[OilsNotWell]

BOLO for suspicious things....


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')IA Overseeing 3-Day War Game on Internet

May 25, 6:42 PM (ET)

By TED BRIDIS


WASHINGTON - The CIA is conducting a war game this week to simulate an unprecedented, Sept. 11-like electronic assault against the United States. The three-day exercise, known as "Silent Horizon," is meant to test the ability of government and industry to respond to escalating Internet disruptions over many months, according to participants.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the CIA asked them not to disclose details of the sensitive exercise taking place in Charlottesville, Va., about two hours southwest of Washington.

The simulated attacks were carried out five years in the future by a fictional new alliance of anti-American organizations that included anti-globalization hackers. The most serious damage was expected to be inflicted in the closing hours of the war game Thursday.

APNews

[PenultimateManStanding]

there was a thread many months ago in which the possibility was raised of some vague enemy taking out the internet. I can't remember which thread it was but a lot of computer-savvy members of this forum informed me that it wasn't possible to knock out the internet. I can't say that I was totally convinced - and now this If this forum was knocked out of commission I would go into convulsions and fevers and . . .

[RonMN]

To my knowledge there are 14 redundent servers, positioned in different spots on the globe, that power the internet. A few years ago, hackers knocked out 9 of the 14...leaving 5 running the entire internet.

So i definately wouldn't say it's "impossible".

[RonMN]

HEYYYYYY...that last post turned me to "Intermediate Crude"

WOW! I feel so important!

[Doly]

Well, it's thursday now and it doesn't look like the Internet is down or anything.

[julianj]

You may be intermediate Ron, but never Crude

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('julianj', 'Y')ou may be intermediate Ron, but never Crude

[OilsNotWell]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ell, it's thursday now and it doesn't look like the Internet is down or anything

[entropyfails]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RonMN', 'T')o my knowledge there are 14 redundent servers, positioned in different spots on the globe, that power the internet. A few years ago, hackers knocked out 9 of the 14...leaving 5 running the entire internet.

So i definately wouldn't say it's "impossible".

[OilsNotWell]

Hmmm...some news posts on this gave the impression that it was last week, some this week...

Then there's THIS:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')ear ezboard Family,

On Tuesday May 31 ezboard's systems were the victim of a very precise and malicious internet attack. This attack resulted in the loss of a significant amount of current and historical board postings and interrupted services across all systems. I deeply apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused and am here to give you the first of several in-depth updates.

At this time most board management services have been restored and our goal is to have post/reply repaired on Wednesday . We are working to restore board data from our back-up systems. This will take some time, and complete data restoration may not be possible, but it is what we are working towards. What we know now is that the attacker deleted current board and back-up data. We are taking the fastest route to restore data, but it may take up to 48 hours to get data back to approximately 9,000 boards. A more manual method requiring upwards of seven to ten days is required to restore data to the other boards that lost data. Regrettably we may not be able to restore data to all boards that lost data.

Second to restoring board data we are gathering information on how the attacker went about his or her business and what evidence was left behind. We are using this information to reduce the opportunity for future attackers as we build our new release. Should you hear or read anything about this attack we would love to know about it at legal@ezboard.com.

You should be aware that there is no evidence that personal information was touched. There was also no opportunity to see or download credit card information as ezboard does not keep credit card numbers on file.

Again, I apologize to you for any inconvenience caused as we value your participation on ezboard today and as we move towards an exciting - and more robust - version of the experience. We are working to restore your systems as fast as possible. Gold Board managers will be receiving information on GB subscription credits in the next few days.

We we keep you updated as the restoration progresses.

Sincerely,

Rob

Robert Labatt
CEO
ezboard, Inc.

[TheSupplyGuy]

Hmm, the the linkin park fansite I go to was closed down yesterday as well...

[OilsNotWell]

First read this:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')OW Do You Feel Secure on the Internet?
by Mark Faulk
Two weeks ago, The Faulking Truth subscribed to a message board, www.ezboard.com with the promise of better and more features, more posting capabilities, and a bunch of stuff our little website couldn't offer. There have been some problems with the message board from the start, slow loading, etc., and it went down for a day last week, but overall, it seemed like a good move.

Then, yesterday, the entire EZBoard system was attacked by hackers, who have systematically deleted every post on our board (and hundreds of others as well, apparently), beginning with the two forums that deal with the Stockgate scandal. Although they knew about the hackers yesterday morning, the system corruption is ongoing, and the rest of our forums disappeared sometime during the night. Is it a coincidence that the first of our forums to "disappear" were the ones dealing with the most volatile issue that we cover, the ongoing stock market scandal? I have no idea, but I have forwarded that information to the legal department at the EZBoard company. I'll let everyone know what they find out.

Here's my question for everyone: If hackers can so easily subvert an entire system as large as EZBoard, the self-described "largest online community network site on the planet",with over 9,000 forums, and apparently delete an entire system with the click of a mouse, what does that tell us about how secure all of our internet systems are? If it's this easy to hack into their system and corrupt the entire program, how secure do you feel about the millions of websites that ask for your credit card numbers every day? Do you still believe that our electronic voting system is foolproof? Do you think that the trading of billions and billions of stock market shares over the internet every day is a secure, fair system? How about your bank account and other sensitive personal information that is stored on the internet? Do YOU feel secure on the internet?

As for EZBoard, they've "assured" customers that no personal or credit card information was illegally accessed or stolen, but then, many of their message boards have had their accounts where their subscribers donate money hacked into and deleted. As for me, I'll be taking an extra long look at my credit card bills over the next few months, and I'd suggest that everyone else do the same.....just in case.

Here's the most recent post sent to subscribers of the EZBoard service. While you're reading it, think about our Presidential and other elections, our electronically-traded stock market, and your bank and credit card information that is stored in "secure" sites throughout cyberspace....NOW do you feel secure?


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')ear ezboard Family,

On Tuesday May 31 ezboard's systems were the victim of a very precise and malicious internet attack. This attack resulted in the loss of a significant amount of current and historical board postings and interrupted services across all systems. I deeply apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused and am here to give you the first of several in-depth updates.

At this time most board management services have been restored and our goal is to have post/reply repaired on Wednesday . We are working to restore board data from our back-up systems. This will take some time, and complete data restoration may not be possible, but it is what we are working towards. What we know now is that the attacker deleted current board and back-up data. We are taking the fastest route to restore data, but it may take up to 48 hours to get data back to approximately 9,000 boards. A more manual method requiring upwards of seven to ten days is required to restore data to the other boards that lost data. Regrettably we may not be able to restore data to all boards that lost data.

Second to restoring board data we are gathering information on how the attacker went about his or her business and what evidence was left behind. We are using this information to reduce the opportunity for future attackers as we build our new release. Should you hear or read anything about this attack we would love to know about it at legal@ezboard.com.

You should be aware that there is no evidence that personal information was touched. There was also no opportunity to see or download credit card information as ezboard does not keep credit card numbers on file.

Again, I apologize to you for any inconvenience caused as we value your participation on ezboard today and as we move towards an exciting - and more robust - version of the experience. We are working to restore your systems as fast as possible. Gold Board managers will be receiving information on GB subscription credits in the next few days.

We we keep you updated as the restoration progresses.

Sincerely,

Rob

Robert Labatt
CEO
ezboard, Inc.

[PiscesCEO]

My firm's ezboard forums include a "vacuum cleaner" news network thread. It includes all the current information, rumours and widely believed factoids about what has happened on EZboard. The NSA have even got a mention.

Link:
http://p218.ezboard.com/fgoldenuniverse ... 1&stop=137