RE: Hackers could be planning major attack, says White House

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: "Arthur, T.A., CTR3" <AATHEOD () NSG NAVY MIL>

Why is a DIRECTOR of any kind of Cyberspace Security, let alone the
Whitehouse director saying things like "Driven to the backstreets and
back alleys of the Internet"?

Alarm bells are ringing. 

Secondly, was the estimate (even the far fetched, over-inflated
estimates some companies put out) ever stated as in "the BILLIONS"?

Further, this article is toned as if the concept of a DDOS is new and
"slapper" is a new threat, but the cited examples of EBAY and YAHOO
hacking were years ago.

Be careful folks, something wicked this way comes.

-Ted



-----Original Message-----
From: InfoSec News [mailto:isn () c4i org]
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 1:42 AM
To: isn () attrition org
Subject: [ISN] Hackers could be planning major attack, says White House


http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1102/111202h1.htm

By Shane Harris
sharris () govexec com 
November 12, 2002 

A new computer worm infecting a popular World Wide Web technology is
proof that computer hackers have grown more sophisticated and could be
preparing a significant attack, according to a senior White House
official.

Marcus Sachs, director of communication and infrastructure protection
at the White House Office of Cyberspace Security, said hackers driven
to "the back streets and back alleys of the Internet" by intense law
enforcement scrutiny following the Sept. 11 attacks have quietly been
building new threats. The new worm, widely known as Slapper, is a
prime example of their abilities, he said.

Officials believe millions of devices are vulnerable to Slapper, which
is a computer code that burrows into a server, the program that
provides the files that constitute Web pages. It enters through a
well-known weakness in the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) that connects
servers to the Internet. Once inside, the worm forces the server to
seek out other infected machines, forming an army of so-called
"zombies" that could bombard Web sites with bogus requests for
information, causing a massive traffic jam on the Internet.

The attack method, known as a distributed denial-of-service attack,
has been used to disrupt service on sites such as Yahoo! and eBay.  
Attacks last year by other worms, such as Code Red and Nimda, caused
billions of dollars in damage and targeted some government Web sites,
including a White House server.

The Slapper worm was identified two months ago, but federal officials
still are concerned that many infected or at-risk organizations and
individuals haven't taken adequate steps to protect themselves. The
FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center has found four
variants of the worm, and notes that rates of new infection have
declined. However, the agency also has warned that between 25,000 and
30,000 servers have already been infected. A steady buildup of
infections preceded the Code Red and Nimda attacks.

[...]



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