cyber attacks

Transportation department cites FAA hack attacks: truth, fearmongering or 9/11 cover story?

The Wall Street Journal, by way of Siobhan Gorman, reports that "Civilian air-traffic computer networks have been penetrated multiple times in recent years, including an attack that partially shut down air-traffic data systems in Alaska, according to a government report."

The concerns are reiterated on the website of congressman Tom Petri.

But the notion that the FAA could allow (direct or indirect) internet access to flight control systems is dubious. What could be the reasons behind this publication? Let's examine some hypotheses.

  • Genuine concern - Some security breaches to non-critical systems are blown out of proportion, but are made public in genuine concern for FAA IT security as it relates to national security
  • Fearmongering - Fan the flames of the security hype, easing the adoption of new laws, allowing the government draconian control over internet infrastructure

A New Breed Of Hackers Tracks Online Acts of War

And which have already been, or will be, false flag cyber attacks? --Betsy

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/26/AR2008082603128.html?wpisrc=newsletter

A New Breed Of Hackers Tracks Online Acts of War
'Hacktivists' Update Their Mission

By Kim Hart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 27, 2008; D01

TORONTO -- Here in the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, a new breed of hackers is conducting digital espionage.

They are among a growing number of investigators who monitor how traffic is routed through countries, where Web sites are blocked and why it's all happening. Now they are turning their scrutiny to a new weapon of international warfare: cyber attacks.

Tracking wars isn't what many of the researchers, who call themselves "hacktivists," set out to do. Many began intending to help residents in countries that censor online content. But as the Internet has evolved, so has their mission.

Ronald J. Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab, calls the organization a "global civil society counterintelligence agency" and refers to the lab as the "NSA of operations."

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