________________________________________________________________________________ FBI Site Still Down 11:04 a.m. 28.May.1999 PST Two days after crackers flooded the FBI's ISP, the Feds are keeping their site offline. An FBI inquiry into computer assaults prompted the latest attack. FBI Site Still Down Reuters 11:40 a.m. 28.May.99.PDT Crackers apparently retaliating against FBI raids overwhelmed the agency's Internet site this week in an electronic attack that has forced it to shut down its site, the FBI said Friday. The FBI, which investigates computer cracking and helps safeguard the security of the US government's computers, said that the Web site, www.fbi.gov, went down Wednesday evening. FBI officials did not know when it would be back online. The FBI reported that it was investigating the attack as an act of retaliation after search warrants were carried out earlier this week in Seattle, Houston, and parts of California in an investigation into computer crackers. The agency has yet to identify any suspects responsible for the attack. Officials emphasized that the crackers did not actually penetrate the FBI's Web site or change any files there. They apparently ran a program on another computer that flooded the IBM computer hosting the FBI's Web site -- making it appear as if millions of Internet users had tried to read the Web site. It resulted in a denial of service, said officials. FBI spokesman Paul Bresson described the agency's Web site "as a public relations tool" containing press releases and speeches. "There's nothing on it that is in any way sensitive or classified." Crackers Target Federal Sites 3:00 a.m. 1.Jun.1999 PST Computer crackers break into two government Web sites and threaten more intrusions unless the FBI stops harrassing hackers. Crackers Target Federal Sites Wired News Report 3:00 a.m. 1.Jun.99.PDT Crackers vandalized two US government Web sites over the weekend and threatened to attack more federal computers in the wake of a related FBI investigation, The Associated Press reported Monday. The crackers defaced an Interior Department site, leaving behind the message: "Now, it's our turn to hit them where it hurts by going after every computer on the Net with a .gov [domain name suffix].... We'll keep hitting them until they get down on their knees and beg." At the site maintained by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, a note threatened the electronic destruction of its Web servers "if the FBI doesn't stop," the AP reported. "We could have done worse, like destroying completely all servers," the note said. "We can do it if we want, but hackers are waiting for Justice." In an online interview with the AP, a hacker who claimed responsibility for the laboratory attack warned that further FBI investigation would result in more severe damage. The hacker, who identified himself as "M1crochip," said he was living in Portugal and part of a group calling themselves "F0rpaxe." The interview was arranged through a mutually trusted third party. "If FBI doesn't do anything and doesn't stop arresting people and making our life miserable, each member of F0rPaxe will discuss an eventual destruction of every single server," the cracker said. "If that happens, everything goes down." He added, "We don't want to proceed that way," and told the AP the attacks were the "only resource" of the hacker community. "These are the perils of open government," Interior spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna told the AP. "We try to make as much of the materials of the Interior Department as open and available as possible. The consequence of that is those who choose to do damaging things can do that." The FBI in Washington declined comment Monday. Last week, crackers claiming to represent another group defaced the official US Senate Web site, which subsequently went offline until the weekend. The FBI also took down its own Internet site last week after crackers launched an electronic attack. The site remained inaccessible Monday, as did the National Infrastructure Protection Center site, which helps investigate computer crimes. Crackers left messages at the attacked sites suggesting the vandalism was in retaliation for what they claimed was the FBI's harassment of specific hacker groups, including the group that boasted of cracking the White House site last month. The FBI confirmed it executed four search warrants last week in Texas related to an investigation into allegations of computer intrusion, including one search at the home of a prominent hacker in Houston. Earlier this month, a grand jury in northern Virginia indicted Eric Burns, 19, on three counts of computer intrusion. Burns, reportedly known on the Internet as "Zyklon," was accused of breaking into a computer used by the US Information Agency between August 1998 and January 1999. The grand jury also said Burns broke into two other computers, one owned by LaserNet of Fairfax, Virginia, and the other by Issue Dynamics Inc. of Washington. Zyklon is believed to be a member of the group that claimed responsibility for the attacks on the White House and Senate sites. Zyklon was one of a dozen names listed on the hacked version of the White House Web site, which was altered overnight Sunday for a few minutes before government computers automatically detected the intrusion. Warnings for Would-Be Crackers 3:00 a.m. 2.Jun.1999 PST The White House says breaking into government computers is not play, and dot-gov attackers will pay. Meanwhile, federal sites brace for future intrusions. Warnings for Would-Be Crackers Reuters 3:00 a.m. 2.Jun.99.PDT Annoyed by a recent wave of attacks against official US government Web sites, the White House on Tuesday warned that crackers who target federal Internet sites would be caught and punished. "There's a government-wide effort to make sure that our computer systems remain secure," White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said in a briefing. "For those who think that this is some sort of sport, I think (it will be) less fun when the authorities do catch up with them." To protect against attacks that in recent days and weeks have disabled sites run by the Department of Energy, the FBI, the Senate, the Interior Department, and the White House, the Defense Department said it planned to temporarily shut down its Web site, said Ken Bacon, the Pentagon's chief spokesman. "This is much more protective than reactive," Bacon said. "It's looking to the future to prevent the types of problems that the other agencies" have experienced in recent weeks on their sites, he said. Attacking US government Web sites is becoming an increasingly popular tool of people angry with the Clinton administration and its agencies. Last week, crackers responded to a six-state FBI sweep of about 20 suspected hackers by attacking several government Internet locations, forcing the FBI, the Interior Department, and the US Senate to temporarily shut down their Web sites. After NATO jets hit the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in May, crackers from China attacked a handful of US government sites, including one maintained by the Department of Energy. In an unrelated incident, the official White House site was shut down briefly when unidentified crackers attempted to tamper with it, officials said. In recent years, the Justice Department's site has been shut down once by crackers who put Nazi swastikas on its home page, while the CIA to shut down its site after crackers changed the name from "Central Intelligence Agency" to "Central Stupidity Agency." With many government sites under attack, computer security experts are bracing for additional Internet hacking incidents. Supporters of Kevin Mitnick, a cracker jailed in Los Angeles since February 1995, will demonstrate in 14 US cities on Friday, seeking his release to a halfway house and an easy probation when he is sentenced on 14 June. Mitnick, 35, pleaded guilty on 26 March to seven counts of wire fraud, computer fraud, and illegal interception of a wire communication. Federal officials said he impersonated an employee of Finland-based Nokia to steal software worth US$240,000. He also stole software from Motorola, Novell, Fujitsu Network Transmission Systems, and Sun Microsystems, federal officials said. Supporters of Mitnick say the four years Mitnick has spent in jail awaiting trial is a harsher term than for many people convicted of violent crimes like robbery and assault. Their protest on Friday will seek a more lenient sentence. The US Attorney for the Central District of California said Mitnick would be sentenced to 46 months in prison on 14 June as part of his plea bargain agreement with the government. Mitnick, whose exploits inspired an upcoming Hollywood movie, also will be obliged to pay the victims of his crimes from any profits he makes from books or movies about his life, a spokesman for the US Attorney's office said. While hacking incidents may not be part of Friday's nationwide protest, there could be a surge in attacks if Mitnick's sentence is perceived as too stiff, said John Vranesevich, the founder and director of AntiOnline Ltd. "Hackers attack when they're mad about something. The demonstration on Friday will be an attempt to educate," said Vranesevich. "However, if Kevin Mitnick is put in jail, there very well could be more attacks after that." Still, other experts said Internet sites should upgrade their security against possible attack before Friday. "Given the timing, it probably would be a good idea to be more on-guard than usual," said Jevon Jaconi, the district attorney of Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, and an expert in the developing field of cyberspace law. Between 70 percent and 80 percent of all Internet cracking occurs on systems that have not updated their security codes, routinely sent by computer manufacturers and network administrators, Jaconi said. ________________________________________________________________________________ no copyright 1999 rolux.org - no commercial use without permission. is a moderated mailing list for the advancement of minor criticism. more information: mail to: majordomo@rolux.org, subject line: , message body: info. further questions: mail to: rolux-owner@rolux.org. archive: http://www.rolux.org