Counterfeit Chips Raise New Terror, Hacking Fears

mattnyc99 writes "We've seen overtures by computer manufacturers to build in chip security before, but now Popular Mechanics takes a long look at growing worries over counterfeit chips, from the military and FAA to the Department of Energy and top universities. While there's still never been a fake-chip sabotage or info hack on America by foreign countries or rogue groups, this article suggests just how easy it would be for chips embedded with time-release cripple coding to steal data or bring down a critical network - and how that's got Homeland shaking in its boots (but not Bruce Schneier). While PopMech has an accompanying story on the possible end of cheap gadget manufacturing in China as inflation rates soar there, it's the global hardware business in general that has DoD officials freaking out over chips."

Comments

Awesome!

[choseph]

Does waterboarding these 'terror chips' work as well as water cooling?

Re:Turnabout ... Intruder... Fair Play?

[davidsyes]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88031211&ft=1&f=1001

There is a "Listen Now" link, too.

But, here's a chunk:

"Army Maj. Reid Sawyer, of West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, says that is now changing -- and that al-Qaida's central leadership, securely based in Pakistan, is once again taking charge.

"What we have been observing is al-Qaida's attempt to re-assert control throughout their disparate networks, with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, in the Horn of Africa, to provide guidance and mentoring, if you will, as well as some funding to these organizations," Sawyer said.

"And so the organization has coalesced again, because of its ability to have sanctuary. And that's really given it such a benefit that can't be overstated."

Michael Scheuer, a top al-Qaida specialist at the CIA until 2004, goes even further in his assessment.

"I think al-Qaida as an organization was never seriously damaged," Scheuer said. "What we're seeing is, it has a new base. It is fairly comfortable where it sits at the moment. And it is able to go back to doing the things it did since 1988."

But the world has changed since 1988 -- and so has al-Qaida.

The group is now on the Internet, and it even has its own media company, producing videos for radical Islamist Web sites.

With these new tools, the Internet makes it possible for al-Qaida to promote its vision of jihad or holy war and solicit recruits throughout the Muslim world.

Sawyer says the Internet even provides a training mechanism, taking the burden off al-Qaida bases in Pakistan.

"What the Internet has really created for al-Qaida and its affiliated groups is a virtual sanctuary,... "

Like Adama told Tyrol about Galactica Valerii: "You'll see her again, Chief.... There are many copies."