U.S. "under widespread attack in cyberspace"

News Type: Event — Seeded on Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:03 PM EST

Article Source: The Seattle Times

technology, seattle-times, electronic-pearl-harbor-mcafee-cyber-attack-attack

The Pentagon is incorporating cybertechnology into its war-fighting arsenal to stave off an "electronic Pearl Harbor."

While U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan engage the enemy with guns, tanks, airplanes and missiles, the Pentagon is quietly fighting a much different kind of war on a new front — cyberspace.

Military officials say that a cyber-attack by foreign enemies or terrorist groups could result in "an electronic Pearl Harbor" that would shut down electricity, banking systems, cellphones and other tools of day-to-day life.

Published to:

Tedd Riggs's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: GeekVine, Science And Technology, Seattleites
Regions: Seattle/Tacoma

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5.7

3.3

{"commentId":1229793,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

Interesting article that was started by McAfee on cybercrime.

{"commentId":1229793,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

6 votes

#1 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:03 PM EST

{"commentId":1229842,"authorDomain":"ottawahitech"}

othDeleted

{"commentId":1230021,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

If the top tracker is not indicating anything on a seed that you write, try just making a comment on your seed, it should show up then. You got the other ones correct. Yeah I had to clear my bottom tracker also, I had 1600 !

The bottom tracker is set if you have a friend, and you turn on the option on your column page to track his comments. If for example you get tired of going back to a page that he has comment on, but do not want to cancel tracking that person, then go to the bottom of that page and hit the "Do Not track" button. The same works in reverse if you find a page that is interesting, you can track every comment on that page. Be careful as you can really get overloaded with messages on this option, but great if its a subject matter that is of interest to you.

When you seed something, make sure you add a comment first to you own seed, that way any of your friends that comment on your seed will show up in the Top tracker location

OK say you write a article or seed a article. Just make any comment on that article "Hey guys, here is a new article I seeded" or whatever. That forces the Newsvine Software to "wake up" and start associating that article with you and alerts you of anyone that comes after you. It is just kinda force feeding the system to work..

{"commentId":1230021,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

2 votes

#3 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:00 PM EST

{"commentId":1230277,"authorDomain":"ottawahitech"}

othDeleted

{"commentId":1230383,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

If you find a article that you find useful (gee I am honored...) you can go up to the part where you vote on the article and over to the right is "Clip To:" Just click that and either save it to your "Private Clippings" (Nobody but you can see it) or "My Column" and it will show up each time you go to your column. That is a handy feature. You have to play with that Clip button, its like a mouse with a super sensitive setting....

On the tracking of friends. That is either full time on or full time off. You can go to your column and click on friends and then go down the list and check the box as far as if you want to track their comments or not. I have had to uncheck a few of mine (yes I felt guilty...) as they were just too chatty on subjects that were not of interest to me and I was never getting to any of the articles that I wanted to see. It is too bad that Newsvine's software is not a little fancier and you could put some kind of filter on what you wanted to see and what you did not.

oth,
I forgot, Where in Ottawa did you say I send the bill for all these questions ?

{"commentId":1230383,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

2 votes

#3.2 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 2:45 PM EST

{"commentId":1230432,"authorDomain":"ottawahitech"}

othDeleted

{"commentId":1230894,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

As far as searching for tags, you can do that. I just need to do a little homework on that one as I don't use it enough to remember the easy way to do it.

If you want to basically create a File Folder for stuff, you can always create a Group, a Group does not have to include any other members, just call its "Oth's Stuff" or whatever and clip everything to that. There are many people that have there own group just for a place to keep things.

No, Clicking off the Tracking button next to friends, only removes the tracking comment. It does not remove them as friends, so don't worry, your not going to kill off any friends ! However is somebody does get to pesty, go to the far right of the screen and click the "remove" button and you are minus one friend.

Ignore this person is next to the check mark at the bottom of the comments screen and to the left of the trash can, you can see it if you click on the ! symbol, if you click that symbol, then you will not "see" that persons comments anymore, all you will see is a + sign next to their name. If you click their name, then you will see what they wrote. This is also call a "collapsed comment" A comment can be collapsed if a number of people use the ! button and say that the comment has "No value" or "Inflammatory" etc. You can click it and see the options.

Shouldn't Newsvine be paying you for providing this public service.

I have been begging Calvin for a T-Shirt ever since I joined, if I can get that...Then I will be happy !

{"commentId":1230894,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

1 vote

#3.4 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 4:57 PM EST

{"commentId":1230161,"authorDomain":"lastaidkit"}

lastaidkit

it'll be like live free or die hard!

{"commentId":1230161,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"lastaidkit"}

#4 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:46 PM EST

{"commentId":1230521,"authorDomain":"zennhead"}

zennhead

I'd like to know if there have already been attacks we haven't been informed about. Id guess there have, and the Government hasn't announced because they don't want to appear vulnerable. Regardless, it's clear that between all the various food and product recalls, infections which have occurred, cyber attacks we've HEARD of, as well as massive compromise of credit card data, terrorists have a better grasp of how to shut down the American economy.

{"commentId":1230521,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"zennhead"}

2 votes

#5 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:23 PM EST

{"commentId":1230904,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

I'd like to know if there have already been attacks we haven't been informed about. Id guess there

I am sure there have been many. I think you are correct in your reasoning. There are a couple that come to mind, however it would take some searching to find them. But there have been break-ins into some pretty secure systems before, that is nothing new.

{"commentId":1230904,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

2 votes

#5.1 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 4:59 PM EST

{"commentId":1231187,"authorDomain":"inghar2004"}

gladbutterfly

It's the wild west in cyberspace, trust no one, buyer beware. War is not a surprising outcome.

{"commentId":1231187,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"inghar2004"}

1 vote

#5.2 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 6:42 PM EST

{"commentId":1231276,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

I was trying to think what the name of that movie was that seemed like it almost could happen. It came out years ago. A kid was playing a cyberwar with Norad alerted to a Russian attack and he had triggered a simulation program at Norad, but nobody at Norad knew it was just a simulation. (Or something like that....) Its been a long time ago..

{"commentId":1231276,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

1 vote

#5.3 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:14 PM EST

{"commentId":1231291,"authorDomain":"appleannie"}

Apple Annie

My IE was hijacked. I bought a Spy Sweeper that cleared it.

It is a real threat.

{"commentId":1231291,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"appleannie"}

2 votes

#6 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:20 PM EST

{"commentId":1231333,"authorDomain":"inghar2004"}

gladbutterfly

How did you know you were hijacked?

{"commentId":1231333,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"inghar2004"}

1 vote

#6.1 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:43 PM EST

{"commentId":1231334,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

I Have ZoneAlarm Pro on at all times and there are nasty things out there all the time. I have ended up at sites that looked exactly like my bank with the logo and everything and opps....a spelling error caught my eye and saved me. You do have to be very careful in what you click.

{"commentId":1231334,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

1 vote

#6.2 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:43 PM EST

{"commentId":1231440,"authorDomain":"nimblesymbol"}

Sturat

Sounds like a bunch of bull@!$%# to me. I'm sure the Pentagon is just prepping us so that they can shut the net down and blame it on China. You wouldn't want the 'sheeple' to have access to information now would you? Well, at least information that isn't pre approved by Murdoch, G.E. or Disney.

{"commentId":1231440,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"nimblesymbol"}

4 votes

#7 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:44 PM EST

{"commentId":1231473,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

The Pentagon for one thing is not in control of the Internet and could not shut it down. What do you consider BS ? The fact that the DOD has reported 37,000 reports of attempted breaches in 2007 is not a trivial amount and not what most would laugh at.

However everyone at Newsvine is entitled to his/hers opinion. I have a feeling that there might be just a bit more to the story then just limiting Internet access. Besides China has very limited access to begin with, I would not want the kind that they hand out or control.

{"commentId":1231473,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

2 votes

#7.1 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:56 PM EST

{"commentId":1231743,"authorDomain":"MCLiepshutz"}

MCLiepshutz

Sturat: You don't think there is cyber attacks going on? On my linux box.. my firewall is hit on an average of 10 times an hour by someone sniffing for open smb shares. When I try to dns the ip adress it doesn't resolve. Could it be because of the "Great Wall of China " firewall? By doing a whois I find that they are almost always from China..Oh Look! theres one now! Source : 221.208.208.100 UDP port 1026 And just who are they? 221.208.0.0 - 221.212.255.255
netname: CNCGROUP-HL
descr: CNCGROUP Heilongjiang Province Network
descr: China Network Communications Group Corporation
descr: No.156,Fu-Xing-Men-Nei Street,
descr: Beijing 100031
country: CN
admin-c: CH455-AP
tech-c: BG63-AP
remarks: service provider
mnt-by: APNIC-HM
mnt-lower: MAINT-CNCGROUP-HL
mnt-routes: MAINT-CNCGROUP-RR
status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE
changed: hm-changed@apnic.net 20031110
changed: hm-changed@apnic.net 20060124
source: APNIC
Wowo its from china..who'd of thunk it?

{"commentId":1231743,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"MCLiepshutz"}

2 votes

#7.2 - Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:11 PM EST

{"commentId":1232106,"authorDomain":"nimblesymbol"}

Sturat

Remember the revelation that it was actually Oceania bombing itself, in order to keep the populace in Big Brother's 'thought corrale'? The way our government has been working from the top down, you trust our defense department to tell us that 'they're protecting us' from cyber attacks? To clarify, I feel that it's very possible that the Pentagon's giving us a target to blame, while they themselves are setting the stage to 'cyber attack' access to the net, in order to cut off discussion and dissent here in the grand ole U.S.A.. I apologize for being a bit too obscure in my first post.

{"commentId":1232106,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"nimblesymbol"}

#7.3 - Sat Dec 1, 2007 4:24 AM EST

{"commentId":1232110,"authorDomain":"nimblesymbol"}

Sturat

It's fairly easy to set up a 'mirror'. I'm sure you can extrapolate...

{"commentId":1232110,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"nimblesymbol"}

#7.4 - Sat Dec 1, 2007 4:34 AM EST

{"commentId":1232238,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

If I made a daily printout of the list of dns ip attacks I get just when I am sitting here on Newsvine from ZoneAlarm Pro I could fill this column up daily. When I go checking around the net for news from Google Analytics that log can easily grow to 10-20 MB/per week and when I used to do a WHOIS on them, by far the majority of them looked just like what what MCLiepshutz had, they were blackhole APNIC address's almost always someplace in China. I am grateful for good firewalls.

{"commentId":1232238,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

3 votes

#7.5 - Sat Dec 1, 2007 7:53 AM EST

{"commentId":1237416,"authorDomain":"MCLiepshutz"}

MCLiepshutz

sure..mirrors are doable.. but there is always traceroute...

{"commentId":1237416,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"MCLiepshutz"}

1 vote

#7.6 - Mon Dec 3, 2007 11:53 AM EST

{"commentId":1237439,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

Traceroute is kinda hard to beat....VisualRoute is fun to play with also.

{"commentId":1237439,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

1 vote

#7.7 - Mon Dec 3, 2007 12:00 PM EST

{"commentId":1233057,"authorDomain":"aalva"}

aalva

The Seattle Times has taken a liking to writing on cyber issues. In my opinion, it is a good thing, as it increases awareness.

Thanks for the seed, Tedd.

{"commentId":1233057,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"aalva"}

2 votes

#8 - Sat Dec 1, 2007 2:20 PM EST

{"commentId":1233088,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Tedd Riggs

Well with Microsoft in our backyard, they do tend to try to keep up on these things pretty well and it is something that is not going to be going away.

{"commentId":1233088,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

3 votes

#8.1 - Sat Dec 1, 2007 2:35 PM EST

{"commentId":1233222,"authorDomain":"aalva"}

aalva

something that is not going to be going away

Very true!

Thanks again-

{"commentId":1233222,"threadId":"183263","contentId":"1132617","authorDomain":"aalva"}

1 vote

#8.2 - Sat Dec 1, 2007 3:50 PM EST

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"183263","isPrivate":false}

TEDD RIGGS

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U.S. "under widespread attack in cyberspace"

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