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Al Aqsa Intifada Cyberwar hackers try hand at systems crash
From: William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 00:57:35 -0600
http://star.arabia.com/001102/JO63.html 2 NOVEMBER 2000 By Ghassan Joha and combined news agencies AS THE Al Aqsa Intifada enters its second month, the battle is being fought not only on the streets, but on walls and in cyberspace. Official Palestinian and Israeli websites were subject to scathing attacks by Internet users over the past few weeks. Although the fighting in the West Bank and Gaza is intensifying with Israeli soldiers taking full military swipes at Palestinians, battling on the Internet is hotting up as well with cyberwars and systems crashes taking centerstage. But one of the distinctive features of the present Intifada is its Internet connectivity. A multitude of websites is providing constantly updated coverage. The London-based Arabic daily Al Hayat noted that many Arab websites in the Middle East and US have succeeded in covering the Intifada and presenting comprehensive details from various perspectives on Israeli aggressions against the Palestinians. One of these is Aroob.com. It launched a consolation page on the Internet to praise the Palestinian martyrs. Al Hayat also mentioned The Star's website (www.star.com.jo) as one of the most impressive and reliable sites covering the Intifada. However, the daily added that such coverage was hacked by many Israelis sending "bombs" and viruses through e-mails. Meanwhile, websites operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and the Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas) were also targeted by Israeli hackers leading to systems crashes. Nobody quite knows from where the attacks are coming. Today, Palestinian websites are being inundated with log-jams and system viruses. Such attacks are reportedly coming from Israeli universities and western Europe. Reports suggest that the cyberwars are escalating as Arab countries take the initiative by attacking Israeli hosts. Egypt and Lebanon are favorites for sending viruses to websites in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. One of the tactics in the virtual war is the despatching of millions and millions of messages to a particular website all at once. The tactic was employed and registered through NetVision, Israel's biggest Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the host of the main Palestinian National Authority (PNA) website. Consequently, the company had to upgrade its firewalls to shield its Internet service from manipulation by outsiders. However, NetVision went into temporary shock with many of its computers breaking down for several hours, and the company's sites and e-mail service stopped functioning. Israeli engineers at NetVision claimed the attacks were coming from Lebanon, US, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. But attacks on official Palestinian and Israeli websites were taking place simultaneously. This was obvious in the case of the attacks on the websites of the PNA and that of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Both sites were crashed by endless messages sent from various Internet locations. Raymond Whitaker, Internet editor of the London-based daily The Independent, reported "at the height of the 'spamming', subscribers were unable to get online or found connections very slow." Meanwhile, websites of the Israeli Knesset and Israeli Army have also been attacked but have not crashed. However, some reports said the Knesset website was bombarded with viruses that halted its operation for some time. Arik Fischel, chief of the Knesset website, said "the assailants show more superior quality viruses than those of their predecessors. Many of the attackers tried to produce viruses for every site so that when users tapped in for more information they were attacked endlessly-a sort of vulgar bombardment," Fischel added. It was reported later that both the army and the Knesset employed a US firm that specializes in protection of websites to upgrade their security. In case Internet hackers succeed in their efforts, viruses can attack the operating system by generating false information. Last year, the Knesset site was attacked by anonymous hackers, who placed pornographic photos on its home website. In a vicious virtual war, the PNA site was attacked constantly for two days in late October resulting in the display of pornography and Jewish slogans. The attacks were apparently coming from computers located at the Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv. And hence, the Palestinian site became the subject of much attack by Israeli Internet users, who placed an Israeli flag and played the Jewish national anthem. NetVision spokeswoman Orit Saham confirmed reports that the company continues to host the PNA site. A call for boycotting NetVision's services is gaining momentum and many Israelis are seriously considering canceling their accounts with the company and moving to another ISP. Saham added that if the company is served with a court order to cut off the PNA services, they would comply. The website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry was also flooded with e-mails described as "more dangerous" than previous ones, because of their ability to carry viruses. Ministry spokesman Noam Katz called the tactics "primitive but effective enough to cause a paralysis." He accused Shi'ites living in the US of being behind the attacks. According to the French daily, Le Monde, scattered attacks on official PNA and Israeli websites started more than a year ago. However, these were intensified on a daily basis soon after the outbreak of the Al Aqsa Intifada on 28 September. Some warning messages were sent to official Arab websites advising them to take precautionary measures against retaliatory attacks from Israeli sites. One of the messages came from FreePalestine, an independent activist Palestinian e-group operating through the Internet. "Israeli sites started a cyberwar against us. They already crippled the Hezbollah site and they have a site on how to shut down our sites," the message read. The group gave instructions to attack and counter-attack Israeli sites. "New cyberwar programs should be more effective in attacking Israeli websites," the message added. It indicated that counter-attacks by Palestinian and Arab websites were staged by justice and freedom supporters worldwide to bring Israeli and Jewish websites to a cyber-halt. Since the start of the Al Aqsa Intifada more than a month ago, the PNA has undertaken an unprecedented information campaign, with a good deal being waged via the Internet, including a website titled "Battle Over Jerusalem." *==============================================================* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. 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