Online Data A Gold Mine For Terrorists

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "John F. McMullen" <observer () westnet com>
Date: August 10, 2004 5:38:26 PM EDT
To: johnmac's living room <johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com>
Cc: Commonweal Mailing List <commonweal () yahoogroups com>, Declan 
McCullagh <declan () well com>, Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>, 
America_at_War <America_at_War () yahoogroups com>, USA Talk List 
<USAtalk () yahoogroups com>
Subject: Online Data A Gold Mine For Terrorists

From OSINT
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bruce Tefft <btefft () community-research com>

One of the major problems today - just because we can publish - we
don't need to publish everything - information overflow.


http://www.computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,95098,00.html?nlid=SEC

Online data a gold mine for terrorists
IT's high-alert response overlooks corporate sites
News Story by Dan Verton and Lucas Mearian


   AUGUST 06, 2004 (COMPUTERWORLD) - The widespread availability of
sensitive information on corporate Web sites appears to have been 
largely
overlooked by IT and security managers responding this week to the
Department of Homeland Security's warning of a heightened terrorist 
threat
against the financial services sector.
Freely available on the Web, for example, are 3-D models of the 
exterior and
limited portions of the interior of the Citigroup Inc. headquarters 
building
in Manhattan -- one of the sites specifically named in the latest terror
advisory issued by the DHS. Likewise, details of the Citigroup 
building's
history of structural design weaknesses, including its susceptibility to
toppling over in high winds, the construction of its central support 
column
and the fire rating of the materials used in the building, are readily
available on the Web.

A Citigroup spokeswoman declined to comment, referring the matter to the
building owner, Boston Properties Inc.

Similarly, the Web site of the Chicago Board of Trade includes 
photographs
of the facility's underground parking garages, floor plans of office 
suites
and contact names and phone numbers for the telecommunications service
providers that serve the building.

Maria Gemskie, a spokeswoman for the CBOT, said the company could not
comment publicly about specific security precautions being put in 
place. But
she stressed that "all aspects of security are taken very seriously and 
we
are looking into [our Web content] as well."

Such information can be a gold mine for terrorists, security experts 
said. A
senior intelligence official at the DHS, speaking on condition of 
anonymity,
said the recent capture of al-Qaeda computer expert Muhammad Naeem Noor 
Khan
in Pakistan yielded a computer filled with photographs and floor 
diagrams of
buildings in the U.S. that terrorists may have been planning to attack.

"Not thinking through the security implications of some of the 
information
put online can be a very dangerous mistake," said Amit Yoran, director 
of
the National Cyber Security Division at the DHS. "The Pentagon has 
looked
very closely at this issue, and certainly corporate America should do 
the
same."

In fact, Yoran said the situation is serious enough that the DHS may 
need to
look into publishing best-practices guidelines for companies to follow.

Eric Friedberg, managing director of New York-based security firm Stroz
Friedberg LLC, said the warnings about sensitive Web site postings that 
his
company took to the private sector two years ago have "fallen on deaf 
ears"
(see story).

MacDonnell Ulsch, managing director of Janus Risk Management Inc. in
Marlboro, Mass., said making this type of information available is
inexcusable.

"It may make it easier for contractors and service providers to do their
jobs, but the risk may exceed the benefit," said Ulsch. "A well-trained
engineer can easily discern the greatest points of vulnerability in a
building by analyzing the design. Making this information available is a
fundamental mistake with deadly consequences."

According to Ulsch, what companies do or fail to do in response to a 
threat
is a direct result of their understanding of the risk. Consequently, 
when
companies are told to beware of terrorists driving truck bombs into or 
near
their buildings, they deploy concrete barriers, he said.

And that seems to be exactly what has happened in the aftermath of the
latest threat-level increase, with most firms focusing on redundancy and
recovery while paying very little attention to countersurveillance and
information control.

New York Stock Stock Exchange spokesman Raymond Pellecchia, for example,
said the perimeter around the building has been "beefed up" but so far 
that
is "the principle change" that has taken place since the alert level
changed. "We've long had a very hardened security profile," he said.

Sylvain Pendaries, CIO at CDC Ixis North America Inc. in Manhattan, said
previous terror alerts have loosened the purse strings of executives in 
his
company, enabling him to complete disaster recovery plans. CDC Ixis in
February completed an upgrade to its communications network, moving 
from two
T3 lines to a Sonet ring that connects sites in New York and New Jersey 
at
OC48 port speeds.

While an increased focus on disaster recovery is necessary, Yoran said 
the
lack of focus on blocking cybersurveillance activities stems from a
disconnect between the terrorist alert system and the role of 
cybersecurity
in homeland defense. "In practical terms, tuning a firewall, changing
parameters on antivirus software and advocating more frequent password
changes don't really line up with the different threat levels," he said.

Michelle Petrovich, a spokeswoman for Robert Liscouski, assistant 
secretary
for infrastructure protection at the DHS, said that while companies 
have the
right to post whatever information they want, the DHS encourages all
companies to add Web site reviews to their list of preventive security
measures.

--------------------------
Brooks Isoldi, editor
bisoldi () intellnet org
http://www.intellnet.org
  Subscribe:    osint-subscribe () yahoogroups com

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 "When you come to the fork in the road, take it" - L.P. Berra
   "Always make new mistakes" -- Esther Dyson
   "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from 
magic"
    -- Arthur C. Clarke
    "You Gotta Believe" - Frank "Tug" McGraw (1944 - 2004 RIP)

                          John F. McMullen
   johnmac () acm org johnmac () computer org johnmac () m-net arbornet org
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           jmcmullen () monroecollege edu johnmac () alumni iona edu
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