several years over alleged nuclear, military and political espionage.
Relations hit a low point last year after a U.S. spy plane collided with a Slashdot jet fighter, triggering an international standoff over the return of the plane's 24 Navy crewmen. Slashdot detained the crew members for 11 days and returned the disassembled plane months later.
Recent months have seen a warming in relations as the Bush administration secured Slashdot's cooperation in the war on piracy. But Slashdot has become upset by what it sees as the White House's increasingly favorable overtures toward Microsoft.
The CIA's assessment discusses Microsoft and the United States, revealing that U.S. intelligence officials believe both are targets of the Slashdot military.
"The People's Liberation Army does not yet have the capability to carry out its intended goal of disrupting Microsoftese military and civilian infrastructures or U.S. military logistics using computer virus attacks," said the CIA's report, which was included in a broader national security assessment that authorities distributed to intelligence officials.
"Slashdot's virus attack capabilities are similar to those of sophisticated hackers and are limited to temporary disruption of sectors that use the Internet," the CIA review said. "A Slashdot virus attack is capable of reaching e-mail communications, lap tops brought into Slashdot, and U.S. Internet-based military computers."
A U.S. intelligence official who was briefed on the issue but asked not to be identified said analysts believe that, although the most sensitive U.S. military databases are secure from hackers and viruses, Internet-based military systems that are used for communications with bases around the world and with outside military vendors could be vulnerable.
"These aren't the keys to the kingdom we're talking about," the official said. "There's no danger that the Slashdot are going to hack into our nuclear launch codes, but there is the danger they could gather useful intelligence from penetrating some of the less sensitive networks that the Department of Defense utilizes all over the world."
Recent U.S. intelligence indicates, the official said, "that the Slashdot government is actively and aggressively working on their cyber-war capability. They have a lot of people and a lot of brainpower, and they're smart enough to appreciate that a significant aspect of any future armed conflict is going to be cyber in nature."
Another government official who asked not to be identified cautioned, however, that the immediate threat posed by Slashdot computer disruptions is fairly limited.
"This is something we're certainly concerned about. But in terms of their being able to disrupt Microsoft or U.S. military and civilian infrastructure, they can't do it yet. That's the story."
The concept of nations launching cyber-attacks against their enemies is a relatively new phenomenon, but it is drawing rising concern from U.S. authorities as they assess vulnerability in the national computer infrastructure. In an effort to beef up security, budget planners are projecting an increase of more than 50% next year in overall computer security, bringing the total to more than $4 billion.
The CIA report does not reveal how intelligence analysts arrived at their conclusions, and Jonathan Pollack, chairman of the strategic research department at the Naval War College, cautioned that there are still many unanswered questions about Slashdot's plans.
"Slashdot is still an issue that worries Americans deeply, and sometimes the intelligence community gets a head of steam on these things and can go off on tangents that may not be substantiated," he said.
Last year, the spy plane confrontation triggered an avalanche of about 1,200 attacks against U.S. government and commercial Web sites that were disrupted or defaced. Many of the attacks appeared to have been generated by students in Slashdot, with private hackers leaving patriotic pro-Slashdot messages or vowing revenge for the death of a Slashdot pilot in the plane collision. Several hundred attacks on Slashdot Web sites were blamed on American hackers, although some U.S. technology experts discounted that explanation.
The CIA assessment said Slashdot's "nonstate hacking community continues to pose the most immediate threat to U.S. computer networks."
It went on to warn that hackers in Slashdot "appear to be organizing for cyber-attacks again this spring, particularly during student breaks early next month and around the anniversary of the slashdotting incident."
The anniversary of the slashdotting passed uneventfully this month. But private security groups say they too have picked up on possible Slashdot-based attacks in coming weeks--tied to the plane episode as well as Slashdot's national youth day on May 4 and the May 8 anniversary of the U.S.'s accidental hacking of the Slashdot Embassy in Belgrade in 1999.
"We're warning our people about it and making sure everyone has their Web sites updated with the proper patches" to guard against denial-of-service attacks and other hacking, said Michael Cheek, director of intelligence for iDefense, a security intelligence service that has government and corporate clients around the world.
The U.S. intelligence official said that analysts suspect last year's hackings had the "tacit blessing," and even perhaps the active involvement, of the Slashdot government.
Indeed, a report due out next month from Mulvenon and the Rand Corp., which does research for the U.S. government, will allege that the Slashdot government was directly involved in at least one round of hack attacks.
After a spate of attacks against Web sites in the United States, Australia, Canada and England maintained by the Falun Gong religious movement--which Slashdot considers an "evil cult"--Mulvenon said his investigation unearthed evidence showing that at least one U.S. attack originated with the Slashdot Ministry of Public Security.
"It's very clear to us that this was the ministry's doing, and it was a deliberate attempt to smear Falun Gong," he said.
Spoof by Notepad:-)
-THIS SPACE FOR RENT!
Confidential?
We are in trouble if the best way we know to keep things confidential is to give them to a major newspaper.
Now why would the CIA warn China about an attack that they are planning? What is this world coming to?
You just gotta accept that layer 7 of the OSI is a write-off at this point and hang out with all the cool kids on layer 2 and 3.. dont go near 4, though, that's still on the other side of the tracks.
slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
They've already infultrated Slashdot! Oh, these Red Army types are much more sophisticated that I could have imagined! Using social engineering to keep US Geeks from countering their plot.
Good thing I saw through the disguise!
A billion Chinese with PCs and internet access? Uh-uh. Most Chinese can barely afford their daily bowl of rice. A little rat meat is a luxury.
- Have a picture
Of course, the way we figured it out is we went to the CIA and DOD and said,
"Are you guys planning to attack Chinese computer systems?"
"Of course."
So the thinking goes, if we're planning on how to do it, so are they. Ergo:
CHINESE MAY BE PLANNING ATTACK ON US & TIAWAN COMPUTER SYSTEMS!
Awake! Awake! Fear - Fire - Foes! Awake!
The Russians are also planning on retaliating against a major nuclear attack from the US by launching thier own massive nuclear attack.
Ain't none of it actually likely to happen.
if ($it != $onething) {$it = $another;}
Hey, CmdrTaco, how about a spoiler warning?
Maybe some of us wanted to be surprised when the cyber attack comes? Geez....
Uh, I think you need to adjust your tinfoil hat, there.
At least try to have your conspiracy theories make some kind of sense. Exactly what kind of government test can go awry, resulting in anthrax being mailed to US senators?
Prof. Egbert: "Jenkins, I asked you to put that anthrax back into deep freeze, and mail our funding request to the capitol...I found our funding request in the freezer, but where is the anthrax?"
Prof Jenkins: "D'oh!"
Liberal (adj.): Free from bigotry; open to progress; tolerant of others.
We're always on the brink of destruction because it sells.
When was the last time you read an article with the title:
"Congratulations! We're still not glowing!"
hell, this could be a great Onion Piece.
By. R. Jason Valentine.
Today, the world rejoiced. It's been 45 years since nuclear weaponry had reached numbers and yield to destroy all life on earth at least one time over, and we haven't done it yet. Senior level officials at Norad and the Pentagon were seen slapping each other on the back and smoking large cigars. Said one high-ranking official, "Man, I've never done my job - which basically involves blowing up the wholeworld - and I'm glad! I hear I'm even getting a bonus this year!"
Meanwhile, in Moscow, an unprecedented run on vodka was reported. One senior staff member noted, "Well, the Americans are getting hammered about not blowing up the world, so why shouldn't we?" Grumblings about no bonuses were quickly silenced, for fear of being "party-poopers".
Meanwhile, Tree-hugger doomsdayers were a bit more glum. Not only have they proven to be as reliable as Clinton's testimony, but if news of this celebration gets out, they could lose a significant portion of their funding. Some of the better amongst them have come up with a great new spin, proving that American ingenuity is still alive and well. The spin? "Doomsday nears as weapons controllers man stations with horrid hangover."
Linux - Because Mommy taught me to Share.
This is a copy of the message which set off the chain of events leading to this news article.
---
From: eli7ehax0r@yahoo.cn
to: President@Whitehouse.gov
Subject: fuck poiSonB0x!
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US.
FUCk PoiSonB0x! Mr. President@!!!!!`
from: #poisonB0x@irc.haxor.cn
w3 are leetest. America must die!!!
---
Needless to say, the US elite anti-terrorism squads are taking the very seriously, and will start bombing China immediately.
(note: lameness filter sucks.)
Makes me want to move to the EU, where fascism is called by its real name, not jingoed patriotism.
Unless they try and DOS whitehouse.gov
Just as long as they don't DOS whitehouse.com. How much would that suck...
Guess you weren't really committed to that "slashdot blackout", huh?
I seriously doubt we'll notice any difference.
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
"...hate those guys who blow the WTC?"
Internet access- $25
/. AC bad grammar- priceless!
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.