Has the attack begun?

[Eagle]

I've been reading about warnings from the Department of Homeland Defense (didn't we already have a Department of Defense? Why do we need a second -- to protect us from the first? The way they're going I think we need the firsat to protect us against the second. Oh, well) that we should expect hacker attacks against the Internet. Have they started? It's now almost midnight on the east coast. AT&T's home page loaded painfully slowly. Can't access MSN or Netscape home pages at all. is slower than usual and I just had to reload a thread because the first time I got a screen full of blank rectangles instead of text.

Are we under attack? The terrorists better not interfere with my daily fix or I will be very VERY upset.

 

[Slip Kid]

I can't download any free music either, I hate terrorism....

 

[Bent]

They musta got earthlink too. I couldn't get on, change access #s or nuttin. I had to use AOL. They shuda got aol instead.

 

[Glenn B]

Yes, there is a lot of activity. microsoft.com was even down earlier, as where a few news sites.

naxja does not run on Windows computers, so this particular worm will not do much, other than fill the log files a bit when they probe. If you see a slowdown at naxja, it is due to internet congestion somewhere between you and naxja. A DOS attack would be different.

http://www.nipc.gov/warnings/advisories/2003/Potential7302003.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/homepage/features/2003/denialofservice.htm

I have seen a lot of talk about the scanning and dos attacks lately. We will just have to ride it out.
Glenn

 

[PhatXJ]

I just got on the MSN home page, then jumped on the Earthlink homepage all while downloading free music.



Naw, but seriously, I have noticed a few things slowing down a bit lately.

 

[Eagle]

I guess it's time to trot out that old computer and play with Linux.

 

[Kejtar]

Lets not start the same ol' MS vs 'nux battle.... Both have faults and both have strengths. Also those that will claim that one is better then the other I can spend some time and dig up a loooooong list of patches release for both to take care of security problems. ANyways..... also the net being attacked has probably more to do with some poor kid not getting laid on Fri night (and now he's taking it out on the rest of the world LOL) then with terrorism.... terrorists are rarely this subtle: they ussually want to show everyone what they can do and they want the world to know that it was them. It's kind of a demostration of power for them.

Kejtar

 

[Glenn B]

Too funny. Nowhere above did I see anybody debating or discussing what is better. You started down that road.

BTW, this is a lot more than "some poor kid not getting laid on Fri night....." Terrorists? Not likely... but much more than some kid...
Glenn

Lets not start the same ol' MS vs 'nux battle.... Both have faults and both have strengths. Also those that will claim that one is better then the other I can spend some time and dig up a loooooong list of patches release for both to take care of security problems. ANyways..... also the net being attacked has probably more to do with some poor kid not getting laid on Fri night (and now he's taking it out on the rest of the world LOL) then with terrorism.... terrorists are rarely this subtle: they ussually want to show everyone what they can do and they want the world to know that it was them. It's kind of a demostration of power for them.

Kejtar

 

[Beezil]

why can't the terrorists just take out aol?

that would be awesome.

 

[GSequoia]

why can't the terrorists just take out aol?

Because, my friend, then they would no longer be terrorists because they'd be doing a major public service.

 

[Kejtar]

Too funny. Nowhere above did I see anybody debating or discussing what is better. You started down that road.


You must have missed Eagle's post

guess it's time to trot out that old computer and play with Linux."

Kejtar

 

[Glenn B]

You must have missed Eagle's post

Nope, I saw it. I just did not read it as home saying one was better than the other.... but rather he was going to play with linux a bit.

I run both. I am not worried about it.
Glenn

 

[Eagle]

Doesn't have anything to do with "better." It's my understanding that the current wave of hacker attacks are aimed at flaws in Windows, so if I get running with Linux I can worry a teeny bit less. That's all.

 

[XJEEPER]

why can't the terrorists just take out aol?

that would be awesome.

Silly Beezil, the group know as AOL ARE terrorists!

 

[Yucca-Man]

Jeez - leave it up to the Department of Homeland Insecurity to cry wolf - again. I had to deal with their so-called "security" this weekend to and from Sacramento, and still can't believe people believe they are a useful, benevolent agency.

 

[Eagle]

... still can't believe people believe they are a useful, benevolent agency.

I am not aware of anyone who believes that. I doubt that even Tom Ridge believes that -- perhaps especially not Tom, since he above all must know how screwed up they are. It's all window dressing. The government knows they can't really do anything (read "won't" do anything) to effectively make us safer, so they give us a lot of eyewash to create the appearance of doing something.

 

[Tucker]

Some related info...

I found a disturbing note in my Comcast cable privacy statement.

Not only are they collecting minute-by-minute private demographic information (what we're watching, and when, and what features we use on the channel guide) -- that's disgusting enough -- but the note says that their liability for the use and dissemination of that information is limited by the Patriot Act.

The homeland security hysteria is dangerous, folks. We are giving up our civil rights at an extremely fast pace. At the risk of sounding like a stereotypical conspiracy monger, I fear that the First and Fourth Amendments are threatened. And we are the ones behind this, not some ethereal shady government agency. We demanded the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and when the time comes that the department outlaws free speech we will welcome it in the name of anti-terrorism.

 

[Yucca-Man]

You'll find that privacy statements have been revised in the last two years, all including some phrase along those lines. Even your doctor's office can be forced to divulge information about you without ever telling you

Eagle - Somebody still seems to think those jokers in the TSA are functional. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that they are functional idiots, yet they continue to hold jobs and give the sheep..err...masses a warm fuzzy feeling.

 

[Eagle]

I just saw another headline that "the gummint" is back to worrying about terrorists shooting down airliners with missiles.

Well DUH! All the misfits in the world wearing their spiffy TSA jackets in the erminal won't prevent that. Anybody ever drive by Newark Airport in New Jersey? The NJ turnpike runs parallel to the main runway, and the whole area is surrounded by swamps and marsh. Any 12-year old with a stinger could hike in there at night, take a shot at a plane, and disappear without a trace.

Meanwhile, the TSA is doing its absolute best to delay and sabotage the will of Congress regarding arming of pilots. After writing a bunch of ridiculous rules that make no sense, they have now put the program on hold for an indefinite period while they move the training center from one side of the country to the other.

But wait ... why shoot at a plane you're likely to miss? The same area around Newark is a petroleum tank farm -- why not just fire that missile at a big, unmoving oil tank and turn the whole of north Joisey into an inferno?

Morons.

 

[Glenn B]

Passing along some quotes. I have not checked for %100 authenticity.

"The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States)
assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it
by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed and
that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom
of property, and freedom of press." - Thomas Jefferson

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety...." -
Benjamin Franklin

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those
who are neither inclined nor determined to commit
crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and
better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage
than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be
attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." -
Thomas Jefferson

"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be
disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe.
the supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by
the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed,
and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular
troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United
States." - Noah Webster

"To disarm the people (is) the best and most effectual way
to enslave them..." - George Mason

"The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be
needed until they try to take it." -Thomas Jefferson

"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere
restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor
with all that's good" - George Washington

"Firearms are second only to the Constitution in
importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth." -
George Washington

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India,
history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation
of arms, as the blackest." - Mahatma Ghandi

While it may be that a society in which crime is so rare that no one
ever needs to carry a weapon is "civilized," a society that stigmatizes
the carrying of weapons by the law-abiding -- because it distrusts its
citizens more than it fears rapists, robbers, and murderers -- certainly
cannot claim this distinction.
- Jeffrey Snyder, "Nation of Cowards"