Equal-opportunity Pollies should now consider hassling the FBI over all of those extremist, doomer forecasts they made in PROJECT MEGIDDO which failed to materialize...:)

LINK

FOR FBI, NEW YEAR'S NO BUSIER THAN USUAL
FEARS OF TERRORISM FAILED TO MATERIALIZE

Associated Press

January 07, 2000

WASHINGTON Despite fears of terrorism over the New Year's weekend, the number of investigations the FBI opened into computer crimes and physical threats or violence was not unusual for a seven-day period, a senior FBI official said Thursday.

The FBI opened six investigations of computer crimes and 12 probes of physical threats or violence nationwide from Dec. 29 through Jan. 5, said Mike Vatis, head of the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center.

"The level was not beyond the norm you would usually see in that number of days," Vatis said. "On neither side -- cybercrime or physical threats--did we think the weekend activity was particularly unusual."

Vatis said some new computer viruses were found, but there were no significant millennium-related attacks during the seven days his office operated a command post inside the FBI's Strategic Information and Operations Center in Washington. He also said there was no increase in attacks from overseas.

All of the investigations remain open, but any threats from people involved have been neutralized, Vatis said.

He said three of the six computer-crime investigations were opened in response to reports from private companies that had downloaded special detection software that Vatis' office posted Dec. 30 on its Web page. Using the FBI's software, three private companies found hacker tools hidden in their computer systems.

The software has been downloaded by more than 2,600 companies and individuals.

Vatis said the computer investigations involved hacker attacks using what are known as "distributed denial of service" tools. In such cases, hackers hide tools, known as daemons, inside large computer systems, like those at universities. The hackers later issue commands from their own computer to order each of hundreds of demons to attack a target computer system through various portals. These multiple attacks can cause the target system to crash or become so overloaded it cannot function.

FBI field offices, each of which also maintained a command post over the New Year's weekend, opened a dozen investigations of physical destruction or threats of it.

Vatis would not discuss details of any of the investigations, but his office is responsible for protecting computer systems, such as the banking system, and physical infrastructure, including power and telephone lines, transportation routes and water systems, from either electronic or physical attacks.

In Bend, Ore., an 80-foot powerline tower carrying high-voltage electricity from the Pacific Northwest to the Southwest was toppled Dec 30. But David Szady, head of the FBI's Portland office, said no explosive was used.

"The cause has been determined and has been reported as an act of malicious mischief," Szady said.

A conservative group criticized the FBI for warning state and local police officials to be on the lookout for violent white supremacists, apocalyptic cults, radical lone wolf members of private citizen militias and other groups that promote violent millennial agendas.

This effort, named Project Megiddo, "did nothing to prevent terrorism," said Lisa Dean of the Free Congress Foundation. Because many of the cults mentioned by the FBI "believe, according to Scripture, that this world will some day end and Jesus Christ will come again, the FBI used the Y2K situation to confuse the Religious right, who also share those beliefs, with those religious cults whom they consider dangerous."

Asked whether the Megiddo report exaggerated the potential for millennial violence, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno said Thursday that "the nice answer would be that there was no threat."

But she added that authorities must "take reasonable precautions" and advise Americans of risks whenever possible.

"I think we described the heightened risk that revolved around the time of the end of the millennium," she said.

[ENDS]

So, Janet, did Ed Yourdon, Dr. Gary North, et al. No doubt you'll be sending them Commendations?"

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), January 08, 2000

Answers

Honestly John, I really don't think there is anyone of note in this forum that refers to people who made prudent preparations just in case as a doomer.........Heck, I've got a bit of spam and tuna and a propane heater and a bit of fuel and I've never criticized anyone with the term doomer even if they seemed to go a bit heavy on the preps 'insurance'............

Doomer, IMHO, is primarily used to describe those that saw Y2K as causing TEOTWAWKI.......the type that blathers on about UN black helicopters, chemtrails, mysterious white vans, buries school buses, rambles on about the best type of gun to buy in order to kill those that would try to steal your beans etc......obsessed with the end of the world, butchering the Book of Revelation to point to this time in history, fantasizing about gold ad nauseum...........

In truth, it was these type of people that started calling anyone a Polly that disagreed with their neurotic assessment of the y2k problem.

And then the most absurd condescending crap of an acronym that I have ever seen was invented by the doomers........the goofy 'DGI'........used to slight anyone who wasn't an extreme right- wing gun-toting militant who thought the world was coming to an end.

Funny, if we were the DGI's how come our assessment has been FAR more accurate than the supposed gi's??

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), January 08, 2000.