DATE=2/11/2000
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=THE INTERNET UNDER ATTACK
NUMBER=6-11679
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
CONTENT=
INTRO: After a series of unprecedented, electronic
attacks on commercial internet computer web sites this
week, daily newspapers in the United States are filled
with comments. We get a sampling now from _____ in
today's U-S Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: For at least five years, the worldwide computer
network known as the internet, [EDS: which stands for
"interconnected network of networks"] and its more
expansive, visual component, the World Wide Web, have
been a growing source of commerce. Hundreds - and now
thousands - of companies display their wares on this
electronic network, and people with computers are able
to order the goods electronically.
This week, the sites of more than half a dozen
companies - including some of the best known - were
electronically attacked by computer vandals known as
hackers. The disruptions caused a loss of millions of
dollars in business, and even caused a precipitous
drop on the New York Stock exchange. The F-B-I is
investigating, and Attorney General Janet Reno says
the vandals will be severely punished if found.
Meanwhile, the press is having plenty to say about
these attacks and their significance. The New York
Times is worried about the internet's vulnerability,
which has become more apparent because of the
incidents.
VOICE: Just when Americans have begun to get
accustomed to the pervasive influence of the internet,
a wave of anonymous assaults on web sites has roiled
the stability of the newly emerging cyberworld. The
latest hacker attacks ... are especially insidious
because they seem so nihilistic. None appear to have
been motivated by blackmail or other monetary
purposes. They may even have been carried out as a
perverse warning, to prove the vulnerability of the
internet to attack. Whatever the twisted motive,
prosecutors are right to investigate the causes and
recommend safeguards, though it may well be that no
safeguard will work perfectly.
TEXT: In the capital of Rhode Island, The Providence
Journal worries that people who send personal
financial information - such as credit card numbers -
over the internet may be at more risk than they
realized.
VOICE: Such attacks ... also raise questions about
the security of personal financial and other
information about customers on such popular web sites
as Amazon-dot-com, E-Trade, e-Bay and Yahoo. While
this week's attacks consisted of simply paralyzing the
sites through overwhelming them with Internet traffic,
and not actual incursions **into** [italics for
emphasis] them, the situation may lead some people to
stop doing business on these sites, at least for a
while. ... The hackers' success in wreaking some
havoc this past week ought to also prod these sites to
step up security.
TEXT: What troubles the Chicago Tribune is that so
little is known about these vandals, because they are
able to cover their tracks electronically.
VOICE: What investigators don't know about this
week's cyberspace attacks far exceeds what they do
know. They don't know who was responsible. They
don't know where the attacks came from. They don't
know how many innocent third-party computers were
used. They don't know if the attacks are over. They
don't know what motivated the attacker or attackers.
But here's one thing they do know: A single kid
[young person] with limited computer skills could be
the instigator. And that is raising such concern
about the future of electronic commerce that it drove
down the entire U-S stock market. Think about that
for a minute.
TEXT: In the Pacific Northwest, The Oregonian in
Portland is also clearly upset.
VOICE: Regardless of who turns out to be behind them,
this week's attacks on internet businesses offer a
sobering reminder of the vulnerability of the world's
electronic communications web. The hackers ...may be
seekers of a perverse sort of fame, or foreign
intelligence agents bent on undermining the American
economy - - or anything in between. ... American
agencies ... already monitor and attempt to counter
such threats. ... But it's also clear that government
efforts can go only so far. Businesses must also be
more aware of electronic security issues.
TEXT: Across the country, The [New York] Daily News
is outraged as well.
VOICE: Maybe they think it's ... funny... Whatever
the reason, cyber-thugs managed to disable several of
the World Wide Web's most popular sites this week.
... Deliberately corrupting a computer network is a
felony. The maximum penalty for a first-time offender
is five years in prison and a 250-thousand dollar
fine, plus damages. Perhaps it's time to get serious
and increase the sentence.
TEXT: In Charleston, South Carolina, The Post and
Courier calls the vandals: "Dangerous cyber-
hooligans," adding:
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks or
made any economic or political demands, so the motive
remains unknown. ... But it is clear that the same
technique could be used to affect internet stock
prices or for extortion. So it is essential that ...
federal authorities find those responsible as quickly
as possible.
TEXT: To Texas now, where The Dallas Morning News
ponders the fragile security of the web, and how it
has depended in the past, to an extent, on the
goodwill of users.
VOICE: The incidents represent the serious side of
the internet's growing pains, and come less than a
month after a hacker hijacked credit card numbers in
an apparent effort to extort money from a web site
operator by threatening to publicly release the
account numbers. This week's attacks have again drawn
attention to internet security issues. But since late
last year, this type of attack has affected several
high-capacity commercial and educational networks,
notes Internet Security Systems, a security management
firm. Exploiting some common security loopholes,
attackers can install what amounts to a hidden command
on hundreds of machines and later direct a network of
those machines to attack a single target. Internet
Security Systems says this simultaneous attack is more
dangerous than any denial of service attack seen to
date.
TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of
comment on a new series of electronic attacks against
business sites on the World Wide Web component of the
Internet.
NEB/ANG/JP
11-Feb-2000 16:21 PM EDT (11-Feb-2000 2121 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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