Forwarded from: Vmyths.com Virus Hoax Alert <virushoax_alert@private>
Vmyths.com Virus Hysteria Alert
Truth About Computer Security Hysteria
{26 August 2004, 17:25 CT}
CATEGORY: Dire predictions of a cyber-war or cyber-terrorism
Media warnings of a looming "Internet Terrorist Attack," supposedly
planned for today, have proven unfounded. As usual, Islamic "suicide
hackers" failed to report for duty. (See http://Vmyths.com/mm/ads/Vmyths/oif/trendle.jpg
for background info on "suicide hackers.")
In our previous Hysteria Alert, Vmyths said it asked Kaspersky Labs to
comment on the "threat" of an Islamic cyber-attack predicted for
today. We promised to publish their response as soon as we got it.
Founder Eugene Kaspersky quickly responded to our inquiry. Visit
http://Vmyths.com/hoax.cfm?id=281&page=3#EKreply01 for his verbatim
reply. We assumed Kaspersky Labs was quoted out of context to some
extent, and their email to Vmyths reinforced our belief. This media
event looks like a "worst-case scenario briefing" gone awry.
Some computer security websites went so far as to ridicule the notion
of a looming cyber-terror attack. These sites used a coordinated
"self-defacement campaign" as a humorous way to get their points
across. A list of SELF-defaced websites includes:
http://www.attrition.org
http://www.infowarrior.org
http://www.reznor.com
http://www.treachery.net
Vmyths applauds these sites for their sense of humor.
Vmyths made three initial predictions in our previous Hysteria Alert.
First, we said news outlets around the world would report the
"Internet Terrorist Attack" prediction without question. Second, we
said a few news outlets would acknowledge the prediction flopped
today. Third, we said the media would dump the story tomorrow as a
non-event. Prediction #2 came true and we fully expect the same for
prediction #3.
Prediction #1 proved correct, although not in the magnitude we
implied. Reuters, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and other major
western newswires displayed a healthy dose of journalistic common
sense. Vmyths has forged relationships with computer security
reporters over the years and we feel our previous Hysteria Alert
destroyed the sensationalism of the "Internet Terrorist Attack" story.
But we cannot objectively demonstrate the value of our Hysteria
Alerts. As such, Vmyths must acknowledge prediction #1 did not come
true in the magnitude we implied.
The day is still young, but please don't bet on an Islamic
cyber-attack today. Stay calm. Stay reasoned. And stay tuned to
Vmyths.
Rob Rosenberger, editor
http://Vmyths.com
Rob@private
(319) 646-2800
CATEGORY: Dire predictions of a cyber-war or cyber-terrorism
--------------- Useful links ------------------
Remember this when virus hysteria strikes
http://Vmyths.com/resource.cfm?id=31&page=1
Common clichés in the antivirus world
http://Vmyths.com/resource.cfm?id=22&page=1
False Authority Syndrome
http://Vmyths.com/fas/fas1.cfm
_________________________________________
Open Source Vulnerability Database (OSVDB) Everything is Vulnerable - http://www.osvdb.org/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Fri Aug 27 2004 - 04:46:29 PDT