Feds Call Cyber Crime a Huge Growth Industry

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

To be honest, I believe the escalation of the hacker activity is Y2K related. I am an ex-hacker myself, I can't think of a better time to "shine" then right after everyone is "relaxing." It's a great time to go in for the kill.

There is no link for this story - it came from inside AOL. It can probably be found at www.aol.com.

Feds Call Cyber-Crime a Huge Growth Industry

Reuters WASHINGTON (Feb. 16) - U.S. law enforcement leaders said on Wednesday that computer attacks were one of the fastest-growing areas of crime and that continually updated technology made it nearly impossible to keep track of the problem.

Addressing a Senate subcommittee on Internet security, Attorney General Janet Reno said last week's attacks on major commercial Web sites showed how important it was for the United States to devise a coordinated strategy against cyber-crime.

''How we deal with cyber-crime is one of the most critical areas we face,'' said Reno.

Reno called for a five-year plan to deal with the issue and said computer equipment needed to be standardized as continually updated technology meant the costs of resolving the problem were extremely high.

''We need a means of ensuring uniform standards in respect to equipment and technology. It is becoming obsolete practically before we get it installed and the costs can be astronomical,'' said Reno.

In addition, Reno said tougher penalties should be imposed on cyber attackers to deter them from causing havoc on the Internet.

Reno's testimony to the Senate subcommittee came a day after President Bill Clinton met computer executives at the White House to plot strategy to prevent future attacks such as last week's in which hackers disrupted key Web sites for several hours, causing millions of dollars in lost revenues.

Commenting on last week's attacks on sites such as Yahoo!, eBay and Amazon.Com, Reno said computer crime investigators were working around the clock to catch the perpetrators.

''At this point I would simply say that we are taking the attacks very seriously and that we will do everything in our power to identify those responsible and bring them to justice,'' Reno said.

FBI Director Louis Freeh said he was pleased with progress made in the investigation so far.

''There are fast-developing leads as we speak,'' he said, adding that the investigation was being conducted in the United States and in countries such as Germany and Canada.

SIGNIFICANT THREAT TO U.S. SECURITY

Cyber-crime posed a significant threat to national and economic security in the United States and the FBI's case load had increased dramatically in recent years, Freeh said.

The FBI said it opened 547 ''computer-intrusion cases'' in 1998 and the number more than doubled to 1,154 in 1999.

''In short, even though we have markedly improved our capabilities to fight cyber intrusions the problem is growing even faster and we are falling further behind,'' Freeh said.

Threats ranged from simple hacking conducted by juveniles and disgruntled employee attacks to sophisticated intrusions that the FBI feared were sponsored by foreign powers.

''Computer crime is one of the most dynamic problems the FBI faces today. Just think about how many computers you have owned and how many different software packages you have learned over the past several years and you can only begin to appreciate the scope of the problem we are dealing with in the fast-changing era,'' said Freeh.

WARNING AGAINST ''CRISIS MENTALITY''

Internet companies and security consultants said that while strong action should be taken against cyber-criminals, it should not be allowed to curb growth in the high-tech industry, which accounts for 8 percent of growth in U.S. jobs.

Jeff Richards, executive director of the Internet industry group, the Internet Alliance, warned against using a ''crisis mentality'' to give more authority to law enforcement agencies.

Security company executive Mark Rasch, appealing to the government to tread lightly, told the subcommittee that applying old rules to new technologies often had ''absurd'' results.

''The government should not use the new medium of cyberspace to inflict draconian regulations, assume new authority or take upon itself the mantle of the protector or defender of cyberspace,'' said Rasch, senior vice president of Global Integrity Corp.

Robert Chesnut, associate general council for eBay, said the attack against his firm's site last week had surprised the company with its scale.

Chesnut said nefarious computer code was planted in the computers of unsuspecting individuals and institutions such as the University of California at Santa Barbara.

''This attack bombarded eBay with over 1 billion bits per second of bad traffic, nearly double eBay's normal incoming traffic,'' Chesnut said.

Reut19:41 02-16-00

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-- Jen Bunker (jen@bunkergroup.com), February 17, 2000

Answers

Okay, here's a link to the above story:

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000216/ts/tech_hackers_38.html

-- Jen Bunker (jen@bunkergroup.com), February 17, 2000.


Here is a link to the Prez's little party. Not nearly enuf hackers on the panel, IMHO. Until we start understanding them, this situation will only worsen....

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl? msg_id=002a6L

-- Jen Bunker (jen@bunkergroup.com), February 17, 2000.


Fooled ya! This is the REAL link to info about the Prez's party (DOH! Sorry)

http://cryptome.org/wh- cybersec.htm

-- Jen Bunker (jen@bunkergroup.com), February 17, 2000.


Exactly, Jen. We should do with hackers what we do with safe- crackers. Seek them out, hire them and learn from them. Refine their talents and reward their productivity ($).

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), February 17, 2000.


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