Cybersquatting, a spy terror game

Security expert Richard Clarke believes governments using net for illegal information

Are we really sure that behind all of the attacks and mysterious viruses that keep turning up on the net there is just a hothead hell-bent on harassing us? Richard Clarke, security expert, begs to differ. Thanks to his reputation, Clarke has been appointed computer security consultant to the White House, before being dismissed for his criticism of the U.S. administration.
Now Clarke is once again raising controversy: he declared that the internet is being used by governments for their intelligence operations, often in illegal ways. According to the former White House consultant, in fact, the world's greatest powers, such as China, Russia, and the United States themselves, have been availing themselves of cyberforces able to use the computer network to obtain useful information, by using methods that trespass into cracking, and occasionally causing "incidents".
"In most cases, when a severe computer incident takes place," he remarked, "nobody is found responsible." "I'm convinced," he continued, "that in at least several cases those incidents involve some government, verifying and testing systems in order to find their weak spots."
Clarke's theory is far from new. For a long time, some countries, including China, have been accused of creating computer attack units that would work in tandem with traditional armed forces, or with intelligence, making use of the internet.
Clarke's declarations do not seem casually timed. Recently, in fact, there's been a constant flow of reports of a remarkable increase in the number of attacks targeting governmental sites and organizations on the net. He thinks - and he's not the only one - that some highly sophisticated attacks are not the work of enraged hackers, but of organizations funded by foreign countries.
With more and more of the world's crucial national infrastructure - from emergency police hotlines to power grids - connected, at times, to the public Internet, the risk of cyberattacks is growing. "Just because a cyberattack doesn't create a lot of body bags, that doesn't mean it's not important. It's vitally important for our economies," Clarke said.
In addition, a new crop of elaborate computer programmes has been unleashed on the internet, capable of snooping on security networks for top-secret information.
Experts agree there is scant evidence so far of state-sponsored efforts to hack into military computer systems or compromise national security networks.
"I hope," concluded Clarke, "that 9/11 has at least taught us not to wait for a tragedy to happen before plugging the holes we are aware of."
Next time a virus attacks your PC, think twice before blaming some anonymous hacker. It might be a more powerful enemy.

Publication Date: 2004-11-28
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4654