From: winn@Infowar.Com
To: rgellman@cais.cais.com
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UTC Datetime: 1996-06-10 01:10:27 UTC
Raw Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 09:10:27 +0800
From: winn@Infowar.Com
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 09:10:27 +0800
To: rgellman@cais.cais.com
Subject: No Subject
Message-ID: <199606091954.PAA25299@mailhost.IntNet.net>
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Class III InfoWar Part 2 Report from Europe
FEEL FREE TO DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
I am ostensibly on vacation with my wife and two children ages 11 & 5 :
Here we are in Venice, Italy but I can't ignore what seems to be going on in
England. American media does not appear to be following it. So here 's what
is happening.
Headline of June 9, 1996 Sunday Times in London reads:
"Secret Inquiry into Cyber Terror."
This is a follow-up of last Sundays story about alleged extortion attacks
against British financial institutions using Trojan Horses and /or HERF Guns.
According to today's article, the British government is holding secret
investigations into the "attacks" for more than two years involving the Dept. of
Trade and Industry (DTI), government communications headquarters (GCHQ), the
Brits NSA, The Defence Research Agency (DRA), and the Bank of England.
On June 8, the DTI issued a public statement which included : "We are very
interested in the allegations of extortion directed at City of London
institutions which were brought to our attention in 1994. We responded then by
involving many government organizations ... so far we have not been presented
with any hard evidence from victims. We would urge those threatened to come
forward."
DTI Director of Technical Affairs, David Hendon wrote a letter in May 1995
saying they took the extortion issue "Extremely seriously." The Times'
reporter's say they have seen some of the evidence that was submitted to DTI and
GCHQ which includes a chart on 46 of the attacks. According to the article DRA
Senior Director, Professor David Parks, his agency is " especially interested
in the "weaponry" deployed by the cyber terrorists."
The Tmes continued : "The agency (DRA) believes high intensity radio frequency
"HIRF" guns may have been used to black out trading positions in City finance
houses. The weapon disables a computer by firing elctromagnetic radiation at it
and is a "Black Programme" at the Defence Ministry, one of the highest security
classification levels."
In Dec. Of 1995, the DRA and Parks approached a company who specializes in
information warfare and asked them to "arrange a demonstration of a portable
HIRF weapon in Germany."
The article further states that details on the HIRF systems and their use in the
City of London have been compiled by a British computer magazine and are being
passed onto government officials.
*****
I have spoken to more than fifty media in the last week about this story: The
comments range from "suspicious" of the British reports, "sounds psy -fi",
"alarming", "scary" and the like. Even though I am on vacation (Ha!) I called
a few of my expert friends for a sanity check and here is what we have to say.
* The alleged software attacks mentioned in last weeks article are more likely
the weapon than HERF/HIRF attacks that todays' article focuses on.
* "Given the kind of systems they use and their connectivity, I can figure a
hundred ways to do what the article say" one of my experts stated.
* As for the HERF/HIRF we have worked out a number of models for a number for
the attacks scenarios mentioned, but we have a targeting problem. A free-space
(air) based attacked would create a wide dispersion pattern and likely have
effected other organizations not just those specifically under attack.
* A ground plane attack might cause the alleged results but requires more
physical access to the facility.
A few thoughts of the potential motivations:
* Were the alleged attacks meant as a malicious Denial of Service (DNS) attack
or as a profit scheme?
* Were trading volumes and the stock prices of the alleged victims effected
during the times in question?
* Was internal profit taking an ulterior motive ?
* I have to keep in mind if we give these stories credence, that over 50% of
computer crimes involve insiders.
According to my British friends, the Sunday Times is preparing even more on this
story which will appear next Sunday - when I will be in London to get it back
to you within minutes.
So, the kids are fine.
"Thanks for asking."
My life is almost relaxed, and we are now headed into the Alps for a leisurely 8
hr drive and will spend the night at the Jungfrau.
"Damn, it's raining. It will have to be beer and sauerkraut."
In the meantime, contact betty@infowar.com at Interpact for comments and
interviews.
Back at your later!
Winn Schwartau
Peace
Winn
Winn Schwartau - Interpact, Inc.
Information Warfare and InfoSec
V: 813.393.6600 / F: 813.393.6361
Winn@InfoWar.Com
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