RE: Bin Laden use of Internet

From: Toby Kohlenberg (toby@private)
Date: Wed Oct 10 2001 - 16:09:41 PDT

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    Maybe GTE-Worldcom could do it. No one else.
    
    t
    
    On Tue, 9 Oct 2001, Andrew Plato wrote:
    
    > I am reasonably sure this can't be done. No single organization has the
    > power to block traffic en mass. The Internet is global. There are
    > millions of routers on foreign grounds that can send packets to routers
    > here in the USA. It would be impossible to command all those routers to
    > stop sending packets from Afghanistan. 
    > 
    > The whole nature of packet routing doesn't really allow for traffic
    > control at such a level. If a router doesn't know what to do with a
    > packet, it ships it to a different router that does. Basically, those
    > packets will keep on jumping around the Internet until they find a
    > router that will take care of them (or the packet's Time to Live, TTL
    > expires, which at 254 hops, the default, is a lot of hops to find a
    > router that cares). 
    > 
    > Furthermore, there is not any technology out there working at a macro
    > level to say "hey you're a packet from Afghanistan, you go in the trash
    > heap."  We cannot practically put firewalls on every possible data line
    > into the USA. Seeing as how most firewalls melt down on heavily loaded
    > T-1s, I cannot imagine putting on on an OC-48. It would probably burst
    > into flames. 
    > 
    > Not to mention the fact that Osama could very easily call a friend in
    > Germany to send the email for him from an ISP in Germany. Now how would
    > we stop that? It would be coming from a German address? 
    > 
    > Sorry. 
    > 
    > ------------------------------------
    > Andrew Plato
    > President / Principal Consultant
    > Anitian Corporation
    > 
    > (503) 644-5656 office
    > (503) 201-0821 cell
    > http://www.anitian.com
    > Yahoo Messenger: Anitian
    > ------------------------------------
    > 
    > -----Original Message-----
    > From: HORN Dan E [mailto:dan.e.horn@private]
    > Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 5:18 PM
    > To: CRIME@private
    > Subject: Bin Laden use of Internet 
    > 
    > 
    > The world knows that Bin Laden and his followers used the Internet to
    > formulate an attack the US (shame on him).  But to allow him to use it
    > in a similar manner to formulate another attack on the US would be
    > (parden my use of the term) same on us.  Maybe I am to simplistic in
    > this line of thought, but, why can't we simply have the Internic block
    > all Internet traffic out of Afghanistan?  Lets assume (I don't like that
    > word either but...) that Bin Laden is the ring leader, and that he makes
    > all of the major decisions and that his followers simply wait until they
    > are told to do something.  If this assumption is true and Internet
    > traffic was not allowed out of that country then Bin Laden wouldn't be
    > able to communicate to them (using this technology), and they (the
    > sleepers) would simply continue to sleep.  I know the Internet was
    > designed to exchange data but don't you think we should change the rules
    > during times of war?
    > 
    > Another question:  How is Bin Laden able to send out his messages during
    > this time of war (don't we want to keep is cry for help limited)?  Is he
    > using satalites, if so can't the data being received on the statalite be
    > either blocked or tapped?
    > 
    > 
    > Thanks,
    > 
    > 
    > Dan
    > 
    



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