The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Brace Yourself for Cyber Attacks? It's not out of the question...
From The Jawa Report--a blog that has been following this issue very closely--a warning that Islamist Jihadists are planning coordinated cyber attacks very soon:
A few precautions can help: make sure you have lots of batteries (if case the electrical grid shuts down), and it is always advisable to have several days food and water supply. Have enough cash on hand for several days in case electronic systems lock up. Diligently update your browser, firewalls, and anti-virus programs to latest releases, and continue to do this frequently. And be watchful for phishing schemes and other ploys in the coming days and weeks. Finally, don't open email from which the source is unknown.
And--just in case you forgot--it isn't just Islamists that have America in its cross hairs; our "good friends" the Chinese are reportedly planning coordinated attacks also.
Bottom line: it could get ugly. So be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.
With Al Qaeda weakened militarily, a coordinated attack on Western computing assets, including banks and other financial institutions, is a logical scenario for an otherwise weakened enemy.With al-Qaeda on the ropes in Iraq, and a long, cold winter to look forward to in Afghanistan, it seems bin Laden's buddies are looking for easier pickings.
Enter the 1337 cyber-jihad warriors, to crush sites like The Jawa Report with their mad hacker skillz.
From Northeast Intelligence Network:
A variety of messages on Arabic language web sites are rallying Islamic hackers worldwide, especially those in the U.S., Canada and the UK to participate in a virtual jihad against anti-terrorism Internet web sites that shine the light of truth on the non-Muslim sites. Consistent with an article published by DEBKA this week, analysts of the Northeast Intelligence Network have found messages in near template format announcing the launch of an “electronic jihad” against Western, Jewish, Israeli, Muslim apostate sites in the coming days, and other messages attempting to recruit additional Muslim “warriors” in their efforts to exact revenge on sites that report the truth behind their worldwide jihad.
The initial announcement was picked up by researchers on Monday, the same day as Debka’s counter-terrorism sources. According to the investigation performed by the cyber investigations unit of the Northeast Intelligence Network, English speaking Muslim college students in western countries, especially inside North America, have signed on to hack and deface open source news sites first. Concurrent with that endeavor, the hackers will attempt to strike government sites and online sites of importance to our infrastructure, from utilities to banks. As many of these hackers are in the United States and Canada, many who attend our universities and are adept at hacking skills, this most recent virtual jihad could well cause interruptions; system administrators should be vigilant in the upcoming days and weeks to potential vulnerabilities.
A few precautions can help: make sure you have lots of batteries (if case the electrical grid shuts down), and it is always advisable to have several days food and water supply. Have enough cash on hand for several days in case electronic systems lock up. Diligently update your browser, firewalls, and anti-virus programs to latest releases, and continue to do this frequently. And be watchful for phishing schemes and other ploys in the coming days and weeks. Finally, don't open email from which the source is unknown.
And--just in case you forgot--it isn't just Islamists that have America in its cross hairs; our "good friends" the Chinese are reportedly planning coordinated attacks also.
Bottom line: it could get ugly. So be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.
