Mysterious cyber-attacker hits at federal websites, crisis averted?
By Laura June 
posted Jul 8th 2009 6:28PM
posted Jul 8th 2009 6:28PM
It looks like a nefarious cyber-attack which affected several federal websites in the United States was a little more far-reaching than initially thought. The attack -- which started on the 4th of July -- targeted websites in both South Korea and the United States, including the Treasury Department, Federal Trade Commission and Secret Service. Various problems were still being reported days later, and while there's no official word on who the attackers were, those "people familiar with the matter" we know and love seem to be pointing their fingers at North Korea. So far as we know, no irreparable damage has been done, but we're not sure anyone would tell us if it had.
Kim Jong Il ftw.
Or should I say Kim Jong Ir
Either way, he has big glasses and a sad wrinkly face.
It was me with my Eee Pc !
Now how did North Korea get all their Commodore 64s connected to the Internet?
Actually, I did it from my OQO PC by issuing the command shutdown /S...
It's KIM JONG IL, not KIM JONG THE 2ND
@Joseph
That is King Jong IL, but the lower case L looks like the uppercase 'I'. Try it for yourself.
Ll Ii
Oh those Commodore 64's they rock man.
I remember my first webernet experience was on a 300/75 baud modem via a Commodore 64.
Perhaps they used the C64's and ultra powerful 1200 baud modems (LOL) with custom terminal software to take control of a monster bot net of computers owned by the Western Dogs to attack themselves.
Genius!
I blame China.
This is how WW3 going to get started because some idiot points the finger on someone. Where's the evidence? It might be some teenager for god sakes.
Really? I blame Canada for this.
@ techie
true...but with WW3 we could get some really cool call of duty and medal of honor games
Hmmm, I blame your mom =T
Yeah, 'Mmmm... Dohnuts.' is going to cause WW3... Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.
@ Techie
Seriously? North Korea is a very dominating communist regime. Internet access is locked way the hell down, there are no teenagers there with access to the internet and sit around all day. The vast population in N Korea are conscripts in the army because it's one of the only ways they can get food, clothing and shelter. As for if it originated in N Korea, that's pretty easily found out from looking at the packets and tracing it back through the routers on the internet backbone.
Read this and tell me what you think - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31792999/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
"Memorial used to criticize U.S., South
The regime used the memorial to criticize the United States and South Korea.
"We will sternly smash the U.S. imperialist forces and South Korea's puppet regime anti-unification plot," Kim Yong Nam, the North's No. 2 leader, told the ceremony, according to footage broadcast on state television.
"We will achieve the historical mission of national unification by realizing" Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il's policies for that, he added."
I blame South Dakota
China is a prime suspect because the virus used was a variant of MyDoom
Could this even cause problems? Shouldn't these sites be hosted separately from sensitive data and their associated servers?
I would hope so. But this is the government we are talking about.
yes. the US gov at least has two separate networks.
Wow -- not good...
Herrrrrooooooo
Looks like our good friend Kim is ronery again, and just wants us to pay him some more attention.
Looks like MikeZ beat me to the ronery. Darn it.
lol!
"My people love me!"
"No disrespect mini Kim, but what your people love is eating and not being in forced labor camps."
Jon Stewart ftw.
Poor ronery guys.
i know. seriorousry.
Ahhhhh.....Hanz Brixxxxxx.
Something tells me people are pining for a war to start between North Korea and opposing nations. This is simply kindling to the fire that is the current political situation.
There's a big chance that said people haven't the slightest connection to North Korea. They're simply trolling.
Do you always believe everything is a conspiracy, or only this issue?
Do you always comment before finishing reading a full post or was it only this one time?
After reading the line "They're simply trolling", you should have already grasped just how seriously I was looking into this "issue".
Put back on your tinfoil hat (and learn English). The same "evil powers pining for war" might be trying to control your thoughts. You never know.
It's okay to be butthurt that the silliness flew over your head.
Also, huh? What do my English skills have to do with anything? I'm guessing your thought process is something along the lines of: "Oh. I know! If I can't get this guy to look bad with his original comment, I'll target his ability at operating a language."
Silliness? If you were attempting to make a joke, which is not clear at all from your original post, it appears to have failed due to your lack of language ability. Perhaps you shouldn't be trying to tell jokes in English...stick to basic stuff. 我不说中文。
Silliness does not necessarily compute to jokes and laughter for all. Your failure to grasp the concept of it all is quite deplorable, seeing as how you tout yourself as a language connoisseur.
The remainder of your comment is null thanks, in part, to an excerpt from your own comment on the post, later on: "Also, since they country does not"
Please stop while you're this far behind. I'm simply not going to reply past this point.
From reading your little flamery, I'd actually guess that Yan is the native English speaker here... Reality Check, f**k off you xenophobic dips**it!
Fail on both accounts...
"..it appears to have failed due to your lack of language ability"
Ouch. Stop killing English, please.
Perfect picture for this post
i think the only better picture would be from live free or die hard...
How and why does North Korea get Internet access? Cut the tube.
I'm sure China and Russia, with whom North Korea shares a border, would really welcome the US cutting fiber lines on their territory...
Dang, we need our top hackers to f up the Chinese government and North Korea's sites. our government has the power so simply stop the internet. they have the "self destruct button.". maybe we should just, well say internet access vanished and that would be the end. :)
North-korea is smart enough to block all US IP's one assumes, only the US is stupid enough to allow north-korean IP's to access US government sites, and at the same time you cannot export/sell games to NK because they are on the no export list :rolleyes:
Also no chinese spooks ever attacked US gov sites, that's called propaganda to every 3 weeks report such BS stories, and it seems to work like a dream.
Crisis averted! Good job, team!
I see the puppet. I want to know who is pulling the strings...
Oh, and props for the "Team America: World Police" shot.
South Park writers were way ahead of their time with this movie.
China is likely the culprit behind these attacks. The sophistication of this DDoS attack could only have been carried out by state actors. China is the nearest neighbor with a long, proven track record of continued, elaborate hacks on the US and other countries.
North Korea has no prior record of anything near this advanced, so I am skeptical. Also, since they country does not have internet access, it is unlikely they have enough expertise among their population to recruit from to build a hacking team.
glad you figured it out.
My intelligence gathered from C&C Generals gives evidence to back up these claims