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Hacker News Network
Catch the latest hacker news, at this very slick looking site.
Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers
Here is the US law on computer crime.
One Link In Computer Attacks Traced
Authorities say they have definitely traced one of the computers used in the attacks to the 'University of California' (Santa Barbara), though they will not say they suspect anyone associated with the campus itself of being involved.
Sydney Web-site Falls Prey To US-Style Hacker Attacks
Not only is the US Internet getting hit, but now other countries are experiencing the problem too, at least Australia is, as reported here.
Who's To Blame For Web Site Shutdowns?
The 'Sovereign Internet Anarchist Militia' took credit for the week of attacks in a statement they released, but this article does not say to whom the statement was released. That's odd!
Is DOD Hacker Home Free In Israel?
This archived 'Wired News' article (March 6th, 1998) discusses a hacker who hacked the US 'Department of Defense' computer system, and who fled justice to Israel, where he was apparently safe from extradition back to the US. I have seen speculation that this is why Israel has so many network security companies, because they hire lots of these hackers who have practiced on US defense systems, hacking in, honing their skills.
Suspicious Email Takes Credit
This 'Wired News' article (February 10th, 2000) concerns a suspicious email which contended that high-profile 'Denial-of-Service' attacks were designed to trigger a scare that would send Internet stocks soaring. The plan didn't work.
Doing Away With DoS
This 'Wired News' article (February 10th, 2000) examines the various options available to end 'Denial-of-Service' attacks altogether.
Doing Away With DoS
This 'Wired News' article (February 10th, 2000) examines the various options available to end 'Denial-of-Service' attacks altogether.
Reno: 'Thanks For The Wake-Up'
This 'Wired News' article (February 17th, 2000) discusses Attorney General Janet Reno's recent comments about the paralyzing hacking of high-profile web-sites and the resulting law-enforcement initiatives. According to the article: "They said the investigation has extended into four countries, including Canada and Germany, where the FBI has identified two hackers whom investigators want to talk to. They also said as many as 13 Web sites may have been hit by the attacks."
Web Attacks Won't Live In Infamy
This 'Wired News' article (February 15th, 2000) covers comments by US President Bill Clinton that the hacks of high-profile web-sites will only get fleeting recognition from the Internet community.
Corporate Spies Find They Can Hack It
This article discusses the various ways that hackers get into rival companies computers systems, stealing valuable secrets from one another, using methods such as the recent publicized 'Denial-of-Service' attacks.
Seeking Net Security In Numbers
This 'Wired News' article (February 23rd, 2000) details a coalition formed by twenty Internet and telecommunications firms to raise security standards.
Student Charged In Government Hack
This 'Wired News' article (February 23rd, 2000) covers the case of a Northeastern University student charged with hacking into NASA and Department of Defence computer systems.
CIA Says Russia and China Are Developing Cyber-War Capabilities
Once again, here comes a news report about how US intelligence is blaming those 'pinko commies' over there of developing intrusive, horrifying, insidiously evil and overwhelming weaponry aimed against the US, home of the land, free of the brave. These are perfect excuses for the US government and military, not to mention the ubiquitous intelligence agencies, to justify US involvement in the very same programs and initiatives. What a neat trick, disinformation in action!
Progress Made In Hack Probe
In this 'Wired News' article (2 March, 2000), US officials state that they are making progress in their ongoing investigations into high-profile World Wide Web site attacks: "In the case of the Yahoo attack alone . . .FBI analysts were sifting some 630 gigabytes of data."
Hackers Get Message In Canada
This 'Wired News' article (March 1st, 2000) details the fall-out from high-profile World Wide Web site attacks in the Canadian province of Quebec, and outlines the likely future changes to Canada's criminal justice system.
Hacker Warns US Authorities
Legendary former hacker Kevin Mitnick, just out of prison, and who has been banned from using a computer in any way shape or form, testifies before the US Congress telling them the Internet is vulnerable to attack, and that beefed up security is just the thing they need.
FBI Computer Expert Accused Of Hacking
This 'San Francisco Chronicle-Examiner' newspaper article (March 24th, 2000) is a report of one of the FBI's top confidential informants, who billed himself as "the ethical-hacker," Max Ray Butler (also known as Max Vision), who has been indicted on fifteen counts of illegal activity using computers. He hacked into all sorts of computer systems including NASA, US Air Force Bases, University of California Berkeley, and others, all while working for the FBI on the side. I ask again: Who is attacking the World Wide Web?
FBI Seeks More Power To Curb Internet Hackers
According to this 'Scripps Howard News Service' article (March 28th, 2000), FBI Director Louis Freeh wants even more power to go after Internet criminals. He said that until there is a 'real' attack, he will continue his calls for more 'security' on the World Wide Web.
A Glimpse Of CyberWarfare
This is a report (March 13th, 2000) on how the Chinese Ministry of Public Security attacked the US 'Department of Transportation' computers, using the computers of New York's Long Island based webmaster for the outlawed Chinese religious group, 'Falun Gong'. America need more security, right?
Mattel Ruling Confuses Hackers
This 'Wired News' article (March 29th, 2000) regards a confusing legal ruling over the 'cphack' utility which reveals blacklisted web-sites.
MostHateD To Plead Most Guilty
This 'Wired News' article (March 29th, 2000) regards a 19 year-old cracker who agreed to plead guilty in teleconferencing fraud and computer cracking, in one of the most notorious cybercrimes.
'Change Law To Fight Cybercrime'
This 'Wired News' article (March 28th, 2000) details a request by FBI director Louis Freeh to track cybercriminals and increase police powers to stem the rising tide of 'cybercrime'.
Cyberterror Bill Keeps Company Secrets
This article (April 11th, 2000) explores a new bill up before the US Congress called the 'Cyber Security Act', which would create another exception to the Freedom of Information Act, denying access to information that would reveal weaknesses or vulnerabilities in certain computer systems.
Yahoo's Last Stand
Douglas Rushkoff's 'New York Times' column (February, 2000) on a spate of high-profile Web site hackings is admittedly glib, but interesting nonetheless.
Banks Had Advance Warning of Hacks
This Salon magazine article (February 14, 2000), from Associated Press, reveals that thanks to a nifty $1.5 million dollar private security network created recently for the financial industry: banks that had warning of the impending World Wide Web attacks did not alert anyone to the coming onslaught. If they weren't subscribers to the 'network,' they did not get a warning.
The Butler Hacked It!
This Wired News article (February 10, 2000), by Leander Kahney, interviews someone who postulates that the Government is behind this recent wave of attacks, as well as going into other conspiracy theories trying to explain what is going on.
Big Brother May Be Spying On You
This two part series (February 11th, 2000) dealing with the Echelon program, loss of privacy, and the growth of the Internet and information age, is all pertinent to the idea that the attacks, even if not engineered by the government specifically, may have allowed these attacks to take place to fan the flames of paranoia on the Internet, and induce the public's need for stricter security. Be sure to click on the second part and read 'I Spy Trouble'.
Reno Turns Cyber-cop
This article (January 11th, 2000) talked about how the need for tighter security is being pushed by the Clinton administration, with Janet Reno meeting with the National Association Attorneys General, and outlined her ideas for a wide-ranging 'anti-cyber-crime network'. Intriguing background material.
The Spy Who Came In From Silicon Valley
Using his well-honed "cool-stuff meter," Louie here is assigned to drag the CIA into the cyber-age. 'In-Q-Tel', the company Louie heads, is necessary according to CIA director George Tenet, as the rate of advances in the technological age "dictates a change in the way the intelligence community does business." Oh sure, will the CIA ever change its ways?
US Crackdown On Cyber-Terrorism
It is essential we do not undermine liberty in the name of liberty, the BBC quotes President Clinton here in this article (January 7th, 2000). What Clinton means is, with the growing threat of terrorism over the Internet, official power to snoop on private citizen's Internet traffic has got to grow too, and it's going to have to be accepted. But hey, don't worry, the government has your best interests in mind! Hmmm . . .
Visa Hit With $10 Million Blackmail Hack
A group of British hackers tried to blackmail Visa into paying them US$10 Million, but did not get the money. Nor did they get caught.
The Hackers Defense Foundation
A not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the hacking community.
Anti-Online
Here is a motherlode of information on hackers and hacking, as well as computer and Internet security issues, ideas, and general information on the whole hacking kit-and-caboodle.
Happy Hacker
This is good clean, (legal), fun filled site, with all sorts of educational information on the hacksters themselves, what they do, what they look like, how they party. Check it out, they are people too! As they put it, "Better Living Through (Mostly) Harmless Hacking."
Credit Cards Feared Stolen In New Hacker Attack
'RealNames', a small Internet business out of California says they fear that hackers have stolen an unknown number of the 15 000 credit card numbers in their files.
The ABCs Of A DOS Attack
Here is an interesting theory, that the hackers are working their way up and down from each end of the alphabet, though the writer admits he has no idea why they are doing this.
Experts Say Web Vandals Are Able To Get Personal
Hackers can get into anyone's computer, and take any information. Gee, that is a surprise!
In Hacker World, Disdain For Web Vandals
'Real' hackers are expressing derision for the hacker attacks going on last week, calling the attackers "packet monkeys," or "script kiddies," or so it says in this article. "They're not even real hackers," is the most common petulant remark from the 'genuine' hackers, apparently. Yeah, they're just posers!
President And Executive Say Regulations Will Not Stop Hackers
According to this 'New York Times' newspaper article (February 15th, 2000), new government regulations covering surveillance and hacking announced by President Clinton will be unable to prevent future hacking attacks on major web-sites.
Hot On The Trail Of 'Mafiaboy'
This 'Wired News' article (February 15th, 2000) details the hunt for 'Mafiaboy' and 'Coolio' - possibly the hackers behind a series of high-profile hacking of major web-sites. But maybe the authorities are after the wrong people . . .
SEC Hiring Cybercops To Police Fraud On Internet
Claiming that the "climate of lawlessness" on the Internet at the moment justifies it, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has filled the positions of about half the expected 60 "cybercops," they hope to have hired soon, to patrol the World Wide Web, seeking out criminals and acts of fraud.
Hackers, Media, Hype And Disinformation
For the past few years, US Government hackers have penetrated networks at the European Parliament, Australian Stock Exchange, and banks in Athens Nicosia, Moscow, Johannesburg, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Zurich, and Vaduz. The US also engaged in network penetrations in Yugoslavia during the NATO war against that country, says the writer of this piece, Wayne Madsen, who describes himself as a 20-year veteran of "computer security community," serving at one point or another in the Navy, National Security Agency, State Department, Computer Sciences Corporation, RCA," among many other computer security related jobs.
Hacking The Future: Why Code Crackers Will Lead The Digital Age
This 'LA Weekly' article by Richard Thieme (February 18th, 2000) demolishes the media portrayal of 'hackers' in the wake of high-profile web-site hackings. A great counter-point to the usual negative media coverage of this issue.
E-Bombs Away: Protest, Panic, And The Politics Of Packet Monkeys
This 'LA Weekly' article by Jason Vest (February 18th, 2000) suggests that the hacking of high-profile web-sites is a 'populist' war against e-commerce that has turned the Internet into little more than a glorified shopping mall. An intriguing and provocative hypothesis.
Cyber-Terror-Scam-Problem-Reaction-Solution
This 'International Herald Tribune' article by J. Orlin Grabbe, (February 17th, 2000) posted at Jeff Rense's 'Sightings' web=page declares: "Mr. Moynihan was far from gloomy about the longer-term outlook, even after last week's attacks. 'The upshot of all this,' he said, 'is that we'll have a more secure Internet." Right on Mr. Moynihan, you tell it like it really is.
How US Spies Opened Windows On The World
Gates is a spy! At least, he has apparently allowed them to work secretly within his company to design 'backdoor entrances' that enable US spies to eavesdrop on all other countries' computer traffic, enemies, and allies alike. What a guy!
FBI Admits Its Web Site Suffered Electronic Attack
After a week of silence, the FBI has finally admitted that it too has been attacked by hackers. OK, so are they telling us the truth? How in the heck will we ever know?
Reno On New Code War
Pointing specifically the latest denial of service attacks as a glaring example, Reno again stresses the need for a new system designed to thwart the efforts of nations such as China or Russia that may be targeting the US for cyber-attacks. Is this misdirection from who we really need to worry about?
New Hacker Software Could Be Spread By E-Mail
Anonymous hackers release 'Trinoo' - a new version of the software used in the 'denial-of-service' attacks recently that shut down many major websites, though nothing permanently damaged so far it seems. More scare tactics, make it more readily available to set loose the maniacs and sadists by handing them the tools they need? That way 'they' are guaranteed an enemy to scare the masses with. It is so obvious, right? Or is it?
U.S. Wants Less Web Anonymity
In the wake of high-profile World Wide Web site attacks, reports this 'Wired News' article (1st March, 2000), anonymous remailers and free trial accounts may be modified to enable law enforcement to track their content.
Privacy Vs. Public Protection
This is a look (March 21st, 2000) at how the FBI is trying to gain more and more rights to patrol areas where they are really butting into privacy rights. The newest way to gain control of the masses . . .oops, no, I mean, to protect public safety and catch bad guys, is to track cell-phones, so that Big Brother knows where all users of those brain-toasters are at all times, all over the world.
Sleuthing Out the DOS Attacks
This Wired News article (February 14, 2000), by Declan McCullagh, conveys that when reporters bombarded the police for information on the Internet attacks, they were asking the wrong people. They should have been asking the techies, and the nerds who know the computer, who suddenly were the most cool people on the planet, and were most on the inside. Janet Reno was quoted many times saying, "We don't know the motive behind the attacks."
Cyber-safe or Government Surveillance?
This Wired News article (February 1, 2000), by Declan McCullagh, details why the U.S. government is considering granting wide ranging access to customer phone records and credit information. This action threatens to trample on citizens rights to privacy, though the government spokesperson insists that fears are over-exaggerated.
E*Trade, ZDNet Latest Targets in Wave of Cyber-Attacks
The FBI may be taking a proactive approach now. ZDNet confirmed to CNN that the FBI had contacted the company before it knew it was being hit, and has begun to investigate, it says in this piece. This quote has been taken by many to be evidence that something suspicious is going on. How did the FBI know that the attack was under way before ZDNet itself? One report states that the FBI had been blanketing many different companies, and stumbled upon the attack-in-progress.
New KGB Takes The World by SORM
Under the facade of a democracy, it is important for the US government to use subtler forms of control than in Russia, where the people are a bit more used to living under an openly repressive system. This Mother Jones article (February 4, 2000), by Jen Tracy, will give the US government the perfect excuse to tighten control over the Internet, because the Russians are. Resembles the Brainwashing gimmick used when The Manchurian Candidate was published by CIA-friendly author Richard Condon.
President to Announce Creation of National Cyber Security Center
While the Pentagon admits for the first time the existence of ECHELON (the electronic spy network) and the White House is accused of hiding around 500 000 damaging e-mails from investigators of the President since at least 1998, Clinton wants yet another way to snoop on private citizens, and wants the country's citizens to pay for the loss of their rights and privacy. What a schmuck!
FBI Targets Computers Used in Web Attacks
The FBI might be closing in on the computers that were involved in some way in the recent attacks via the Internet, but there are still no arrests. They would like to seize some of the computers they suspect were used.
Another Computer Used in Attack Identified
A computer official at the University of California (Santa Barbara) found evidence that software had been planted in a campus desktop computer may have been used in the attacks.
Mitnick Speaks: Computer-hacking Guru Kevin Mitnick Says He's No Cyberbogeyman
In this LA Weekly article by Gale Holland and R.U. Sirius (February 18, 2000), legendary hacker Kevin Mitnick speaks out about the hacking of high-profile web-sites and the politics behind his imprisonment. Highly recommended!
Investigators Focus on Two Known Hackers
Authorities say they are closing in on two known hackers who may be behind the World Wide Web attacks. But they aren't sure.
Experts Call Web Assaults 'Tip of Iceberg'
This APBNews.com article (February 11, 2000) mentions an unnamed computer security expert, who says that the web attacks last week were possibly the work of one person, maybe located in Michigan.
Clinton Sees No Instant Solution to Web Attack
Of course Clinton doesn't see an instant solution to the Web attacks, because that would take away the excuse that the U.S. government needs to spend a lot more money figuring out ways to snoop on . . . oops, I mean, protect the privacy of private citizens.
FBI Seeks Help in Hacker Attack
Seeking private help in solving what it calls the largest Internet attack on e-commerce in history, the FBI seems to be at a loss as to who the culprits actually are.
Copycat Hackers Probe Home Computers
Certain people just have no originality, not even having the ability to come up with dastardly ideas on their own, so they steal from other sources. Copycat crimes are the absolute bottom of the barrel in terms of idiocy, and lack of creativity.
Police and Crime in Cyberspace
Here is a whole list of articles on Cyber-crime from APBNews.com. Lots of link for more articles on hacker attacks and related cyber-crimes.
Love Letter's Last Victim
From David Banisar at SecurityFocus.com comes this lucid rant (May 22, 2000) of how the governments of the "civilized" world, lead by the US, are trying to use the latest "attacks" on the World Wide Web to tighten security measures, and do away with any sort of privacy on the Internet. Will they eventually extend these security measures to our entire lives?
Revealed: German Behind Net Chaos
Here Mixter says his Denial of Service programs, Tribal Flood Network, are being used by hackers in a "stupid and pointless" fashion.
The Privacy Snatchers
Here's a great rundown of various other lowdown dirty tricks and surveillance operations the FBI has carried out in the past, and now it has been handed even greater powers to spy on the public through a new law requiring all computer and communications systems to have a back door installed that will allow the FBI to surreptitiously spy on everyone, at anytime, thanks to legislative anti-drug and anti-terrorism efforts.
Senate Bill to Target Web Cookies
Due to Internet companies' habit of collecting all the data on consumers they can get, some people feel this practice threatens the privacy rights of consumers.
US Agency Warned of Cyber Assault
This very short article discusses the fact that the National Infrastructure Protection Center had sent out an advisory on December 30, 1999 warning about information that "unidentified intruders" were setting up 'denial-of-service' software in many computer systems around the country. Still, this was not enough to stop the latest attacks. Or was it, but they wanted not to stop them, as they would bring the hysteria up to more easily manageable levels?
Online Credit Hacker May Be Out for Profit
Here is a look at a big hacker attack that made the U.S. news. The attack was made by Maxus, possibly a two-man Russian team behind a credit card scam.
Good Hackers and Bad Ones Can Often Be a Blur
Here is a report on how some hackers are going 'legit' and joining up with large companies or starting security companies of their own, to advise the Internet businesses on how to protect their products, and their websites. Others remain in the twilight world of black-hat hackerdom.
Hack Arrest 'A Matter of Time'
An arrest is imminent, yet with all the names and suspects mentioned by the press, how are we going to ever know if if 'they' are the real culprit(s) or not?
Who's Doing What, with Which, to Whom, for Why?
This is a widely circulated post to an e-mail list by Jim-the Paranoiac, who lists the large number of strange systems failures and attacks that occurred just after the proposed increase in government spending to increase 'security' on computers and the Internet. "What better way to 'prove' the need for massively expanded government surveillance, and create a frenzy of support for it?" Jim further argued, "What organization has the best computer and phone system crackers in the world!? There is No Such Agency!"
FTC Chief Warns of Anti-Privacy Stance
I rate this so high as it is a case of great spin, sheer disinformation. Which is better, corporate or government intrusion onto the publics right to privacy? Is there a difference now-a-days? The FTC chief says that if companies continue to successfully lobby to keep the government away from mandating certain basic rules for the Internet, "states and localities may fill the void with their own strict and varied privacy rules."
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