Re: Bin Laden Associate Warns of Cyberattack

["Stephen Sprunk" <ssprunk () cisco com>]

Thus spake <Michael.Dillon () radianz com>
> When was the last time you took a sample and tested for the presence of
> fertilizer *BEFORE* you let the truck driver put that diesel into your
> generator tanks?

Worst case, you'd detect this during your periodic generator test :)

> The best defence against all of these potential terrorist attacks is to do
> what the military does, i.e. spread out. Never put more than a fraction of
> your eggs in one basket. Use the network to connect diverse and widespread
> assets so that they can function as a unit even though they are physically
> separated.

Isn't that the reason that IP was designed the way it was?

9/11 showed us that, despite the relatively concentrated POPs in NYC, the
Internet was still the only communications medium that survived the
attack --and it was largely unaffected, even for users located in NYC
itself!

CAIDA tells us that over 25% of the Internet must be removed before
connectivity degrades.  I'm quite a cynic, but I doubt the CIA could pull
off that kind of damage, much less al Qaeda.

> This philosophy works whether your assets are combat soldiers
> or network PoPs. And again, there is a role for government here. How about
> tax reductions for companies who harden their networks by removing single
> points of failure that are vulnerable to terrorist attack?

Oh yes, let's create a tax credit system which will essentially become an
arbitrary means for government officials to reward friends in the private
sector in return for kickbacks.  That'll definitely solve the problem (which
has been shown not to exist).  Look how well it's worked for healthcare and
oil companies!

S