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Computer and Technology |
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“CYBERCRIME and CYBER TERRORISM” Presented by Sanjay Virmani
This was the topic of the Thursday, September 15th presentation by FBI Special Agent Sanjay Virmani who is a member of the 10 man squad based in Oakland that is charged with the investigation of Computer Cyber Intrusions by would be terrorists. Terrorists seek to create fear in our midst. Cyber terrorists have a relatively easy time of it. With the globalization of the infrastructure they can operate from any location in the world while maintaining anonymity. There is a rich supply of targets for them to choose from. And, they use our own systems against us. Just think of the airliners used in the 9/11 attacks. In Non-Attack mode terrorists set up websites and use them for C3 activities: that is Command, Control, and Communications. These include recruiting and training new terrorists; fund raising operations; advertising; and propaganda. The groups involved are primarily Islamic groups with operations carried out mainly in the Arabic language. They use message boards to communicate with each other, for example publishing” How To” manuals. Hacktivism is their attack mode; computer hacking with a cause. After they gain entry to a victim’s computer they install their own software to turn it into a server. Then the cyber terrorism begins; (DoS) Denial of service, Intrusion, SCADA. DoS floods the system with network traffic overloading it to the point of shutdown. In distributed DoS an army of slave machines is assembled to completely overwhelm the intended victim. SCADA stands for Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition. It is a mode in which the terrorists actually take control of a system. This happened in Queensland Australia where they took control of the local sewage system and caused it to malfunction. Our critical infrastructure to protect is Government, Communications, Electrical systems, Gas and oil, Water, Banks and Transportation. The new wave in the FBI is to be more innovative. More cooperation is required. A readiness to defend is required. More education and know what the real threats are. Infragard is a partnership between the private sector and the US government to exchange information on the terrorist threat. |