Internet Meltdown Predicted for Tomorrow

Kobalt writes "A few news services are reporting that Russian computer expert, Aleksandr Gostev from Kaspersky Labs, has predicted that a large chunk of the Internet will be shut down tomorrow by cyber terrorists."

Comments

Death of Internet predicted, film at 11

[gclef]

The Kapersky folks have already started disavowing the statements that are attributed to them. Apparently this is a big case of sensationalism (surprise, surprise). NtBugTraq forwarded on the Kapersky statement on it, which had this useful bit of info:

Kaspersky is not predicting the end of the Internet tomorrow - or even in the near future. The story stems from brief comments made yesterday at a press conference which was dedicated to cybercrime and the problems of spam.

At this press conference, Kaspersky commented that the possibility of terrorists using the Internet as a tool to attack certain countries was a reality. As an example, he cited the fact that a number of Arabic and Hebrew language websites contained an announcement of an 'electronic jihad' against Israel, to start on 26th August 2004.

In an interview today, Kaspersky stressed that such information was not necessarily trustworthy. 'We don't know who is behind these statements.' He went on to clarify: 'It's not the first time the term 'electronic jihad' has been used. We've seen this before, with the focus being on sending racist emails, and defacing and hacking Israeli web sites. But it is the first time I have seen sites encouraging the use of Internet attacks against one country as a form of terrorism.'

Summary: nothing to see here. Move along.

Misquote/hype

[Handyman]

Kaspersky labs says they were misquoted. Quoting from a mail from kaspersky labs themselves (as found in a repost on the NTBugtraq mailing list):

A handful of sites are stating that Eugene Kaspersky, founder of Kaspersky Labs, believes that tomorrow will bring a massive terrorist attack on the Internet. This is being quoted in a range of ways, ranging from factual reporting to citing the story as an example of cyber hysteria.

However, Kaspersky is not predicting the end of the Internet tomorrow - or even in the near future. The story stems from brief comments made yesterday at a press conference which was dedicated to cybercrime and the problems of spam.

At this press conference, Kaspersky commented that the possibility of terrorists using the Internet as a tool to attack certain countries as a reality. As an example, he cited the fact that a number of Arabic and Hebrew language websites contained an announcement of an 'electronic jihad' against Israel, to start on 26th August 2004.

In an interview today, Kaspersky stressed that such information was not necessarily trustworthy. 'We don't know who is behind these statements.' He went on to clarify: 'It's not the first time the term 'electronic jihad' has been used. We've seen this before, with the focus being on sending racist emails, and defacing and hacking Israeli web sites. But it is the first time I have seen sites encouraging the use of Internet attacks against one country as a form of terrorism.'

'As we've already stated many times in the past, it would be easy enough to use a network of infected computers to launch such an attack. We saw the impact that Sasser, Mydoom and Slammer had, on the Internet, businesses and organisations. Just imagine if such an attack was directed at one country or one critical point in the infrastructure of the Internet. Computers are a tool - and just like any tool, they can be used or misused.'

Kaspersky emphasised that the likelihood of a massive attack directed against Israeli institutions tomorrow is low. However, he believes that Pandora's box has now been opened. Hackers and virus writers can be motivated by a range of factors: money, curiosity, or political
conviction. But whatever their motivation, the insecure nature of the Internet and weak security precautions offer a wealth of opportunities. 'Maybe it won't be tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow - but sooner or later, terrorists will be using the Internet as another weapon in their arsenal.'

Re:Another terror alert?

[spellraiser]

Seriously, this all sound very, very fishy. All the stories given are quite short, both in length and on details. For instance, Moscow News reports this:

Speaking at a conference hosted by Russian Information Agency Novosti, Aleksandr Gostev from Kaspersky Labs said information on this terrorist attack was published on special websites. He did not elaborate.

...

The executive director of Dr.Web antivirus lab, Mikhail Bychinsky, quoted by Lenta.ru web agency said he had not heard of such an attack. "I do not believe in mass internet attacks because the main servers are defended, and Kaspersky Labs has been foretelling doomsday for a long time."

A case of cry wolf, most likely. The main question is 'Why the hell?'

Internettrafficreport.com

[GillBates0]

www.internettrafficreport.com is a one of the sites which gives a nice overview of the network throughputs across the globe (average response time, packetloss, etc).

At about 12:15pm on the US east coast, it should be "tomorrow" soon in the Eastern continents. I'll keep a watch on the stats and flip the switch if necessary :P

Re:google.....

[SomeGuyFromCA]

You mean like this one?

This bulb, in a fire station in Livermore, CA, has been burning since 1901.

Constantly.

One hundred three years.

Here's the webcam.

Oh for pity's sake!! At least get the facts right

[Wapiti-eater]

From: news@kaspersky.com [mailto:news@kaspersky.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 10:29 AM
To: news@kaspersky.com
Subject: VirusList.com Virus Alerts & Virus News: 25th August 2004: Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

VirusList.com Virus Alerts & Virus News. Wednesday, August 25, 2004

1. 25th August 2004: Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
2. How to subscribe/unsubscribe
3. Security Rules

****

1. 25th August 2004: Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

A handful of sites are stating that Eugene Kaspersky, founder of Kaspersky Labs, believes that tomorrow will bring a massive terrorist attack on the Internet. This is being quoted in a range of ways, ranging from factual reporting to citing the story as an example of cyber hysteria.

However, Kaspersky is not predicting the end of the Internet tomorrow - or even in the near future. The story stems from brief comments made yesterday at a press conference which was dedicated to cybercrime and the problems of spam.

At this press conference, Kaspersky commented that the possibility of terrorists using the Internet as a tool to attack certain countries was a reality. As an example, he cited the fact that a number of Arabic and Hebrew language websites contained an announcement of an 'electronic jihad' against Israel, to start on 26th August 2004.

In an interview today, Kaspersky stressed that such information was not necessarily trustworthy. 'We don't know who is behind these statements.' He went on to clarify: 'It's not the first time the term 'electronic jihad' has been used. We've seen this before, with the focus being on sending racist emails, and defacing and hacking Israeli web sites. But it is the first time I have seen sites encouraging the use of Internet attacks against one country as a form of terrorism.'

'As we've already stated many times in the past, it would be easy enough to use a network of infected computers to launch such an attack. We saw the impact that Sasser, Mydoom and Slammer had, on the Internet, businesses and organisations. Just imagine if such an attack was directed at one country or one critical point in the infrastructure of the Internet. Computers are a tool - and just like any tool, they can be used or misused.'

Kaspersky emphasised that the likelihood of a massive attack directed against Israeli institutions tomorrow is low. However, he believes that Pandora's box has now been opened. Hackers and virus writers can be motivated by a range of factors: money, curiosity, or political conviction. But whatever their motivation, the insecure nature of the Internet and weak security precautions offer a wealth of opportunities. 'Maybe it won't be tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow - but sooner or later, terrorists will be using the Internet as another weapon in their arsenal.' :snipped::

See http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/today/0006. html for the rest.