BBC: US hackers told to leave Iraq alone

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Richard Jay Solomon <rsolomon () dsl cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 14:50:02 -0500
To: farber () cis upenn edu (David Farber)
Subject: BBC: US hackers told to leave Iraq alone

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2760899.stm
>
> Friday, 14 February, 2003, 10:20 GMT
> US hackers told to leave Iraq alone
>  
> US military is heavily reliant on computer systems
>
> The FBI has warned American hackers not to launch cyber attacks against
> Washington's foes.
>
> An alert by the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) warned
> that "patriotic hacking" was a crime and could even backfire.
>
> The Center said it issued the warning "to heighten the awareness of an
> increase in global hacking activities as a result of the increasing tensions
> between the United States and Iraq."
>
> In the past, political protests by hackers have erupted into a virtual war of
> words. Most commonly these hackers have defaced websites, leaving messages in
> support of causes like the Palestinian intifada and Osama Bin Laden.
>
> Punishable felony
>
> The FBI said that recent experience showed that an increase in international
> tension was mirrored in the online world with a rise in cyber activity such as
> web defacements and denial of service attacks.
>
>
> In the light of dispute with Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, the FBI
> said people needed to be ready for hack attacks, either by hackers targeting
> the US or by what it called "self-described 'patriotic' hackers."
>
> It issued a stern warning for American hackers who might decide to take the
> law into their own hands.
>
> "Regardless of the motivation, the NIPC reiterates such activity is illegal
> and punishable as a felony," said the alert.
>
> "The US Government does not condone so-called 'patriotic hacking' on its
> behalf."
>
> Tools of the enemy
>
> The FBI appears concerned that a virus created to attack Iraqi computer
> systems could do more damage to the US than Iraq.
>
> "Even 'patriotic hackers' can be fooled into launching attacks against their
> own interests by exploiting malicious code that purports to attack the other
> side when in fact it is designed to attack the interests of the side sending
> it.
>
> "In this and other ways 'patriotic hackers' risk becoming tools of their
> enemy," said the NIPC.
>
> The US military has never regarded computer hacking as a particularly useful
> part of information warfare, especially against a country like Iraq, say
> experts.
>
> Only about 12,000 of the 23.5m Iraqis are online and most computers with
> sensitive information are stand-alone and not connected to the internet.
>
> By comparison the US is far more dependent on connected computer systems and
> far more exposed to the risk of a cyber attack.
>
> Washington is increasing millions of dollars on computer and network security
> as well as training an army of workers to thwart potential cyber attacks.
>
> And last week it emerged that the US is drawing up guidelines for cyber
> attacks against countries such as Iraq.


------ End of Forwarded Message

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com
To unsubscribe or update your address, click
  http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/