Federal Web sites knocked out by cyber attack

reply to post by MysterE


not sure if this is related by my agency's 80gig fiber line switch died under mysterious circumstances last week, forcing us to replace the part which the tech said "never" happens. We had to switch over to cable in the meanwhile and within 30 minutes that was offline on our cable providers end and they were themselves looking into it.

Needless to say everything was back up and running after about 6 hours

was odd

It does not matter if the regular public websites got hit....there are still the classified networks, where all the real information and work is done; and I highly doubt that anyone on the outside could hack them.

Don't go getting all panicky; the important stuff is on a discrete network in no way vulnerable to this kind of attack.

Still, it IS interesting. It would be more interesting if it WERE financial. Somehow, they only get hit when it's convenient for them.

Funny.....I just watched this old vid today, about the beginning of hacking.......karma/serendipity/irony perhaps. Ahhh simpler times lol.....worth the watch

Google Video Link

I just posted this without realizing this thread existed.. (yes, I searched *sigh*)...

Anyway, this is not the result of bored script kiddies or a private hacking team. No hacking group is going to attack the US Feds for such an extended run, nor are they going to attack the US Feds AND S. Korea. Hacking for black hats is generally a sport, so hacking two governments on multiple fronts for an extended period of time seems to me to be more of a military style attack. If you note in the article in the OP, it mentions this sort of thing happened in the run up to the Georgian-Russian war.

This might be a "dry-run" to see if it will work, or it could have been the first wave of something larger. If they can take this many sites down with such a small population of drones for such a long time, they are likely more than capable of taking down a large chunk of the internet for an even longer period of time. In addition, if the virus is peer-to-peer based (meaning the virus can be mutated and replication from drone to done), then they can keep this up for a long time.

I can tell you that there are a few key sites these hackers can hit that will eliminate the banking industry. Among them are the Federal Reserve's settlement site that the banks use to post their daily check settlements. If you hit any of the funds settlement systems or the NYSE web service hosts for several days in a row, the financial industry will rapidbly begin to crumble taking the small banks and investors first, then cascading to the medium and large banks.

I have no predictions on this as yet. It feels like it is either a government or a large and powerful organization behind this -- Someone who is not afraid of the consequences of ticking off the US Feds.

Could this be the Iranian response to the riots and protests in their country?

Somebody else said that 4chan was hit. 4chan is a widely known Anonymous hangout, and Anonymous has been credited with giving the protesters the ability to organize and share information. Iran also blames the West for inciting and organizing the riots, so it makes sense that they would hit the U.S. The attacks on South Korea could be a red herring, or a coincidence.

I doubt North Korea is behind it, though. I remember reading awhile back that North Korea was the only country that cyber attacks *weren't* being traced back to. Cyber attacks are a sophisticated strategy that takes a lot of trial and error to perfect. It's not something that anyone is likely to get right on the first try.

Edit:

If some of the sites being hit are responsible for fighting "cyber crime," then that might suggest that the attackers want to delay the U.S.'s ability to halt these attacks. Maybe Anonymous is the main target, and the attacks on U.S. websites are just an attempt to be able to continue the attacks on Anonymous?

[edit on 8-7-2009 by mattifikation]

Recently a powerful DDoS attack took place on the Petition Online.com site shutting down the site and all it's servers for 7 days. The Independence 09 petition is hosted there. It too was an unusual attack in that it was complicated, widespread, and redundant. Perhaps this initial attack on Petition Online was a test for what would amount to be a future attack on government sites. I believe, due to sophistication, that it would originate from a foreign intelligence service, if not directly then tied indirectly.

If it is found to originate from the United States you can be assured that it will lead to restrictions on the flow of traffic on the internet. Times are changing. In this new Era of large government, blanket civilian-surveillance, and one-sided political power anything is possible, and if you love the internet, you should be paying attention 'cause this is how it starts.

[edit on 8-7-2009 by projectvxn]

Word 'sophisticated' here doesn't mean much... since we don't know how secure their servers really are. It could be an inside job as well.

Also, this could be doing of a 15-year old, since all it requires is one PC and a lot of knowledge.

- Johnny take out the trash pelase
- But muumm...
- Johnny, no buts!
- But I'm about to download US nuclear assault plans....
- I said NO BUTS, trash now!

reply to post by MysterE


This was done by the government themselves (to themselves). It's just another reason for them to take the internet away from the public and gain more control over "freedom of speech". It's always the same...they create a problem, they get our reaction (usually fear, discomfort, stress) and then the government says "hey, we have the solution to your problem you just have to give up some more of your rights and we will protect you from the bad guys" and we all know they never do, but like sheep we keep falling for the same lies...over and over. They keep diligently chipping away at our rights slowly until they are all gone and we are slaves.........to whom are we slaves? Why would people work so hard for a plan that most die and never see come to fruition...and the next generation does the same? I speak of the ostensible annihilation of the human race. That is the million dollar question.

FTC
Visitors by Country:
United States 69.7%
India 6.1%
Russian Federation 3.7%
Great Britain (UK) 2.3%
Ukraine 1.8%
Canada 1.5%



US Treas
Visitors by Country:
United States 67.7%
Russian Federation 6.1%
India 4.9%
Iran 3.6%
Pakistan 2.6%
China 2.1%

4chan
Visitors by Country:
United States 54.5%
Canada 4.7%
Germany 4.7%
Great Britain (UK) 4.4%
India 3.3%
South Africa 3%


This wasn't done by teenage hackers at all. The mere fact that all of these sites are using Apache servers shoots that theory down the #ter. 4chan does not use apache. For all we know their web host is on Windows NT, and literally anyone was ntx99.exe-ing the pi$$ out of them.
However look at the countries that visit them. Especially the US fed sites, I think there was a joint Indian-Soviet operation here

[edit on 8-7-2009 by r66y712]

reply to post by projectvxn

is this the attack that left our fleet in the south pacific or asia or something incommunicado for a week? someone mentioned this in another topic.

Originally posted by SR
Or it's all apart of the inside plan to false flag an operation so they can enforce the Cyber Act 2009 and expand it's powers so you guys in the USA lose your free internet.


The EU is already rolling out the internet tax on state at a time so it's more likely than you think that something big is going on in the west to try and take control the internet from the people.

This is NO false flag or conspiracy trip, its real, its happening on a daily basis it has never stopped for the past 10 years.

They are simply even more evasive in their methods far more resourceful and they now have money to purchase state of the art devices which can do just about anything you dream as fantasy.

Did you think all those computer viruses and trojans were kids or university students..?

Peace.

reply to post by SR

Or it's all apart of the inside plan to false flag an operation so they can enforce the Cyber Act 2009 and expand it's powers so you guys in the USA lose your free internet.

My thoughts exactly. This will be used to restrict our "freedoms" even further. Ironic that it started on the 4th of July.

I would be very intreasted as to what kind of infomation ,if any,was lost in this current cyber attack.Was this cyber attack set up by the goverment just to delete sensitive infomation on other peoples computers.Maybe who ever stole the infomatiom wanted certian people to think that infomation was lost,but infact its in someones computer somewhere else.Just hope its not the chinese or russians.

Source = news.bbc.co.uk...

Looks like the North Koreans are being blamed on this attack.

"South Korea's Yonhap News Agency is reporting that North Korea may be behind Tuesday's cyber attack.

The country's National Intelligence Service (NIS) suspects North Korea or its sympathisers may have been behind the attack, according to sources who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity"

regards
Steve

THIS is their reason to censor and 'overhaul' security on the internet, this wasn't an outside attack IMO. Now they will rally round to 'protect America and its cictizens from the internet at any cost!'

This is the excuse they've been waiting for.

EMM

Les all sit back and enjoy

The Obama administration has decided to proceed with a classified Bush administration plan to let the NSA monitor traffic going to and from government civilian networks to protect the networks from malicious code and activity, according to a Washington Post story on Friday.

and

n May, President Obama declared that the government’s “pursuit of cybersecurity will not include — I repeat, will not include — monitoring private sector networks or internet traffic. We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans.”

Do you think were lying to the public..?


www.wired.com...

Originally posted by stevecc
Source = news.bbc.co.uk...

Looks like the North Koreans are being blamed on this attack.

"South Korea's Yonhap News Agency is reporting that North Korea may be behind Tuesday's cyber attack.

The country's National Intelligence Service (NIS) suspects North Korea or its sympathisers may have been behind the attack, according to sources who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity"

regards
Steve

Yeah, a new thread already came up about it. Threads pop up like crazy here.

My 2 cents. NK doesn't have the capability to do this.

But you all thought NK right off after hearing about the US and SK sites being attacked right? That was the point.

It's a distraction imo.

I don't think NK could do this.

Does anyone have any knowledge of any of our secret networks ever getting hacked? I am just curious, as I doubt that it could ever really happen without some inside help.....if it has happened, I have never heard of it in my 6 plus years working with them on a daily basis.

Originally posted by tristar

Do you think were lying to the public..?

www.wired.com...

Yes...are you new to that idea? No offense.