Instead of debunking this point by point, we'll cover this all at once.

Much akin to the supposed "Blitzkreig" server, the idea of retaliation 
against hackers is ill founded. Articles like this make it more difficult
to believe as there is an obvious lack of technical knowledge being
displayed.

"Then [the admin] can decide on the ultimate revenge and have the sentries
gain entrance to the hacker's computer and plant a virus." Who is to say
the hacker is using a Windows machine? If they are using Linux or FreeBSD,
this statement is completely wrong as viruses can't infect unix based systems 
like Windows systems.

One thing these programs fail to think of.. if a hacker is using another 
system, then the software will illegally hack an innocent system as retaliation. 
Of course, that is if any of this exists which I highly doubt (and certainly 
hope doesn't exist).


24May98 USA: SOFTWARE HITS BACK AT HACKER WITH VIRUSES - INNOVATION -
SECURITY.

By Sean Hargrave.

SOFTWARE that can detect an attack by hackers and retaliate by sending a
computer virus will be unveiled next month, writes Sean Hargrave.  Larry
Wood, co-founder of the Future Vision Group, based in Santa Fe, explains
that his software is basically a group of sentries that can be deployed
across a company's computer network and, if needed, the Internet.  The
sentries stand guard at switches that allow traffic in and out of a
system. 

If an abnormal amount of data is detected coming from an unusual source,
the sentries "chat" among themselves to decide if the data should be
allowed to pass. If they decide to hold it up, a message is sent to a
system administrator for advice. 

The administrator has the option of asking the sentries to track the path
of the data and identify its source. Then he can decide on the ultimate
revenge and have the sentries gain entrance to the hacker's computer and
plant a virus. 

A prototype version of the Network Lightning Server is being examined by
the FBI after the software highlighted an attack from teenage hackers
using pornographic messages to entice staff at blue-chip companies,
intelligence agencies, university and military establishments to reveal
e-mail addresses. 

Special Agent Doug Beldon, from the FBI's Albuquerque office, New Mexico,
has confirmed agency interest, but refuses to comment further.  The
hackers came to light last summer when thousands of e-mails were scattered
across the Net offering access to pictures of underage Japanese girls. 

To cover their tracks, the Japanese group sent its pornographic invitation
through a San Francisco computer specialist, Quick Print. They were able
to do this because a sacked employee gave them the passwords.  The message
invited people offended by the lewd invitation to send back an e-mail
asking to be removed from the pornographer's mailing list so they would
not be troubled again. 

According to Wood, the offer to be removed from the list was a trap. "They
had no idea whether they had the right e-mail addresses so they needed
people to get disgusted with the offer of illicit material," he says. "As
soon as they answered and asked to be removed, the hackers had their
e-mail address and the address of their host server." 

A "server" is the computer that, like an electric postman, delivers and
receives e-mail. Armed with an e-mail address and the identity of its
local server, the hackers immediately established a point of entry. 

Once hackers had gained the identities they were after, they decided to
lie low. But at the start of this month they began to use the identities. 
The Japanese hackers are using software that logs on to a computer network
as the person whose identity has been stolen. It then looks for password
files that it can copy, which can then be examined and decrypted by the
hackers. 

The attack is still going on, and the FBI has not ascertained how many
passwords have been stolen. However, most of the targets, including the
FBI, have been warned and e-mail addresses altered, or more robust
screening software put in place to defend systems against the hackers. 

SUNDAY TIMES 24/05/98