Fun_People Archive
17 Feb
NTK Bits, 2000-02-11

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 100 12:32:53 -0800
To: Fun_People
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Subject: NTK  Bits, 2000-02-11

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         "This much is known: Mallett made clear in statements Monday
         that Yahoo's routers were overwhelmed during the attack.
         Routers act like mechanical air traffic controllers for
         traffic coming in and out of computer networks."
         - Yahoo COO and man-in-the-middle JEFF MALLETT calms MSNBC
       ..the FBI seeking steampunk hackers with difference engine skills


                                >> HARD NEWS <<
                               loods of trinoos

	 As of going to server, there's still no news on who is behind the
	 concerted DoS attacks that so crippled America's ability to buy
	 Pokemon trading cards earlier this week.  Allow us to add our 200
	 words of fact-free speculation. As The Edge likes to say: qui
	 bono? Let's look at the clues.  The sites chosen are, so far,
	 exclusively American, with a reputation for being rather well run
	 (well, apart from E-Bay). All the first hits took place right in
	 the center of the individual site's peak periods; probably a
	 coincidence, but if deliberate, that requires a high degree of
	 proprietary knowledge. Then there's the end results. We've seen
	 the FBI going open source and releasing code to help prevent and
	 detect the attack, we've seen network providers like GlobalCenter
	 realising they're going to have to be more responsive, and smaller
	 sysadmins admit they're going have to tighten security at the edge
	 of the network, and install more clueful filtering. Everything
	 veteran administrators have been suggesting for years. None of
	 which benefits the presumed miscreants, script kiddies, who would
	 anyway have blurted by now and been transported to world fame and
	 a prison sentence. Our confident conclusion, then: it was an inside
	 job _by the sysadmins at the big sites themselves_ Oh, sure, they
	 all have the perfect alibi: that they were at NANOG listening to
	 a talk on DoS attacks when the first wave broke. But what do you
	 think they were talking *about*, you *sheep*? As we like to say
	 at every opportunity, Mr President:
         http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000211/bs/hackers_clinton_1.html
                                      - they're in the room with you!
         http://www.washington.edu/People/dad/
                               - motive, ability, calls himself "Dad"
         http://www.realnames.com/
                    - *and* real names hacked? round up the DNS guys!

                               >> SMALL PRINT <<

       Need to Know is a useful and interesting UK digest of things that
         happened last week or might happen next week. You can read it
       on Friday afternoon or print it out then take it home if you have
     nothing better to do. It is compiled by NTK from stuff they get sent.
                       Registered at the Post Office as
            "having a burning passion to encourage teenage girls
                       to take control of their lives."
                                 NEED TO KNOW
            THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE'RE STEALING IT BACK.
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