Perhaps you might have mentioned this in the introduction. I just spent too much time actually considering this article genuine because it was posted here. I went through and carefully dissected it and now you tell me that gee this article isn't going to be used it's just reference material for writing a real article.
Roblimo, While I can and actually probably will write the dang article for them in the morning, have to actually work now, I fail to see why we should write the article for them, give them all the information and then fail to get paid for our work.
Shrug, Like I said I'll write a story for them in the morning that can be submitted. I wish you would have written a little clearer definition when you posted the article.
Okay, let me give a summation of the article before you read what I actually wrote. First and foremost the author has no idea what he is trying to say. The article sounds like it's supposed to be about cyber-warfare right? Wrong, it's marginally about cyber-terrorism with no facts and a lot of spin.
Basically, the author says that because terrorists are bad... and since people use computers for e-mail, irc, etc that terrorists might use computers too. Wow, oh gee, really?
Then he tries to relate the fact that terrorists try to cause terror with car-bombs and such and since they might get nukes that we need to be preparing for an attack on our computers.
No logic to link them together.
I read the entire article because I started it and said I would, otherwise I would just ignore this article.
I suggest that the only thing to be done with this article is to trash it and start over.
Kill the spin and get some facts, this article is more of and editorial than a news story.
Sincerely, Lando
PS, I saw wording I didn't like in the beginning so I stated that I was being a little critical, but I didn't expect this type of article with no facts and lots of spin. Sarcasm starts 2 paragraphs into this story.
I'm just writing down random remarks about the article as I work my way through it. Just wanted to make sure we are clear that this is not bashing , but the way I read an article.
Now that cyberwarfare has become an accepted fact
I don't believe that it is an accepted fact, I think that is a lot of spin generated by the media. If you agree with that spin then might I point out the computer viruses were being used in the 80's which were much more destructive in nature and were targeted as well. Hacking a website and having a physical battle as recently reported for some reason don't really seem to be the same. There are special units for intelligence gathering, etc which are definitely components of war, however those have always been with us. Labeling this cyberwar is just spin to create hype...
Joshua Sinai examines the requirements for anti-state groups to employ this and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weaponry
What the heck is Radiological? CBR is chemical, biologic and radiation. I don't remember radiological from my time in the military, more spin?
I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to CBRN, I am unfamiliar with the term though.
whereas cyber terrorism utilizes information technology
Wait a second, why are you introducing cyberterrorism here, you said that you were going to talk about cyberwarefare.
Nevertheless, there is sufficient reporting of activities by terrorist groups and their state sponsors in the CBRN/Cyber realm
How about intelligence communities, what the heck is CBRN/Cyber realm?
acquiring a CBRN/Cyber capability requires extensive funding, an overt or covert acquisition capability, a technological research and development program to produce, weaponise and stockpile CBRN materiel (or the capability to purchase or steal ready-made weapons), and a level of technical expertise and logistical infrastructure that is appropriate to launch successful CBRN attacks. This is beyond the technical capability or motivation of most terrorist groups.
False, a couple of million dollars with the right people could cause problems, the cost though is a lot higher for the attacker than the defender with no guarantee that your attack will succeed.
On the other hand, the information revolution ushered in by the Internet allows terrorists to access articles and documents from the World Wide Web about the manufacture or acquisition of BW or CW agents, and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software products can easily be obtained to conduct cyberterrorism, making CBRN/Cyber attacks much more feasible to launch than hitherto.
Spin, spin, spin, sensationalism is fine and all, but I prefer facts. Dropping this information in between two facts attempts to prod the reader into believing the statement. What you should be saying is that conducting cyberterrorism attacks against off the shelf commercial software is what makes cyberterrorism possible.
One of the things you need to realize is that obscure code is generally hard to break and that open source by it's very nature tends to find security holes quickly and patch them. When you start using obscure code in a wide production area, ie commercial off the shelf software is when you enable systems to be cracked on a wholesale level. I have the ability to take administrator access from a NT machine in 9 minutes if I can get to the box via an ethernet connection. Unless the latest patch has fixed security problems that NT has had for years. UNIX systems tend to be a little more secure forcing you to crack the shell to get inside the machine.
I am not saying that UNIX/Linux is good and Windows is bad, it should not be taken like that. I have fixed a number of security errors under UNIX over the years and more continue to pop up, however when you have open-source which because of the way AT&T 'sold' UNIX, Berkley and others got the code, you tend to have people beating on that code all the time. Only when you use security through obscurity do you have major holes sitting open for years.
Although such cost/benefit considerations may limit the majority of terrorist operations to the realm of conventional warfare in the 21st century, recent WMD- related events and reports indicate increasing activity by certain terrorist groups and state sponsors in the CBRN/Cyber arena
Just wanted to point out that this is really getting on my nerves, trying to create a new word? Let me see, "I made up the word so I must be the expert!!!" Nope, sorry just doesn't cut it.
There have already been several instances of CBRN/Cyber operations by terrorist groups. Chemical attacks have been mounted by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, such as the March 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, killing 12 people and injuring 5,500. Chemical cyanide was included with explosives in the February 1993 bombing attack by Islamic militants of the World Trade Center. In the mid-1980s, the Tamil secessionist group, LTTE (which provides its operatives with a cyanide pill in the event of capture) threatened to carry out a BW attack by spreading pathogens to infect humans and crops in Sri Lanka. Aum Shinrikyo also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, on at least 10 occasions to disperse biological warfare agents in aerosol form, and in October 1992 its members attempted to acquire Ebola virus samples in then Zaire for future use in biological attacks. In mid-1997, an American white supremacist faction plotted to attack the New York City subway system with biological weapons. Reportedly, Hizbullah and Hamas operatives have acquired chemical and biological components, although they have so far refrained from carrying out such attacks.
Wait a second... What are we talking about here? First we are talking about cyber-warfare, then we are talking about cyber-terrorism and now we are talking just plan terrorism... Unless, you are using these examples to talk about cyber-terrorism and just trying to create spin with violent examples. Let me see what would that do? Umm, some person that doesn't really understand computers and how they work, maybe a little frightened of them, sees this paragraph and is struck by the visual pictures that are implied, but doesn't quite realize that none of these situations involved cyber-anything. However he/she now associates cyber-terrorism with these images. Spin, spin, spin.
And then we get the nuke worry into the picture and then finally we hit the cyber-terrorism. Hmmm, let's look at it.
One of the first known instances of cyberterrorism occurred in 1997 when the LTTE launched cyber attacks against Sri Lankan government sites, including hacking into a government web site and altering it to transmit their own political propaganda.
Oh my goodness, they actually spoke out and people could see what they wrote!!!!! To the death chamber with them.
Supporters of the Mexican Zapatista rebels have jammed Mexican government web sites
Oh my goodness, censorship only news-media and governments should be able to do this!!!! To the death chamber with them!
The American terrorist group, the Christian Patriot movement, is active in the Internet.???
Oh my goodness, Americans using? active? on the internet? Dang, I never knew. Obviously they are gathering information and disseminating propaganda. Just who do they think they are??? To the death chamber with them!!!!!!!
The Osama Bin Laden group utilises an extensive network of computers, disks for data storage, and Internet for e-mail and electronic bulletin boards to exchange information.
Oh no, someone other than the American team is doing more than web-browsing, they are running a web-server!!!!!! To the death chamber with them!!!
Hamas operatives in the Middle East and elsewhere use Internet chat rooms and e-mail to coordinate activities and plan operations.
Chat rooms and e-mail anyone else care to point out just how insecure these formats are with Echolon around?
Oh no!!! People are talking to one another, just when will this stop?!!? To the death chamber with them!!!!!!!!!!!!
Other Middle Eastern terrorist groups, such as Lebanon's Hizbullah and Algeria's Armed Islamic Group, also utilise computers and the Internet for communications and propaganda.
Jeez!!! They are speaking their own minds... This has got to stop!!!!
TO THE DEATH CHAMBER WITH THEM ALL!!!!!!
Just in case any of the readers forgot about what we are talking about. Just in the case that the computer talk has gotten a little boring, let's throw in some good wholesome slaughter to get back some attention and pump up those hormones.
Terrorists have also targeted critical infrastructure. Thus, for example, in the Summer of 1998, the LTTE bombed state-owned and private telecommunications facilities in Sri Lanka, damaging buildings and disrupting telephone service.
Look it has bombing and telephones in it, definitely couldn't do that without a computer.
Motivation concerns the psychological, political and strategic factors that are likely to serve as incentives or disincentives for terrorist groups to resort to CBRN/Cyber warfare, particularly the decision to embark on a higher lethality and disruption in targeting
Rather than taking over websites, they will start sending SPAM!!!!!
There are no fixed organisational prerequisites for attaining CBRN/Cyber capability, particularly in the age of the Internet when terrorist operatives can be dispersed geographically yet are able to communicate with each other by using their own secured communications networks
Sorry jumped a couple of paragraphs here, it was just getting a little deep for me. Then I come across this. Of course it's bad for the terrorists to use encryption because the government can't read their messages. I don't know if I even want to touch this one, but let me just ask a question... Okay, encryption and talking is required but organization isn't knowledge isn't. Sounds like you throw in a little willpower and you can start casting spells. Are we talking about a game? I thought this was a serious article...
At one end of the organisational spectrum, the technological complexities involved in acquiring CBRN/Cyber capability require a well organised, hierarchical organisation, with a command and control apparatus staffed by professional terrorists, a highly- developed R&D apparatus staffed by scientists and technicians, production and storage facilities, a transnational logistics network to clandestinely acquire the necessary technology from external sources, and business activities (either legitimate or illegitimate) to generate the necessary income to fund the acquisition of CBRN/Cyber operational capability.
Did anyone realize you can make money working with computers? Hmm, let's see time to pay my bills, $1000 to the IRS, $150.00 to state, $300 dollars for my education bill, $400.00 for my car, oh and let's not forget my $15.00 to insert terrorist group of your choice
A terrorist group might also train its members in not just a single weapon but a variety of CBRN/Cyber weapons for which different sets and levels of technological expertise are required in order to attain operational capability in each of these weapons. Thus, for example, terrorist groups, such as Aum Shinrikyo, have provided their members with extensive training and education in a variety of CBRN/Cyber weapons, including studying uranium enrichment and laser technology, with at least one of their members working on the staff of a Russian nuclear physics laboratory, while another contingent traveled to Africa to study the Ebola virus. Cyberwarfare involves a different set of training requirements that is also more readily available. Thus, training in computer science is now widely prevalent among terrorist groups.
Two comments, first how does a Russian nuclear physics lab and the Ebola virus relate to computers??? Beats me I thought you would know. Second, I'll be danged if those pesky terrorists aren't getting trained in computers. I mean heck it'll be easy to catch the terrorists now, since no one else is getting computer training...
Skipping again...
terms of technological hurdles, CBRN weapons and Cyber devices vary in the levels of technological sophistication required for their development, weaponization and deployment. There is also a clear distinction between CBRN weapons and Cyber devices
Which, let me guess, is why the article points out bombing, nuclear attack and biological agents and never points out anything remotely dangerous to do with cyber-warfare or cyber-terrorism? Hmmm interesting, but then why are we lumping them together through the entire article? Guess I must just be plain stupid not to understand...
This is getting rather boring, let's skip to the end...
CBRN/Cyber terrorist warfare is likely to pose a significant threat in the 21st century as a result of the confluence of motivation, technical capabilities, and involvement by state sponsors. Just take my word for it since I haven't shown any relevant information in this article. This analysis is intended to highlight some of the internal and external factors, requirements and hurdles that need to be considered in assessing a terrorist group's current and future development status and operational capability to conduct CBRN/Cyber warfare. But somehow I forgot to include any facts and just used spin to create that impression Correlating these internal and external factors and hurdles would make it possible to forecast, something I didn't do, which terrorist groups and state sponsors are likely to embark on CBRN/ Cyber warfare, the types of adaptationssince I have no idea what a terrorist group is much less which ones if any are actually planning on some type of cyber-campaign, and changes they would require to transition to such warfare, the types of weapons and targeting they are likely to pursue (including the possible resort to single or multiple CBRN/Cyber weapons and devices), the timelines for such attacks, and vulnerabilities that could be exploited by foreign intelligence and counterterrorism agencies to constrain terrorist groups--and, when applicable, state sponsors--from embarking on such warfare.
Sheesh can you look at that last line? This is a conclusion??? Not only doesn't the author close up his arguments about what the article is about, but he basically says that this needs to be researched. Hmmm, needs to be researched? and definitely a threat? If you haven't done any research how do you know there is a threat?
The Doom source code has been available for some time. Looking through the comments, I noticed a lot of people saying that "hey this is cool now I can see the code" The truth of the matter is that the code was released 3 years ago or so, can't remember off the top of my head. There was some work that had to be pulled from the original source because id licensed a third party for the sound engine, but the functionality was there.
The part that is not generally available are the maps from the game itself. The engine is available, but you have to download and put together your own information. With the proliferation of doom and quake sites this is not a problem.
John's original intent was to release the source code for each game engine a year after the game was released or when the next game engine was released. Doom and DoomII use the same engine, more or less and when quake was released John released the Doom code, actually a bit later since they had to have someone go in and clean out the third party software and clean up part of the code.
And now for some URL's
PlanetQuake probably the formost user site online for quake and doom related material. Any player of these games should not miss this site.
Gee, much longer than it needs to be, let me some up the quiz...
1) Are you having sexual relations with the internet?
2) Are you gambling on the internet?
3) Are you having sexual relations with the internet?
4) Do you think you have a problem with the internet?
* Multiple choice: 5) Should government regulate the internet (Yes/Yes/No)...
Maybe it's just me, but I wasn't too impressed. Let's do an alternate poll.
1) Do you feel that some people are trying to make a buck pointing out problems with other people?
2) Do you have a problem with government restricting your rights?
3) Do you feel that since you are reading this on the net that you cannot control yourself and thus should give up your rights to use the net as you see fit?
4) Do you have a obsessive compultion to answer silly and annoying polls on the net?
I am pleased to see Orson Card get into the screen writing business. He continues to be my favorite author, though "Children of the Mind" struck me as being a little weak.
After viewing the last year's films, I can't really say that the film industry is creating anything I want to see. Some of the upcoming movies, "Lord of the Rings", look to be interesting, but it seems that the movie companies are spending far to much on special effects and not concerned with developing a story.
I know Mr. Card is a fantastic storyteller. Note that a story teller is much more than a mere writer. It will be interesting to see if he can manage to have a good film made without the American film industry "commercializing" the film and basically destroying it.
Just a quick point, the phone numbers in the telephone guides have been ruled public domain. AT&T and other companies copy the information out of phone books in order to fill in their own lists. I'm not sure of the court case that made the phone book information public domain, but it has was within the last 3 years.
Do it after you spend the $1000 to form a corporation.
I'm not sure whether or not a corporation is required, however just in case anyone is interested basic registration costs of an corporation are only about $250.00
Consulting with a lawyer and having him/her draw up the contracts and submit the paperwork may cost you $1000 or even more, but if you take a little time to investigate and contact your state attorney general's office, or at least I think it's the attorney general, the proceedure is actually pretty easy.
As a matter of fact, a number of states have implemented websites to automate most of the work. A user logs on fills out the paperwork online and then prints out the form. After that it is merely a matter of sticking the form in the mail and attaching a stamp.
I think that this might be in part due to the "pigeonholing" of people based on skills. Once you're known as the C++ guy or the VB guy (no flames please!), IMHO it's hard to bridge over to another language and even harder to move to completely different technology.
Just a brief note. I myself have programmed in over 40 languages, I can say for a fact that once you get the first 6-8 languages down moving on and learning new languages begins to become easier and easier. True, you might not have the expert skill set in that new language, however you have general coding experience and a firm understanding of how the computer works.
Older programmers that pidgeon-hole themselves into just one skill set are asking for trouble with the way technology changes. Being digital of course means there is little security when costs of change are small, especially if you are just starting up and thus there is no change.
I'm building a start-up myself at the moment and looking to hire, but the truth is that I cannot afford full price for a programmer. Most older programmers are going to have family to support and thus need the money more than the stock options. I would prefer older programmers, because as an older programmer myself, I know how limited college students are.
I primarily look for hackers currently, someone who loves to do what they do and try to offer a good wage, but as noted I cannot pay people what they are worth.
I just realized something else about requiring a credit card. I believe that most credit card companies do not issue credit cards to people under the age of 18. I work with a number of people supporting various projects and websites. On three of my sites, the entire site is run by people less than 16 years of age. I've had a number of "students" branch out on their own start setting up other sites. Now what will they do? Gee, my multi-million hit a month website came up for renewal and I lost it because I was 16 and could not get a credit card.... Lando
One of the things that I like about the web is the fact that I as a small, individual can actually figure out how to make the things I need the most on the net work...
Now, I understand that cybersquating is a problem for some folks, but I think that these new policies are more likely to hurt the little guy than the big guys.
I for one, do not use credit cards and don't reallyplan to, but now it looks like in the future I will be required to get a credit card in order to actually be able to order my domain name...
If I mail in the cost for the domain name, by the time my check arrives the Domain Name might be sold to someone else. Further, since I generally use Money Orders it's probably going to be a pain in the a** to get my money back.
So instead of the current situation where it takes me a few moments to register my name, and send in the check... I may end up doing a back and forth dance to establish a domain name for a period of months and that name I get is not necessarily the one I want.
Now I understand that I am an exception to the norm, but I think this will also serve as another hurdle for people outside the US as well. 'Course maybe credit cards are universal and I am just being stupid...
Also what the heck, raising the price? Cybersquatting is not a problem with pricing issues the money for the domain names is never received. All raising the price will do is force individuals out of the market. Gee, no more fan sites, no more individual interest sites, no more sites by those dang blasted kids. You know the ones that actually understand the web and know how to use it. Slash-dot for instance, what's with that obviously the news should be provided by NBC, CBS and CNN let's raise the costs of doing business so that these new guys are not able to get into the market....
Sigh
Lando
Lando Making 6 figures a year, paying cash for your purchases, and not using a credit card... Makes a second class citizen on the net?
One of the things that I like about the web is the fact that I as a small, individual can actually figure out how to make the things I need the most on the net work... Now, I understand that cybersquating is a problem for some folks, but I think that these new policies are more likely to hurt the little guy than the big guys. I for one, do not use credit cards and don't really plan to, but now it looks like in the future I will be required to get a credit card in order to actually be able to order my domain name... If I mail in the cost for the domain name, by the time my check arrives the Domain Name might be sold to someone else. Further, since I generally use Money Orders it's probably going to be a pain in the a** to get my money back. So instead of the current situation where it takes me a few moments to register my name, and send in the check... I may end up doing a back and forth dance to establish a domain name for a period of months and that name I get is not necessarily the one I want. Lando
While implementing a raid filesystem under Linux, I was shocked to find out that iostat does not work under linux. Earlier this morning Sun announced that they would be releasing sar under a Modzilla license so that should be helpful. I believe that most of the information you are looking for is tracked, ie top pulls information from somewhere and should give at least a high level overview about what is going on in the system.
While I can see being a self-proclaimed hacker, I think that the term guru is not one that you can place on yourself. Guru is a honorary title that is given to you by others around you. Refering to yourself as a guru strikes me as being a little pompous... Lando
Hmmm, Sorry but I cannot agree. The main reason of course is because I am a hard-core gamer. I don't play FPS much, prefering RTS games. The only reason I still have a Windows box around is to play games. So saying that games will die out under Linux is an alien thought to me.
Your statement about copying program under Linux also need to be brought to light... Are you saying that just because the Linux community has the ability to copy games, that most of them will? Working as a computer professional, yes scary isn't it, I prefer spending money on games that are well developed, while it may be argued that sometimes games have perchance fallen to my grasp, any game that is well developed and worth playing I buy.
Another point is that Linux is getting a great deal of press recently, we already have the basic apps that people need to use Linux full time, but we need games to provide entertainment to those out there that don't like playing with code.
And what are you talking about Linux not matching DirectX??? It seems to me, going on rumor here, that Microsoft eventually threw in the towel and let game programers have direct access to the hardware because Microsoft could not write adequate drivers...
It's my belief that open source is a lot more flexible and robust than closed source software all we really need is to get the hooks into the vender's drivers so that we can write the code to use the hardware, that's happening... I seem to recall TNT2 code being released within the last day or so.
Hopefully, that explains why I feel you are wrong about the future of gaming under Linux.
While focusing mainly on graphics, I found Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Blackbook, (probably butchered his name and the book title sigh) an excellent resource for game design.
Also, not sure how many people have played Dark Reign, but I'm very impressed with the game engine that Auran (http://www.auran.com/), and just how do I make that a hotlink?, designed for the game. They are currently working on their next engine for the Harn world.
I don't know if they would be willing to offer any support, but it's worth asking.
Another site/game you might look up is Omega Tank, this is a RTS game designed as a thesis project and looks to be a fairly good basic implementation of an RTS game. It still needs to be tweaked, but with a couple of freindly questions to the author I believe it might be possible to get a peek at his source code.
On the gaming side, I'd suggest checking out Insomniax (http://www.insomniax.net/) There are a lot of good players there and some excellent resources as to what makes a good design.
My site RTSG (http://www.rtsg.com/), Real-time Strategy Gaming, though sorely neglected also has a number of articles produced by the staff that might give help to game design.
Anyway if you need assistance or advise drop me a line and I would be happy to give you pointers, but at the time have little time to actually show you implementation.
Mentioning it probably would not be in the best interests of the movement. Consider that a lot of software products, both commercial and non create vaporware and the fact that if you set a shipping date on something the public tends not to accept overruns. I prefer the simple concept of it will be done when it's done... Hyping something before its finished is just setting yourself up for failure. Keeping a close eye on new products and running the beta kernel is something for those of us that are building and working with the kernel every day, but the executives, normal users and even basic sys-admin people should not have products heaped onto them before the projects are ready to be implemented. Lando
So are you saying that getting paid to write code is bad? Or that even if companies are advertising open source work, they are actually producing proprietary software. This conversation is pretty important to me at the moment, as I get set to launch a consulting and service firm oriented to *nix. I've hired one programmer full time, though he won't be programming full time, and another part-time to work on specialized programs. It would be nice to be able to get programmers to work on specific projects without having to pay them, but it's my opinion that they need to be paid for their time, especially since it is of value to me. My biggest problem is getting the finances to pay programmers what I think they are worth. I prefer to program myself and if I had a choice, I would not mind programming for little as long as I knew that I would be taken care of, but in my opinion programmers, especially good programmers, generally are not paid what they are worth. If anything management tends to be paid more for a job that is no more difficult than coding. The whole reason for hiring programers is the fact that I have customers that need a solution to their current problem. I intend to make my money off the consulting portion of the business, though I can forsee some projects that I will not open-source, quite a few can be released as open-source once they are complete and indeed I wouldn't mind making some of them opensource in the beginning to get professional help that I cannot afford at the present time. Comments? Thoughts? Lando
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps you might have mentioned this in the introduction. I just spent too much time actually considering this article genuine because it was posted here. I went through and carefully dissected it and now you tell me that gee this article isn't going to be used it's just reference material for writing a real article.
Roblimo,
While I can and actually probably will write the dang article for them in the morning, have to actually work now, I fail to see why we should write the article for them, give them all the information and then fail to get paid for our work.
Shrug,
Like I said I'll write a story for them in the morning that can be submitted. I wish you would have written a little clearer definition when you posted the article.
Lando
Basically, the author says that because terrorists are bad... and since people use computers for e-mail, irc, etc that terrorists might use computers too. Wow, oh gee, really?
Then he tries to relate the fact that terrorists try to cause terror with car-bombs and such and since they might get nukes that we need to be preparing for an attack on our computers.
No logic to link them together.
I read the entire article because I started it and said I would, otherwise I would just ignore this article.
I suggest that the only thing to be done with this article is to trash it and start over.
Kill the spin and get some facts, this article is more of and editorial than a news story.
Sincerely,
Lando
PS, I saw wording I didn't like in the beginning so I stated that I was being a little critical, but I didn't expect this type of article with no facts and lots of spin. Sarcasm starts 2 paragraphs into this story.
I'm just writing down random remarks about the article as I work my way through it. Just wanted to make sure we are clear that this is not bashing , but the way I read an article.
Now that cyberwarfare has become an accepted fact
I don't believe that it is an accepted fact, I think that is a lot of spin generated by the media. If you agree with that spin then might I point out the computer viruses were being used in the 80's which were much more destructive in nature and were targeted as well. Hacking a website and having a physical battle as recently reported for some reason don't really seem to be the same. There are special units for intelligence gathering, etc which are definitely components of war, however those have always been with us. Labeling this cyberwar is just spin to create hype...
Joshua Sinai examines the requirements for anti-state groups to employ this and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weaponry
What the heck is Radiological? CBR is chemical, biologic and radiation. I don't remember radiological from my time in the military, more spin?
I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to CBRN, I am unfamiliar with the term though.
whereas cyber terrorism utilizes information technology
Wait a second, why are you introducing cyberterrorism here, you said that you were going to talk about cyberwarefare.
Nevertheless, there is sufficient reporting of activities by terrorist groups and their state sponsors in the CBRN/Cyber realm
How about intelligence communities, what the heck is CBRN/Cyber realm?
acquiring a CBRN/Cyber capability requires extensive funding, an overt or covert acquisition capability, a technological research and development program to produce, weaponise and stockpile CBRN materiel (or the capability to purchase or steal ready-made weapons), and a level of technical expertise and logistical infrastructure that is appropriate to launch successful CBRN attacks. This is beyond the technical capability or motivation of most terrorist groups.
False, a couple of million dollars with the right people could cause problems, the cost though is a lot higher for the attacker than the defender with no guarantee that your attack will succeed.
On the other hand, the information revolution ushered in by the Internet allows terrorists to access articles and documents from the World Wide Web about the manufacture or acquisition of BW or CW agents, and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software products can easily be obtained to conduct cyberterrorism, making CBRN/Cyber attacks much more feasible to launch than hitherto.
Spin, spin, spin, sensationalism is fine and all, but I prefer facts. Dropping this information in between two facts attempts to prod the reader into believing the statement. What you should be saying is that conducting cyberterrorism attacks against off the shelf commercial software is what makes cyberterrorism possible.
One of the things you need to realize is that obscure code is generally hard to break and that open source by it's very nature tends to find security holes quickly and patch them. When you start using obscure code in a wide production area, ie commercial off the shelf software is when you enable systems to be cracked on a wholesale level. I have the ability to take administrator access from a NT machine in 9 minutes if I can get to the box via an ethernet connection. Unless the latest patch has fixed security problems that NT has had for years. UNIX systems tend to be a little more secure forcing you to crack the shell to get inside the machine.
I am not saying that UNIX/Linux is good and Windows is bad, it should not be taken like that. I have fixed a number of security errors under UNIX over the years and more continue to pop up, however when you have open-source which because of the way AT&T 'sold' UNIX, Berkley and others got the code, you tend to have people beating on that code all the time. Only when you use security through obscurity do you have major holes sitting open for years.
Although such cost/benefit considerations may limit the majority of terrorist operations to the realm of conventional warfare in the 21st century, recent WMD- related events and reports indicate increasing activity by certain terrorist groups and state sponsors in the CBRN/Cyber arena
Just wanted to point out that this is really getting on my nerves, trying to create a new word? Let me see, "I made up the word so I must be the expert!!!" Nope, sorry just doesn't cut it.
There have already been several instances of CBRN/Cyber operations by terrorist groups. Chemical attacks have been mounted by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, such as the March 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, killing 12 people and injuring 5,500. Chemical cyanide was included with explosives in the February 1993 bombing attack by Islamic militants of the World Trade Center. In the mid-1980s, the Tamil secessionist group, LTTE (which provides its operatives with a cyanide pill in the event of capture) threatened to carry out a BW attack by spreading pathogens to infect humans and crops in Sri Lanka. Aum Shinrikyo also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, on at least 10 occasions to disperse biological warfare agents in aerosol form, and in October 1992 its members attempted to acquire Ebola virus samples in then Zaire for future use in biological attacks. In mid-1997, an American white supremacist faction plotted to attack the New York City subway system with biological weapons. Reportedly, Hizbullah and Hamas operatives have acquired chemical and biological components, although they have so far refrained from carrying out such attacks.
Wait a second... What are we talking about here? First we are talking about cyber-warfare, then we are talking about cyber-terrorism and now we are talking just plan terrorism... Unless, you are using these examples to talk about cyber-terrorism and just trying to create spin with violent examples. Let me see what would that do? Umm, some person that doesn't really understand computers and how they work, maybe a little frightened of them, sees this paragraph and is struck by the visual pictures that are implied, but doesn't quite realize that none of these situations involved cyber-anything. However he/she now associates cyber-terrorism with these images. Spin, spin, spin.
And then we get the nuke worry into the picture and then finally we hit the cyber-terrorism. Hmmm, let's look at it.
One of the first known instances of cyberterrorism occurred in 1997 when the LTTE launched cyber attacks against Sri Lankan government sites, including hacking into a government web site and altering it to transmit their own political propaganda.
Oh my goodness, they actually spoke out and people could see what they wrote!!!!! To the death chamber with them.
Supporters of the Mexican Zapatista rebels have jammed Mexican government web sites
Oh my goodness, censorship only news-media and governments should be able to do this!!!! To the death chamber with them!
The American terrorist group, the Christian Patriot movement, is active in the Internet.???
Oh my goodness, Americans using? active? on the internet? Dang, I never knew. Obviously they are gathering information and disseminating propaganda. Just who do they think they are??? To the death chamber with them!!!!!!!
The Osama Bin Laden group utilises an extensive network of computers, disks for data storage, and Internet for e-mail and electronic bulletin boards to exchange information.
Oh no, someone other than the American team is doing more than web-browsing, they are running a web-server!!!!!! To the death chamber with them!!!
Hamas operatives in the Middle East and elsewhere use Internet chat rooms and e-mail to coordinate activities and plan operations.
Chat rooms and e-mail anyone else care to point out just how insecure these formats are with Echolon around?
Oh no!!! People are talking to one another, just when will this stop?!!? To the death chamber with them!!!!!!!!!!!!
Other Middle Eastern terrorist groups, such as Lebanon's Hizbullah and Algeria's Armed Islamic Group, also utilise computers and the Internet for communications and propaganda.
Jeez!!! They are speaking their own minds... This has got to stop!!!!
TO THE DEATH CHAMBER WITH THEM ALL!!!!!!
Just in case any of the readers forgot about what we are talking about. Just in the case that the computer talk has gotten a little boring, let's throw in some good wholesome slaughter to get back some attention and pump up those hormones.
Terrorists have also targeted critical infrastructure. Thus, for example, in the Summer of 1998, the LTTE bombed state-owned and private telecommunications facilities in Sri Lanka, damaging buildings and disrupting telephone service.
Look it has bombing and telephones in it, definitely couldn't do that without a computer.
Motivation concerns the psychological, political and strategic factors that are likely to serve as incentives or disincentives for terrorist groups to resort to CBRN/Cyber warfare, particularly the decision to embark on a higher lethality and disruption in targeting
Rather than taking over websites, they will start sending SPAM!!!!!
There are no fixed organisational prerequisites for attaining CBRN/Cyber capability, particularly in the age of the Internet when terrorist operatives can be dispersed geographically yet are able to communicate with each other by using their own secured communications networks
Sorry jumped a couple of paragraphs here, it was just getting a little deep for me. Then I come across this. Of course it's bad for the terrorists to use encryption because the government can't read their messages. I don't know if I even want to touch this one, but let me just ask a question... Okay, encryption and talking is required but organization isn't knowledge isn't. Sounds like you throw in a little willpower and you can start casting spells. Are we talking about a game? I thought this was a serious article...
At one end of the organisational spectrum, the technological complexities involved in acquiring CBRN/Cyber capability require a well organised, hierarchical organisation, with a command and control apparatus staffed by professional terrorists, a highly- developed R&D apparatus staffed by scientists and technicians, production and storage facilities, a transnational logistics network to clandestinely acquire the necessary technology from external sources, and business activities (either legitimate or illegitimate) to generate the necessary income to fund the acquisition of CBRN/Cyber operational capability.
Did anyone realize you can make money working with computers? Hmm, let's see time to pay my bills, $1000 to the IRS, $150.00 to state, $300 dollars for my education bill, $400.00 for my car, oh and let's not forget my $15.00 to insert terrorist group of your choice
A terrorist group might also train its members in not just a single weapon but a variety of CBRN/Cyber weapons for which different sets and levels of technological expertise are required in order to attain operational capability in each of these weapons. Thus, for example, terrorist groups, such as Aum Shinrikyo, have provided their members with extensive training and education in a variety of CBRN/Cyber weapons, including studying uranium enrichment and laser technology, with at least one of their members working on the staff of a Russian nuclear physics laboratory, while another contingent traveled to Africa to study the Ebola virus. Cyberwarfare involves a different set of training requirements that is also more readily available. Thus, training in computer science is now widely prevalent among terrorist groups.
Two comments, first how does a Russian nuclear physics lab and the Ebola virus relate to computers??? Beats me I thought you would know. Second, I'll be danged if those pesky terrorists aren't getting trained in computers. I mean heck it'll be easy to catch the terrorists now, since no one else is getting computer training...
Skipping again...
terms of technological hurdles, CBRN weapons and Cyber devices vary in the levels of technological sophistication required for their development, weaponization and deployment. There is also a clear distinction between CBRN weapons and Cyber devices
Which, let me guess, is why the article points out bombing, nuclear attack and biological agents and never points out anything remotely dangerous to do with cyber-warfare or cyber-terrorism? Hmmm interesting, but then why are we lumping them together through the entire article? Guess I must just be plain stupid not to understand...
This is getting rather boring, let's skip to the end...
CBRN/Cyber terrorist warfare is likely to pose a significant threat in the 21st century as a result of the confluence of motivation, technical capabilities, and involvement by state sponsors. Just take my word for it since I haven't shown any relevant information in this article. This analysis is intended to highlight some of the internal and external factors, requirements and hurdles that need to be considered in assessing a terrorist group's current and future development status and operational capability to conduct CBRN/Cyber warfare. But somehow I forgot to include any facts and just used spin to create that impression Correlating these internal and external factors and hurdles would make it possible to forecast , something I didn't do, which terrorist groups and state sponsors are likely to embark on CBRN/ Cyber warfare, the types of adaptations since I have no idea what a terrorist group is much less which ones if any are actually planning on some type of cyber-campaign, and changes they would require to transition to such warfare, the types of weapons and targeting they are likely to pursue (including the possible resort to single or multiple CBRN/Cyber weapons and devices), the timelines for such attacks, and vulnerabilities that could be exploited by foreign intelligence and counterterrorism agencies to constrain terrorist groups--and, when applicable, state sponsors--from embarking on such warfare.
Sheesh can you look at that last line? This is a conclusion??? Not only doesn't the author close up his arguments about what the article is about, but he basically says that this needs to be researched. Hmmm, needs to be researched? and definitely a threat? If you haven't done any research how do you know there is a threat?
Lando
The part that is not generally available are the maps from the game itself. The engine is available, but you have to download and put together your own information. With the proliferation of doom and quake sites this is not a problem.
John's original intent was to release the source code for each game engine a year after the game was released or when the next game engine was released. Doom and DoomII use the same engine, more or less and when quake was released John released the Doom code, actually a bit later since they had to have someone go in and clean out the third party software and clean up part of the code.
And now for some URL's
PlanetQuake probably the formost user site online for quake and doom related material. Any player of these games should not miss this site.
Quake 2 coding list.
id Softare id software's main website
id's source code archive
planetquake's finger information Latest .plan files from the gaming industries top game designers.
Where to find the Doom source
Cdrom and more files, look for various id titles
Lando
Gee, wasn't this posted before... Grin. Sorry hard to resist.
Okay,
Forget I said anything, by the time I checked again it was working fine...
Lando
Rob, Getting a server error at //209.207.224.40/article.pl?sid=99/08/19/0212235&m ode=thread&threshold=0 Lando
http:
Gee, much longer than it needs to be, let me some up the quiz...
1) Are you having sexual relations with the internet?
2) Are you gambling on the internet?
3) Are you having sexual relations with the internet?
4) Do you think you have a problem with the internet?
* Multiple choice:
5) Should government regulate the internet (Yes/Yes/No)...
Maybe it's just me, but I wasn't too impressed. Let's do an alternate poll.
1) Do you feel that some people are trying to make a buck pointing out problems with other people?
2) Do you have a problem with government restricting your rights?
3) Do you feel that since you are reading this on the net that you cannot control yourself and thus should give up your rights to use the net as you see fit?
4) Do you have a obsessive compultion to answer silly and annoying polls on the net?
Lando
I am pleased to see Orson Card get into the screen writing business. He continues to be my favorite author, though "Children of the Mind" struck me as being a little weak.
After viewing the last year's films, I can't really say that the film industry is creating anything I want to see. Some of the upcoming movies, "Lord of the Rings", look to be interesting, but it seems that the movie companies are spending far to much on special effects and not concerned with developing a story.
I know Mr. Card is a fantastic storyteller. Note that a story teller is much more than a mere writer. It will be interesting to see if he can manage to have a good film made without the American film industry "commercializing" the film and basically destroying it.
Lando
Just a quick point, the phone numbers in the telephone guides have been ruled public domain.
AT&T and other companies copy the information out of phone books in order to fill in their own lists. I'm not sure of the court case that made the phone book information public domain, but it has was within the last 3 years.
Lando
I have bandwidth that I can spare as well. I can at least take a couple of open source projects that need a home.
Pardon me for asking, but didn't congress modify the copyright law within the last year that does make reverse-engineering illegal?
I was under the impression that that bill had passed.
Lando
I'm not sure whether or not a corporation is required, however just in case anyone is interested basic registration costs of an corporation are only about $250.00
Consulting with a lawyer and having him/her draw up the contracts and submit the paperwork may cost you $1000 or even more, but if you take a little time to investigate and contact your state attorney general's office, or at least I think it's the attorney general, the proceedure is actually pretty easy.
As a matter of fact, a number of states have implemented websites to automate most of the work. A user logs on fills out the paperwork online and then prints out the form. After that it is merely a matter of sticking the form in the mail and attaching a stamp.
Lando
Just a brief note. I myself have programmed in over 40 languages, I can say for a fact that once you get the first 6-8 languages down moving on and learning new languages begins to become easier and easier. True, you might not have the expert skill set in that new language, however you have general coding experience and a firm understanding of how the computer works.
Older programmers that pidgeon-hole themselves into just one skill set are asking for trouble with the way technology changes. Being digital of course means there is little security when costs of change are small, especially if you are just starting up and thus there is no change.
I'm building a start-up myself at the moment and looking to hire, but the truth is that I cannot afford full price for a programmer. Most older programmers are going to have family to support and thus need the money more than the stock options. I would prefer older programmers, because as an older programmer myself, I know how limited college students are.
I primarily look for hackers currently, someone who loves to do what they do and try to offer a good wage, but as noted I cannot pay people what they are worth.
Lando
I just realized something else about requiring a credit card. I believe that most credit card companies do not issue credit cards to people under the age of 18. I work with a number of people supporting various projects and websites. On three of my sites, the entire site is run by people less than 16 years of age. I've had a number of "students" branch out on their own start setting up other sites. Now what will they do? Gee, my multi-million hit a month website came up for renewal and I lost it because I was 16 and could not get a credit card.... Lando
One of the things that I like about the web is the fact that I as a small, individual can actually figure out how to make the things I need the most on the net work...
Now, I understand that cybersquating is a problem for some folks, but I think that these new policies are more likely to hurt the little guy than the big guys.
I for one, do not use credit cards and don't reallyplan to, but now it looks like in the future I will be required to get a credit card in order to actually be able to order my domain name...
If I mail in the cost for the domain name, by the time my check arrives the Domain Name might be sold to someone else. Further, since I generally use Money Orders it's probably going to be a pain in the a** to get my money back.
So instead of the current situation where it takes me a few moments to register my name, and send in the check... I may end up doing a back and forth dance to establish a domain name for a period of months and that name I get is not necessarily the one I want.
Now I understand that I am an exception to the norm, but I think this will also serve as another hurdle for people outside the US as well. 'Course maybe credit cards are universal and I am just being stupid...
Also what the heck, raising the price? Cybersquatting is not a problem with pricing issues the money for the domain names is never received. All raising the price will do is force individuals out of the market. Gee, no more fan sites, no more individual interest sites, no more sites by those dang blasted kids. You know the ones that actually understand the web and know how to use it. Slash-dot for instance, what's with that obviously the news should be provided by NBC, CBS and CNN let's raise the costs of doing business so that these new guys are not able to get into the market....
Sigh
Lando
Lando
Making 6 figures a year, paying cash for your purchases, and not using a credit card... Makes a second class citizen on the
net?
One of the things that I like about the web is the fact that I as a small, individual can actually figure out how to make the things I need the most on the net work... Now, I understand that cybersquating is a problem for some folks, but I think that these new policies are more likely to hurt the little guy than the big guys. I for one, do not use credit cards and don't really plan to, but now it looks like in the future I will be required to get a credit card in order to actually be able to order my domain name... If I mail in the cost for the domain name, by the time my check arrives the Domain Name might be sold to someone else. Further, since I generally use Money Orders it's probably going to be a pain in the a** to get my money back. So instead of the current situation where it takes me a few moments to register my name, and send in the check... I may end up doing a back and forth dance to establish a domain name for a period of months and that name I get is not necessarily the one I want. Lando
While implementing a raid filesystem under Linux, I was shocked to find out that iostat does not work under linux. Earlier this morning Sun announced that they would be releasing sar under a Modzilla license so that should be helpful. I believe that most of the information you are looking for is tracked, ie top pulls information from somewhere and should give at least a high level overview about what is going on in the system.
Lando
While I can see being a self-proclaimed hacker, I think that the term guru is not one that you can place on yourself. Guru is a honorary title that is given to you by others around you. Refering to yourself as a guru strikes me as being a little pompous... Lando
Hmmm,
Sorry but I cannot agree. The main reason of course is because I am a hard-core gamer. I don't play FPS much, prefering RTS games. The only reason I still have a Windows box around is to play games. So saying that games will die out under Linux is an alien thought to me.
Your statement about copying program under Linux also need to be brought to light... Are you saying that just because the Linux community has the ability to copy games, that most of them will? Working as a computer professional, yes scary isn't it, I prefer spending money on games that are well developed, while it may be argued that sometimes games have perchance fallen to my grasp, any game that is well developed and worth playing I buy.
Another point is that Linux is getting a great deal of press recently, we already have the basic apps that people need to use Linux full time, but we need games to provide entertainment to those out there that don't like playing with code.
And what are you talking about Linux not matching DirectX??? It seems to me, going on rumor here, that Microsoft eventually threw in the towel and let game programers have direct access to the hardware because Microsoft could not write adequate drivers...
It's my belief that open source is a lot more flexible and robust than closed source software all we really need is to get the hooks into the vender's drivers so that we can write the code to use the hardware, that's happening... I seem to recall TNT2 code being released within the last day or so.
Hopefully, that explains why I feel you are wrong about the future of gaming under Linux.
Lando
While focusing mainly on graphics, I found Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Blackbook, (probably butchered his name and the book title sigh) an excellent resource for game design.
Also, not sure how many people have played Dark Reign, but I'm very impressed with the game engine that Auran (http://www.auran.com/), and just how do I make that a hotlink?, designed for the game. They are currently working on their next engine for the Harn world.
I don't know if they would be willing to offer any support, but it's worth asking.
Another site/game you might look up is Omega Tank, this is a RTS game designed as a thesis project and looks to be a fairly good basic implementation of an RTS game. It still needs to be tweaked, but with a couple of freindly questions to the author I believe it might be possible to get a peek at his source code.
On the gaming side, I'd suggest checking out Insomniax (http://www.insomniax.net/) There are a lot of good players there and some excellent resources as to what makes a good design.
My site RTSG (http://www.rtsg.com/), Real-time Strategy Gaming, though sorely neglected also has a number of articles produced by the staff that might give help to game design.
Anyway if you need assistance or advise drop me a line and I would be happy to give you pointers, but at the time have little time to actually show you implementation.
Lando
Why add Linux in with NT and Solaris when the lab report doesn't mention Linux?
Why compare apples to oranges IIS and Netscape to Apache?
Why consider closed source models in relation to open source?
Why consider focusing on just one operating system?
Why do you figure a web test makes OS X better at everything, when all it is measuring is one aspect of a system?
Why accept the report at face value when you don't know what tweaks have been implemented on the system?
Why Post FUD?
Lando
Mentioning it probably would not be in the best interests of the movement. Consider that a lot of software products, both commercial and non create vaporware and the fact that if you set a shipping date on something the public tends not to accept overruns. I prefer the simple concept of it will be done when it's done... Hyping something before its finished is just setting yourself up for failure. Keeping a close eye on new products and running the beta kernel is something for those of us that are building and working with the kernel every day, but the executives, normal users and even basic sys-admin people should not have products heaped onto them before the projects are ready to be implemented. Lando
So are you saying that getting paid to write code is bad? Or that even if companies are advertising open source work, they are actually producing proprietary software. This conversation is pretty important to me at the moment, as I get set to launch a consulting and service firm oriented to *nix. I've hired one programmer full time, though he won't be programming full time, and another part-time to work on specialized programs. It would be nice to be able to get programmers to work on specific projects without having to pay them, but it's my opinion that they need to be paid for their time, especially since it is of value to me. My biggest problem is getting the finances to pay programmers what I think they are worth. I prefer to program myself and if I had a choice, I would not mind programming for little as long as I knew that I would be taken care of, but in my opinion programmers, especially good programmers, generally are not paid what they are worth. If anything management tends to be paid more for a job that is no more difficult than coding. The whole reason for hiring programers is the fact that I have customers that need a solution to their current problem. I intend to make my money off the consulting portion of the business, though I can forsee some projects that I will not open-source, quite a few can be released as open-source once they are complete and indeed I wouldn't mind making some of them opensource in the beginning to get professional help that I cannot afford at the present time. Comments? Thoughts? Lando
Still need to get the serveRAID drivers completed, or at least I haven't seen them yet.
Linux on Netfinity
Lando
Hmmm, Dual Pentium 166 sits running in the corner quitely chugging away, never a problem. Exactly when is it going to start locking up on me?