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[infowar.de] Cyber Proteste im Krieg gegen den Terrorismus
Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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als PDF: http://www.nipc.gov/publications/nipcpub/cyberprotests1101.pdf
als html:
http://www.iwar.org.uk/cip/resources/nipc/cyberprotestupdate.htm
Cyber Protests Related to the War on Terrorism:
The Current Threat
November 2001
This paper is an up-to-date companion to the information on cyber
protests
and hacktivism presented in the paper ?Cyber Protests: The Threat to the
U.S. Information Infrastructure? located at www.nipc.gov. This paper
focuses
on the events that occurred since the September 11 terrorist attacks and
the
resulting rise in threats to the U.S. information infrastructure, to
include
the potential for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 the speculation of
the
potential for cyber attacks has varied, from low-level nuisances to an
all
out ?cyber war.? What has been seen thus far is on the low side of the
threat spectrum. Both pro-U.S. protesters and anti-U.S. protesters have
been
active. However, the effects of their actions have not been particularly
damaging. In reviewing these events, trend analysis indicates the
continuing
remote cyber threat to U.S. networks and web sites remains low. However,
the
threat is higher than before September 11.
PRO-U.S. HACKERS
Beginning on September 11, patriot hackers and hacking groups on
Internet
Relay Chat (IRC) and newsgroups called for attacks on Pakistani and
Afghani
web sites. They promoted active retaliation for the terrorist attacks
on
the World Trade Center and Pentagon. A web site dealing with Afghan dogs
was
reportedly the first victim of pro-U.S. cyber protesters. On September
12,
the official web site of the Government of Pakistan was defaced. Other
web
sites defaced were those belonging to the Afghan News Network, Afghan
Politics, Taleban.com, and Talibanonline.com.
Spam (unwanted mass e-mails) was also used to encourage hackers to join
together in attacking web sites of Islamic fundamentalism and those
supporting terrorism. Recipients were encouraged to further disseminate
the
message to persuade others to join the fight in any way they can, be it
active hacking or in a support role such as information gathering.
Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks were also used by hackers. E-mail
bombing is
a popular form of a DoS attack. Massive amounts of e-mail or web traffic
are
directed against a specific site, overloading it and causing it to
crash. On
September 12, the official web site of the Presidential Palace of
Afghanistan was affected by a DoS attack that rendered it inaccessible.
Usenet newsgroups dealing with Islam have also experienced DoS attacks.
The
newsgroup soc.religion.islam was e-mail bombed by hackers and
subsequently
crashed.
The call to hackers to join forces has been successful. A group calling
itself the Dispatchers has taken up the task of striking out against
Palestinian and Afghani web sites. Lead by a hacker named The Rev, who
has
defaced several sites since February, the group vowed to target those
responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks. Their first known
defacement, committed on September 16, was the Iranian Ministry of the
Interior. They stated their intentions to continue defacing and crashing
sites in retaliation of the terrorist attacks and they have successfully
done so, although they have not been heard from since late September.
A prominent pro-U.S. hacking group formed in late September. Founded by
the
wealthy, German hacker Kim Schmitz, Young Intelligent Hackers Against
Terror
(YIHAT) has as its goal to gather information on terrorists and give
that
information to the proper U.S. authorities. They claim to have hacked
into a
Sudanese bank and found records linking bank accounts to Al-Qaida and
Osama
bin Laden. They have also created a web site at www.kill.net for
recruiting
purposes which has suffered DoS attacks from opposing hackers and
hacking
groups supporting anti-U.S. sentiments, including Fluffi Bunni, a
well-known
hacker in the community. Subsequently, this has forced YIHAT to move its
activities ?underground? and operate covertly to protect their members.
They
have apparently discontinued use of the kill.net web site. Although
YIHAT
denounces web defacements there have been numerous defacements committed
in
its name. This appears to be a fringe element of the group, an outsider
wishing to be accepted into the group, or someone wanting to discredit
the
organization. YIHAT also announced plans to seek state sponsorship from
a
nation that would legalize their hacking activities in their effort to
fight
terrorism. They also plan to open a hacking training center to better
train
their members. The group?s expanding size has been listed at 800
registered
members, although press accounts have placed the number at 25 to 35
active
members.
ANTI-U.S. HACKERS
On September 14, Fluffi Bunni defaced web sites numbering in the
thousands
by compromising an ISP domain name server and redirecting those sites to
a
page created by himself. The message was ?Fluffi Bunni Goes Jihad.? This
is
believed to be the largest single defacement act regarding the terrorist
protests. This event only lasted an hour but the number of sites
affected
was many. Also on September 14, the LifeStages computer virus was
renamed to
WTC.txt.vbs in order to infect computer users who were curious about the
World Trade Center. The resulting effect on computer systems was
minimal.
September 15 saw the e-commerce web site belonging to First Responder
Supplies hacked by a group claiming to be the Brazilian hacking group
Illegal Crew. It is common for hacker groups not associated with a
particular event or cause to take up arms in the cyber protests.
Brazilian
hackers have been involved in protests against the United States for a
couple of years. The Pakistan Hackerz Club (PHC), including Doctor
Nuker,
and GForce Pakistan have also been active in hacking U.S. web sites.
GForce
Pakistan is a Pakistani hacker group, which formed in February 2000 and
is
primarily known for web page defacements of Israeli, Indian, and U.S.
government web sites. The primary stated motive for their cyber activity
to
date is in protest of alleged violence and human rights violations
against
Muslims in Israel and Kashmir. On October 17 the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration?s web server was hacked in the name of GForce
Pakistan which threatened to attack other U.S. and British military web
sites unless the demands posted on the defacement are met. Days later,
on
October 20, GForce allegedly defaced a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
web
site belonging to the Defense Test and Evaluation Processional
Institute.
This low-level web page defacement illustrates the ability of the
hackers to
compromise servers but it is unlikely any high-level DoD web servers
will be
successfully hacked. Other well known hackers have indicated they will
join
the attacks on U.S. web sites.
Web servers and other computer systems in foreign nations are
vulnerable as
well as those in the United States. An incident occurred on October 1,
in
Hungary, when hackers compromised the Hungarian National Security
Office?s
web site and defaced a page with anti-U.S. propaganda. This indicates
the
hackers? willingness to go after those nations not directly involved in
the
current war on terrorism.
CALLS FOR AN END TO HACKING
Not all hacker groups have been supportive in the efforts to attack the
United States. On September 14, a group of German hackers, the Chaos
Computer Club, called for an end to the protests and for all computer
enthusiasts to stop vigilante actions. They called for global
communication
to resolve the conflict. Their peaceful efforts were publicized but
largely
unheeded by the hacker community as indicated by the continuing
defacements
on both sides of the issue. Cyber Angels, a well-known group of hackers
promoting responsible behavior, have also spoken against the hacking
conflict. They sponsored television ads urging hackers not to get caught
up
in the over zealous fervor, rather, urging these same hackers to help
gather
intelligence and information on the criminals who are participating in
this
hacktivism.
CONCLUSION
Groups of Pakistani hackers have declared cyber jihad on the United
States
and are calling on all hackers of Muslim faith to participate. GForce
Pakistan has taken on a large role in building a coalition to fight the
United States as military operations are taking place. Their main
targets
are U.S. sites but they are also attacking Indian sites and foreign
sites
supporting the United States. They have stated that they will continue
to
target military sites and web sites that support critical
infrastructure.
There has been a spillover effect of the protests. Several misdirected
hacks have taken place including the defacements on September 16 of Aon
Corporation, a Chicago-based insurance provider, because they have
?terrorism? in the URLs. Aon lost approximately 200 employees in their
World
Trade Center office. A group calling itself ?The Dispatchers? apologized
for
the mistake. Foreign nations are being affected as well. An Australian
web
site was compromised on September 27 by anti-U.S. hackers because it had
?tradecenter? in its URL. This is a common occurrence in that hackers
haphazardly target sites without investigating the company?s background.
Some sites are being attacked merely because their names sound vaguely
Arabic. Pro-U.S. hackers will continue to respond to the conflict in
cyberspace. There may be more misdirected action against U.S. web sites,
those of U.S. allies, or those not involved in the military response to
the
terrorist attacks.
In the week following the terrorist attacks, web page defacements were
well
publicized. However, the overall number and sophistication remained
rather
low. Many of the sites that were defaced by pro-U.S. protesters had
pictures
of Osama bin Laden inserted in various poses, some with him burning in
flames or with a gun to his head. Many of the sites defaced by anti-U.S.
protesters had pictures of dead or dying Arab children with statements
alleging the hypocrisy of the actions of the United States.
As many expert Information Technology security organizations have
intoned
since September 11, the potential for more serious cyber attacks does
exist;
however, they do not appear to be imminent. It is believed that the
cyber
protests, hacktivism, and on-line defacements will continue and may
escalate
as the United States continues military involvement. The potential for
future DDoS attacks remains high. The protesters have indicated they are
targeting web sites of DoD and organizations that support the critical
infrastructure of the United States, but many businesses and other
organizations?some completely unrelated to the events?have been victims.
As
such, infrastructure-related organizations should maintain a heightened
defensive stance in regards to their web servers and networks connected
to
the Internet.
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