Al Aqsa Intifada Cyberwar hackers try hand at systems crash

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://star.arabia.com/001102/JO63.html

2 NOVEMBER 2000

By Ghassan Joha and combined news agencies

AS THE Al Aqsa Intifada enters its second month, the battle is being
fought not only on the streets, but on walls and in cyberspace.
Official Palestinian and Israeli websites were subject to scathing
attacks by Internet users over the past few weeks.

Although the fighting in the West Bank and Gaza is intensifying with
Israeli soldiers taking full military swipes at Palestinians, battling
on the Internet is hotting up as well with cyberwars and systems
crashes taking centerstage.

But one of the distinctive features of the present Intifada is its
Internet connectivity. A multitude of websites is providing constantly
updated coverage.

The London-based Arabic daily Al Hayat noted that many Arab websites
in the Middle East and US have succeeded in covering the Intifada and
presenting comprehensive details from various perspectives on Israeli
aggressions against the Palestinians.

One of these is Aroob.com. It launched a consolation page on the
Internet to praise the Palestinian martyrs. Al Hayat also mentioned
The Star's website (www.star.com.jo) as one of the most impressive and
reliable sites covering the Intifada.

However, the daily added that such coverage was hacked by many
Israelis sending "bombs" and viruses through e-mails.

Meanwhile, websites operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and
the Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas) were also targeted by
Israeli hackers leading to systems crashes.

Nobody quite knows from where the attacks are coming. Today,
Palestinian websites are being inundated with log-jams and system
viruses. Such attacks are reportedly coming from Israeli universities
and western Europe.

Reports suggest that the cyberwars are escalating as Arab countries
take the initiative by attacking Israeli hosts. Egypt and Lebanon are
favorites for sending viruses to websites in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

One of the tactics in the virtual war is the despatching of millions
and millions of messages to a particular website all at once. The
tactic was employed and registered through NetVision, Israel's biggest
Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the host of the main Palestinian
National Authority (PNA) website.

Consequently, the company had to upgrade its firewalls to shield its
Internet service from manipulation by outsiders.

However, NetVision went into temporary shock with many of its
computers breaking down for several hours, and the company's sites and
e-mail service stopped functioning.

Israeli engineers at NetVision claimed the attacks were coming from
Lebanon, US, Germany and the Scandinavian countries.

But attacks on official Palestinian and Israeli websites were taking
place simultaneously. This was obvious in the case of the attacks on
the websites of the PNA and that of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Both
sites were crashed by endless messages sent from various Internet
locations.

Raymond Whitaker, Internet editor of the London-based daily The
Independent, reported "at the height of the 'spamming', subscribers
were unable to get online or found connections very slow."

Meanwhile, websites of the Israeli Knesset and Israeli Army have also
been attacked but have not crashed. However, some reports said the
Knesset website was bombarded with viruses that halted its operation
for some time.

Arik Fischel, chief of the Knesset website, said "the assailants show
more superior quality viruses than those of their predecessors. Many
of the attackers tried to produce viruses for every site so that when
users tapped in for more information they were attacked endlessly-a
sort of vulgar bombardment," Fischel added.

It was reported later that both the army and the Knesset employed a US
firm that specializes in protection of websites to upgrade their
security.

In case Internet hackers succeed in their efforts, viruses can attack
the operating system by generating false information. Last year, the
Knesset site was attacked by anonymous hackers, who placed
pornographic photos on its home website.

In a vicious virtual war, the PNA site was attacked constantly for two
days in late October resulting in the display of pornography and
Jewish slogans. The attacks were apparently coming from computers
located at the Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv.

And hence, the Palestinian site became the subject of much attack by
Israeli Internet users, who placed an Israeli flag and played the
Jewish national anthem.

NetVision spokeswoman Orit Saham confirmed reports that the company
continues to host the PNA site. A call for boycotting NetVision's
services is gaining momentum and many Israelis are seriously
considering canceling their accounts with the company and moving to
another ISP. Saham added that if the company is served with a court
order to cut off the PNA services, they would comply.

The website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry was also flooded with
e-mails described as "more dangerous" than previous ones, because of
their ability to carry viruses. Ministry spokesman Noam Katz called
the tactics "primitive but effective enough to cause a paralysis." He
accused Shi'ites living in the US of being behind the attacks.

According to the French daily, Le Monde, scattered attacks on official
PNA and Israeli websites started more than a year ago. However, these
were intensified on a daily basis soon after the outbreak of the Al
Aqsa Intifada on 28 September.

Some warning messages were sent to official Arab websites advising
them to take precautionary measures against retaliatory attacks from
Israeli sites.

One of the messages came from FreePalestine, an independent activist
Palestinian e-group operating through the Internet.

"Israeli sites started a cyberwar against us. They already crippled
the Hezbollah site and they have a site on how to shut down our
sites," the message read. The group gave instructions to attack and
counter-attack Israeli sites.

"New cyberwar programs should be more effective in attacking Israeli
websites," the message added. It indicated that counter-attacks by
Palestinian and Arab websites were staged by justice and freedom
supporters worldwide to bring Israeli and Jewish websites to a
cyber-halt.

Since the start of the Al Aqsa Intifada more than a month ago, the PNA
has undertaken an unprecedented information campaign, with a good deal
being waged via the Internet, including a website titled "Battle Over
Jerusalem."


*==============================================================*
"Communications without intelligence is noise;  Intelligence
without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
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