Attack Anniversary Cyberthreats Unfounded -Experts

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1434570

September 10, 2002 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Fears of a cyberattack inspired by the Sept.  
11 attacks faded on Tuesday, a day ahead of the anniversary, with the
only threat to emerge a year-old virus hoax called "World Trade Center
Survivor."

Experts predicted that Wednesday is likely to be just another day on
the Internet, and if anything a quiet day for cybercriminals.

The anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon,
which claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people, is expected to be a
solemn occasion across the United States, with business activity
slowing to a crawl.

"Tomorrow, I honestly predict we will see less hacking activity than
we saw yesterday," said Rob Rosenberger, editor of Vmyths, a Web site
that details virus hoaxes and other computer security myths.

"Al Qaeda's MO (modus operandi) is that they strike when we are having
an ordinary day," Rosenberg said of the militant Islamic group blamed
for last year's Sept. 11 attacks.

"If Osama was going to double-click us to death he would have done it
six weeks ago. He's low-tech. He likes flying aircraft into
skyscrapers," the computer expert said.

While there is no evidence of any looming digital Armageddon, there
remains the everyday threat from the 62,000 known viruses circulating
on the Web and the 200 actively spreading viruses, according to virus
tracker WildList.org.

Posing no threat to anyone was the purported "WTC Survivor" virus that
first surfaced last October in an e-mail that warned that it had the
destructive potential to erase data from the computer's hard disk
drive.

The hoax resurfaced this week. Details about it can be found at
(http://www.vmyths.com).

"I have no sense at all that there will be a special cyber event"  
related to the attacks anniversary, said Alan Paller, research
director at the System Administration, Networking and Security
Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

"You would really have to stretch to get any more worried tomorrow
than you were today," he said. "It's like washing your car in case it
rains."



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