RE: Al Qaida claims responsibility for blackout

["Drew Copley" <dcopley () eeye com>]

That was why I posted that story.

Personally, I think some Homer spilled his coffee. 

I am interested in this in case it does turn out to be computer security
related. However, it likely will not be. That possibility is there,
however. 

This attitude is why I posted to one person that 'no one should believe
it was hackers or blaster because there is no proof'. But, I read these
posts in case there may be more proof coming out in this way.

I already know they have systems connected to the internet... Wireless
systems... That primary target locations have been disclosed on the
internet. So, sabotage, by design through hackers or unintentionally
through worms is a possibility.

The problem is, however, that there is just so much else that could go
wrong when you have that much electricity. 


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geoff Shively [mailto:gshively () pivx com] 
> Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 4:07 AM
> To: Drew Copley; full-disclosure () lists netsys com
> Subject: Re: [Full-disclosure] Al Qaida claims responsibility 
> for blackout
>
>
> I particularly like this:
>
> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95049,00.html
> "In the entire history of FirstEnergy, FirstEnergy spokesman 
> Todd Schneider said there hasn't been an outage of any system 
> due to hackers, and that that the weather in northeastern 
> Ohio did more damage.
>
> When asked if the random outages could have been the work of 
> a computer hacker, a source told Fox News: "I'd be lying to 
> you if I told you it was not possible." He added that a hack 
> attack was something he had "been worried about."
>
> Schneider vowed his company would leave no stone unturned in 
> its investigation. He admitted a computer hack was a 
> possibility, but not the leading theory."
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Geoff Shively, CHO
> PivX Solutions, LLC
>
> http://www.pivx.com
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Drew Copley" <dcopley () eeye com>
> To: <full-disclosure () lists netsys com>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 1:28 PM
> Subject: RE: [Full-disclosure] Al Qaida claims responsibility 
> for blackout
>
>
> > Various stories on this coming out:
> http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&scoring=d&edition=us&q=Al+Qaeda+clai
> > ms
> > +blackout
> >
> > (Of note: 'Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility For Power 
> Blackout In U.S.!'
> > (Saudi) 
> http://english.daralhayat.com/arab_news/08-2003/Article-20030818-14bdd
> > 65
> > 9-c0a8-01ed-0079-6e1c903b7552/story.html)
> >
> > (Of note: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95049,00.html Covers 
> > possibility of hackers, timeline, mention of terrorists)
> >
> >
> > MEMRI's site has the raw info from which "Worldtribune" is basing 
> > their article (note: MEMRI says they released this online 
> -- at Yahoo 
> > forum, no less):
> >
> > "A communiqué by the Abu Hafs Brigades was published at 
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/abubanan2/message/330. "
> >
> > Full Article url: http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD55303
> >
> >
> > Full Article:
> >
> > Al-Qa'ida's Abu Hafs Brigades has claimed responsibility 
> for "Operation
> > Quick Lightning in the Land of the Tyrant of this 
> Generation," referring
> > to the blackout last week in the Northeast and Midwest 
> United States. A
> > communiqué by the Abu Hafs Brigades was published at
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/abubanan2/message/330. This 
> is the third
> > communiqué by the "Brigades" that is being published by the same
> > web-group; in the first, they accepted responsibility for 
> the downing of
> > an airplane in Kenya. The second accepted responsibility 
> for the Jakarta
> > bombing of the Marriott hotel on August 5, 2003.
> >
> > The new communiqué says that in compliance with the orders 
> of Osama bin
> > Laden to strike at the American economy, the Brigades struck two
> > important electricity supply targets on the East coast. The 
> Brigades say
> > that they cannot reveal how they did it, because they will 
> probably have
> > to use the same method again soon. The communiqué also 
> claimed that the
> > operation was meant as a present for the Iraqi people.
> >
> > The following are excerpts from a report by the London-based Arabic
> > daily Al-Hayat about the communiqué: [1]
> >
> >
> > The Blackout was 'a Realization of bin Laden's Promise to Offer the
> > Iraqi People a Present'
> >
> > "A communiqué attributed to Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the
> > power blackout that happened in the U.S. last Thursday, 
> saying that the
> > brigades of Abu Fahes Al Masri had hit two main power 
> plants supplying
> > the East of the U.S., as well as major industrial cities in 
> the U.S. and
> > Canada, 'its ally in the war against Islam (New York and 
> Toronto) and
> > their neighbors.'
> >
> > "The communiqué assured that the operation 'was carried out on the
> > orders of Osama bin Laden to hit the pillars of the U.S. 
> economy,' as 'a
> > realization of bin Laden's promise to offer the Iraqi 
> people a present.'
> > 'The Americans Lived a Black Day they will Never Forget'
> >
> > "The statement, which Al-Hayat obtained from the website of the
> > International Islamic Media Center, didn't specify the way 
> the alleged
> > sabotage was carried out. The communiqué read: 'let the 
> criminal Bush
> > and his gang know that the punishment is the result of the 
> action, the
> > soldiers of God cut the power on these cities, they 
> darkened the lives
> > of the Americans as these criminals blackened the lives of 
> the Muslim
> > people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. The Americans 
> lived a black
> > day they will never forget. They lived a day of terror and 
> fear. a state
> > of chaos and confusion where looting and pillaging rampaged 
> the cities,
> > just like the capital of the caliphate Baghdad, and Afghanistan and
> > Palestine were. Let the American people take a sip from the 
> same glass.'
> > 'The U.S. will not Live in Peace until Our Conditions are Met'
> >
> > "It added: 'we heard amazing statements made by the American and
> > Canadian enemies which have nuclear physics universities and space
> > agencies, that lightning hit and destroyed the two plants. 
> And we are
> > supposed to believe this nonsense. If the blackout occurred 
> in one or
> > two cities, their lie would have been credible. But the 
> fact is that the
> > blackout hit the entire East and part of Canada.'
> >
> > "The communiqué continued: 'one of the benefits of this 
> strike is that
> > the U.S. will not live in peace until our conditions are 
> met, such as
> > releasing all the detainees including Sheikh Omar Abdulrahman, and
> > getting out of the land of the Muslims, including Jerusalem and
> > Kashmir.'
> >
> > "The authors of the communiqué said that the strikes aimed 
> at 'hitting
> > the major pillar of the U.S. economy (the Stock Exchange). 
> [and] the UN,
> > which is opposed to Islam, and is based in New York. It is 
> a message to
> > all the investors that the U.S. is no longer a safe country 
> for their
> > money, knowing that the U.S. economy greatly relies on the 
> trust of the
> > investor.'
> >
> > 'The Gift of Sheikh Osama bin Laden is on Its Way to the 
> White House'
> > "The communiqué mentioned that some economists said the 
> blackout in the
> > U.S. and Canada would cost the U.S. Treasury no less than 
> ten billion
> > U.S. dollars and in order to 'break the hearts of U.S. 
> officials, just
> > know that the cost paid by the Moujahideen to sabotage the 
> power plants
> > was a mere seven thousand dollars. Die of sorrow!'
> >
> > "The communiqué ended with: 'we tell the Muslims that this 
> is not the
> > awaited strike, but it is called the war of skirmishes (to drain the
> > enemy), and that the American snakes are enormous and need to be
> > consumed and weakened to be destroyed. We tell the people 
> of Afghanistan
> > and Kashmir that the gift of Sheikh Osama bin Laden is on 
> its way to the
> > White House; then the gift of Al Aqsa, and do we know what 
> is the gift
> > of Al Aqsa, where and when? The answer is what you are seeing!'
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: full-disclosure-admin () lists netsys com
> > > [mailto:full-disclosure-admin () lists netsys com] On Behalf Of danjr
> > > Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 11:07 AM
> > > To: full-disclosure () lists netsys com
> > > Subject: [Full-disclosure] Al Qaida claims responsibility 
> for blackout
> > > ---
> > >
> > > Al Qaida claims responsibility for blackout
> > >
> > > World Tribune
> > > Monday, August 18, 2003
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
> > Charter: http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html

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