Times Reports CyberTerrorism Pays [June 5, 1996]--A headline in last Sunday's edition of The London Times dramatically proclaimed, "City Surrenders to \043400m Gangs." The special report claims that City of London financial institutions have been dishing out vast sums of money to gangs of "cyberterrorists" that threaten to destroy computer systems. The Times reports that up to \043400m (approximately US$600 million) has been paid to international terrorists worldwide, and banks, brokerage firms, and investment houses in the U.S. have paid secret ransoms to avoid a computer system infiltration that could seriously undermine customer confidence. An investigative team from the "Insight" section of the Sunday paper reportedly discovered that British and American agencies are looking into over 40 attacks on financial institutions in New York, London, and other European banking centers since 1993. The article says that blackmailing hackers, who have shown companies just how they intend to halt trading via information warfare techniques, have been paid up to \04313m (about US$20 million) at a time. Some have reportedly sent encrypted messages at top security levels that read: "Now do you believe we can destroy your computers?" The Times reports the majority of the attacks are thought to originate in the U.S. and the National Security Agency (NSA) estimates there are four main cybergangs, one of which is based in Russia. The cyberterrorism piece reveals that the NSA is currently investigating four London-based blackmail threats that resulted in a total of over \04340m (about US$60 million) paid out in ransom by brokerage houses, a bank, and a defense firm. Victims reportedly gave in to the blackmailer's demands within hours, and transferred ransom money to offshore bank accounts. According to The Times, both European and American authorities have established special units to deal with the cybergangs, and a group of information warfare experts met in Brussels last month to discuss ways to combat the new threat. brainhard@etoy.com C O M M U N I C A T I O N S / luzius bernhard PUBLIC RELATIONS / ASCII-CODING __ ___ / /_____ __ __ www.hijack.org (now running action) / _ \/ __/ __ \/ / / / www.etoy.com (homebase) / __/ /_/ /_/ / /_/ / mailme@etoy.com (general comm / 48 hours reply) \___/\__/\____/\__, / p.o. box. 3365 - 8049 zurich - switzerland /____/ > > > > n e v e r c h a n g e a w i n n i n g t e a m ! < < < <