Forward from: Dan Verton <Dan_Vertonat_private> Ted, I reported on this when it first happened and have a source in Moscow who was, in fact, interviewed by the FBI in Russia shortly after this news broke. So I think it is fair to say that although there is much speculation about the nature of Moonlight Maze, and even if it every really happened, something serious did occur that sparked an investigation overseas. I would also add that I have been told that our friends in Moscow have not been very cooperative at all. This, of course, from a country that has become a toxic blend of crime and business, and where cybercrime flourishes with government sponsorship. I also don't have to tell you about the "connections" between NIPRNET, SIPRNET, JWICS etc... Officially, they're not there, but some of us know better. Dan Verton Senior Writer Computerworld former intelligence officer InfoSec News <isnat_private> on 10/11/2001 07:15:47 AM Please respond to InfoSec News <isnat_private> To: isnat_private cc: (bcc: Dan Verton/Computerworld) Subject: Re: [ISN] Experts: Cyberspace could be next target Forwarded from: Ted Arthur <arcturousat_private> Is there any sort of reporting to verify these 'hundreds of computer networks' which were broken into or the 'thousands of top-secret files' that were swiped? This article reads as if the main concern is the unclass network world wide, not the SIPRNET or even higher classified networks which would be required to contain any top-secret documents. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the pilfering of thousands of documents at the top-secret level might have put the intelligence community and perhaps even oversight committees in an uproar that the American public might have heard about. This sounds a little dramatic. But I could be wrong. Ted Arthur Network Security and Vulnerabilities Division United States Navy ----- Original Message ----- From: InfoSec News To: isnat_private Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2001 2:37 AM Subject: [ISN] Experts: Cyberspace could be next target http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001/10/9/cyberwar-usat.htm By Jon Swartz USA TODAY 10/09/2001 SAN FRANCISCO For 3 years, a shadowy group of computer hackers has broken into hundreds of computer networks and stolen thousands of top-secret files on Pentagon war-planning systems and NASA technical research. Dubbed the "Moonlight Maze" group, the hackers continue to elude the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Agency, despite the biggest cyberprobe ever. And while no one knows what is being done with the classified information, some fear the thefts may be the work of terrorists or that the information could be sold to terrorists. "I'm not saying it is a terrorist group. But it could be," says James Adams, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research group chaired by former senator Sam Nunn. What is clear is that the hackers' success exposes the vulnerability of computer networks in the USA at the height of the information age. A coordinated terrorist attack, experts say, could topple the Internet, muting communications and e-commerce and paralyzing federal agencies and businesses. "We are picking up signs that terrorist organizations are looking at the use of technology" to attack the USA, Congress was told last month by Michael Vatis, director of the Institute for Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth College and former head of the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center. [...] - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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