Re: Stupidity: A Real Cyberthreat.

[A Satisfied Mind <anti.confidentiality.notices () gmail com>]

On 1/19/06, Jerry Pasker <jerry () jerry org> wrote:

> Terrorists want to kill people.   Did anyone die when those two
> fibers were cut?  Did it cripple the US Economy?  Did it close the
> stock markets?  When the markets opened the next day, did stock
> prices fall across the board for weeks and months on end?  Not
> exactly.  Will people put bumper stickers on their cars that say
> "Remember 1/9?" or "Remember Buckeye and Reno Junction" No.  Not one
> person will do that.

You are oversimplifying things here.... Why was the World Trade Center
chosen (twice) to attack.... it is an economic target.  All wars are
economic, including drug wars and terror wars... what was the COST of
9/11???

A hell of a lot:  http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/aug02/homeland.asp


> that?  We already cut enough of it without any help from terrorists.
> Just in case no one was paying attention, the score is: Lack of
> information + guy on backhoe = 675,000 cuts per year:  Terrorists =
> ZERO.

Consider the economic impact of cutting a significant portion of the
cross-country fiber capacity in such a way that it is very difficult
and time-consuming to repair  (let's say, shaped-charges along the two
fiber routes every 1 mile or so for 50 miles, in remote terrain), in
combination with ambush and execution of the work crews sent out to
repair the damage, in combination with a similar types of attacks on
major cable landing points in the US.  And while you are at it, a
truck bomb at 8:30 am Monday morning outside Wall Street.  What about
an attack that specifically targetted SFTI?  http://sfti.siac.com/

How much more critical does this get when you consider that NYSE is
going to all-electronic trading in the near future?

The IRA carried out very effective economic bombing campaigns in
London... is Al-Queda (or a hostile foreign government, say Syria) any
less-capable?