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[I almost yearn for the days of cancelmoose and cancelpoodle.] ********** >Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2000 09:13:52 -0700 >To: declan@well.com >From: "A.Lizard" <alizard@ecis.com> >Subject: rogue UK military Usenet cancelbot > >It appears that the UK military is censoring the Internet... I think this >needs looking into. The virus story itself has a foul odor to it as well. >My comments are bracketed. >James > > >http://www.currents.net/newstoday/00/04/04/news3.html >Virus Blows a Hole in NATO's Security >By Steve Gold, Newsbytes >April 04, 2000 >The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has launched a full-scale >investigation into how one of its top-secret documents ended up posted on >the Internet. >The Sunday Telegraph reports that an unknown virus is to blame for the >posting of the nine-page document, detailing the alliance's rules of >engagement in the southern Yugoslav province of Kosovo, on to the Net. >Press reports this morning say that NATO moved into full swing over the >weekend after the British Ministry of Defence was alerted to the problem >late last week. >The Sunday Telegraph said that the top secret document was spotted by a >London publishing house and reported to the relevant authority. BBC news >reports today, meanwhile, say that a virus may be to blame. >NATO's Brussels headquarters said that a press briefing for the media is >expected later today. The Sunday Telegraph, meanwhile, quotes Jamie Shea, >a senior spokesperson for NATO, as saying that, if the investigation shows >that a NATO document has got into the public domain, "it will be a matter >of great concern to us." >He added, "These are sensitive NATO documents. We would like to keep them >classified and prevent them being compromised." >Newsbytes' sources say that the document posted to the Net included NATO's >Rules of Engagement for Land Operations, which cover the circumstances >under which "appropriate measures, including the use of deadly force," may >be used. >The Sunday Telegraph quotes an unnamed person at the London Publishing >company as saying that two people tried to open up a new document on a PC >and, instead, the NATO Kosovo document started to scroll up. >"The next thing I knew, I was in a meeting around lunchtime when a message >came from reception saying, `Your guests have arrived.'" >On returning to work, the member of staff was interviewed by two military >intelligence officers in plain clothes, who said words to the effect of, >"'This is something we are very worried about,' and started to ask questions." >Newsbytes' sources suggest that the NATO document was top secret >classified material, but the classification was changed to "restricted" >over the weekend to prevent further embarrassment. > >************************************************************************* > >Sources also suggest that the document was posted to a Usenet group, but >was quickly deleted by a Ministry of Defence autobot, a software agent >that autodeletes questionable Usenet postings from the servers of >Usenet-enabled Internet service providers (ISPs) around the world. > >************************************************************************* >[Where does the UK military get off telling American Internet users what >they can and can not read?] > >Graham Cluley, head of corporate communications with Sophos Anti- Virus, >was not surprised by the reports that a virus is to blame for the NATO >security breach. > > > > >[ ***How did that virus find that file?*** > >A virus that targets specific information (not an address book in a >standard program location, but a specific file within a directory and >posts it to the Net? > >Posting it to Usenet ONCE THE INFORMATION IS FOUND wouldn't be a problem, >but I've got real problems with a virus that can make intelligent >decisions about article content. A virus with that article as a payload... >why bother? There are quite a few non-UK free Websites... and all it takes >to get that "secret" document into the public domain is to contact enough >journalists, nobody outside the UK has any reason for concern about the UK >authorities.] > >Perhaps a programmer instead of a clueless public relations corporate >spokesdroid should have been asked for comment. Or somebody from a >competitor. You'll know the right person by the laughter after getting the >question. > > >He pointed to worm payloads such as the infamous Melissa virus as >indicative of how easy it is to trigger an Internet posting without the >permission of the host PC operator. >"These latest security breaches highlight that no one is immune to >security scares in any form," he said, adding that, if NATO can be hit by >a virus, > >I'm sure NATO is hit with viruses on a daily basis. > >"then it should serve as a salutary reminder to all of us that we all need >to be vigilant against computer crime and ensure the deployment of >quality, up-to-date anti-virus and encryption software. >"In this particular case, NATO has suffered an embarrassment, but viruses >like Melissa have already shown us how it is possible for a virus to pass >on confidential material to thousands via just a few hops in an e-mail >address book," he said. >"Perhaps more troubling though, is the fact that these viruses appear to >be causing much more serious harm than a virus whose payload is a playful >cartoon or Dr. Who quote," he added. >Sophos' Web site is at http://www.sophos.com . >Reported by Newsbytes.com >************************************************************************ >Personal Web site http://www.ecis.com/~alizard >Disaster prep & y2k computer fixes: http://www.ecis.com/~alizard/y2k.html >Littleton Killings: http://www.ecis.com/~alizard/littleto.html >backup address (if ALL else fails) alizard@onebox.com >PGP 6.5.1 key available by request,keyserver,or on my Web site >For e-mail privacy, download PGP from http://www.pgpi.org >PGPfone v1.02 and v2.1 available for secure voice conferencing, get >your own (W9x,NT,Mac) at http://www.pgpi.org/products/nai/pgpfone/ >************************************************************************ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------