From jericho at attrition.org Mon Aug 2 07:03:23 2004 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Mon Aug 2 07:03:25 2004 Subject: [attrition] It's official: mi2g has no sense of humor Message-ID: [Rob wrote a three page article covering the latest mi2g FUD. Since I am so lazy these days, I didn't update Errata to cover it, but Rob did a much better job than I could have.] -- It's official: mi2g has no sense of humor by Rob Rosenberger?--?07/25/04 CAN YOU TELL the difference between a parody and a hoax? One computer security firm can't. An un?known per?son wrote a parody of an mi2g alert. Every?body got the humor -- except for the folks at mi2g. The CEO labeled it an out?right hoax. Our longtime readers know about a firm called "mi2g" (correct spelling). Vmyths has exposed their many shenanigans dating back to 1999. Our website tops the list if you Google for "mi2g criticism" and we're?#3 if you Google for "mi2g humor." mi2g has threatened to sue Vmyths for libel but has not yet made good on its threat. An unknown person parodied an mi2g alert with the headline "Wendy's drive-up order system information disclosure." I'll call it "the mi2g parody" for short. It's a straightforward parody -- yet the folks at mi2g went ballistic over it. CEO & founder D.K. Matai (incorrect spelling) labeled it an outright hoax in a bizarre press release dated 20 July. < snip > http://vmyths.com/rant.cfm?id=661&page=4 From jericho at attrition.org Wed Aug 4 16:45:32 2004 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Wed Aug 4 16:45:36 2004 Subject: [attrition] Tear Down this Wall Message-ID: From: James M. Atkinson Tear Down this Wall I was recently able to examine the so called "Free Speech Zone" located near the Fleet Center in Boston, MA at the site of the Democratic National Convention. I walked around the outside perimeter, and I walked around inside of it. What I saw was an absolute abomination, not only to the eye, but also to the very spirit of our nation. This cage should never be torn down, and should be preserved with a museum built around it to signify just how low we as a nation have fallen. This area and the surrounding land was once the birth site of democracy, patriotism, and freedom. This sacred ground has now been sullied with this contraption and it's significance. It was mere feet to the South that the Boston Massacre took place, and only a short distance to the North that the Battle of Bunker Hill was waged. To the West of this site we have the Old North Church, where Paul Revere saw the lights that sent him on his ride, and to the East the location where our Colonial forefathers expressed their outrage at King George by dumping his tea into Boston Harbor. These locations are not miles, tens of miles, or hundreds of miles from this site, but feet, from where people gave their lives to protect our freedom. The soil directly underneath this so called "Free Speech Zone" contains the blood of those early Americans who had the bravery and faith to stand up for what they believed in, and who were willing to die for it, in turn soaking this very ground with their life's blood. Not far from here are two old Colonial-era graveyards, which contain the mortal remains of those who died fighting for our freedom in the early days of our country. These graves include both rich and poor, sailors and preachers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, both the well-educated and the simple. The markers in this graveyard list patriot after patriot, hero after hero, and yet the United States Government, the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and City of Boston saw fit to desecrate this holy ground with what has become an embarrassment to our entire country. When the City of Boston was summoned into court concerning this abomination the Judge could not believe the description that was given, and had to come out of the courtroom to observe it in person. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock was deeply disturbed and blasted the "Free Speech Zone" in his published decision, and stated that it was "an affront to free expression". The "zone" is poorly constructed, no building permit was ever obtained for it; no building inspector every certified it for occupancy. Around the perimeter, this death trap is lined with a highly flammable fabric to hide the protester from public view, and yet no fire extinguishers can be found in the enclosure. Above the "affront to free expression" (as the court has deemed it) the government has positioned soldiers armed with machine guns and chemical weapons to quell any voices that become too unruly, or unmanageable. The "Free Speech Zone" does not serve any legitimate security purposes, does not foster "Free Speech", and instead only exists to muzzle the voice of protest, and to try to hide it away under an old decrepit bridge. History records that following World War II, the Russian forces began their oppressive occupation of East Germany. Those living on the wrong side of the wall had to suffer under the iron rule of the Communist system, and risked imprisonment or death for speaking out or trying to seek freedom. Between 1949 and 1961 over 2.6 million East Germans escaped to West Berlin. The Communist government could find no way to control this mass exodus. On August 13, 1961 the Soviet Government officially closed the border between East and West Berlin and began building a series of walls through the city. These series of walls came to be known as the "Berlin Wall", and became a black mark in history, noting the Berlin Wall as a structure of oppression. Ironically, the United States considered the Berlin Wall as the centerpiece of the Soviet oppression present in East Germany during the Cold War. The Soviet Union permitted three places in this wall where a small number of their "politically correct" citizens could cross into West Berlin, and where diplomats could meet to exchange spies. During the Cold War, the government posted signs at these three checkpoints that said "You are now leaving the American Sector". These same signs, with this same message could now be hung in Boston near the Fleet Center where the DNC convention is taking place. On June 12, 1987, the President of the United States of America, the late Ronald Reagan addressed the people of West Berlin, in Germany at the Brandenburg Gate. During this speech, President Reagan called on the leader of the Soviet Union and proclaimed: "Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" The "Free Speech Zone" is only a few hundred feet from where the DNC candidates will be speaking about freedom, democracy, and the American ethic. This zone can be easily reached from the speakers platform of the convention by walking a few yards to the elevator, going down one floor, take a left though the glass doors to the street level, and then take a right to walk along the media pavilion. Directly ahead, and across the street will be the area in question it is hard to miss as it stands like some monument to oppression, and demonstrates to the entire world that some Americans, and the nation as a whole can, in fact, be muzzled. Is this a message that we as a democratic society wish to convey to the rest of the world, Mr. President? I formally ask that both Mr. Kerry, and Mr. Edwards visit the inside of the "Free Speech Zone", and that while visiting that they take a pair of wire cutters and cut a hole in the fence to demonstrate that they support and are willing to defend the Constitution of the United States. Then Mr. Kerry, during the convention have the ones responsible for erecting this contraption tear it down, this wall, this slap in the face of our Constitutional Rights, to Free Speech, to Gather, to Raise our Voices, in OUR own land. We the people "Come here to this wall! Mr. Kerry, open this gate! Mr. Kerry, tear down this wall!" James M. Atkinson, 7/24/04 Gloucester, MA jmatk@tscm.com www.tscm.com Copyright 2004, James M. Atkinson. Permission is granted to republish this article in any forum, method, or media so long as the author is given proper credit. From jericho at attrition.org Wed Aug 4 21:08:15 2004 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Wed Aug 4 21:08:17 2004 Subject: [attrition] Alert: Ashcroft Tells Libraries to Destroy Citizen-Friendly Publications Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Richard Forno Scary stuff, no? -rick Infowarrior.org -- American Library Association (ALA) Statement regarding DOJ request for removal of government publications by depository libraries The following statement has been issued by President-Elect Michael Gorman, representing President Carol Brey-Casiano, who is currently in Guatemala representing the Association: July 30, 2004 Statement from ALA President-Elect Michael Gorman: Last week, the American Library Association learned that the Department of Justice asked the Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents to instruct depository libraries to destroy five publications the Department has deemed not "appropriate for external use." The Department of Justice has called for these five these public documents, two of which are texts of federal statutes, to be removed from depository libraries and destroyed, making their content available only to those with access to a law office or law library. The topics addressed in the named documents include information on how citizens can retrieve items that may have been confiscated by the government during an investigation. The documents to be removed and destroyed include: Civil and Criminal Forfeiture Procedure; Select Criminal Forfeiture Forms; Select Federal Asset Forfeiture Statutes; Asset forfeiture and money laundering resource directory; and Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA). ALA has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the withdrawn materials in order to obtain an official response from the Department of Justice regarding this unusual action, and why the Department has requested that documents that have been available to the public for as long as four years be removed from depository library collections. ALA is committed to ensuring that public documents remain available to the public and will do its best to bring about a satisfactory resolution of this matter. Librarians should note that, according to policy 72, written authorization from the Superintendent of Documents is required to remove any documents. To this date no such written authorization in hard copy has been issued. Keith Michael Fiels Executive Director American Library Association (800) 545-2433 ext.1392 http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=news&template=/ContentManagement/Con tentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=72230 From jericho at attrition.org Thu Aug 5 05:40:36 2004 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Thu Aug 5 05:40:39 2004 Subject: [attrition] Our Las Vegas Pigeon Message-ID: While attending a couple conventions in Las Vegas.. http://www.attrition.org/~jericho/pix/dated/04-07-26-blackhat/pigeon/ From jericho at attrition.org Sat Aug 7 16:54:57 2004 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Sat Aug 7 16:54:59 2004 Subject: [attrition] Postal: help me! help me! i'm a retard! Message-ID: http://www.attrition.org/postal/p0009.html i agree BADDASSZSIXERS03 Card of Insipid Geekery +3 like chillin, vilain style? she sounds frustrated tomfoolery! they are never into threesomes passwort? kidiot loser he took it well From jericho at attrition.org Thu Aug 26 09:13:37 2004 From: jericho at attrition.org (security curmudgeon) Date: Thu Aug 26 09:13:39 2004 Subject: [attrition] 'Electronic Jihad' fails to materialise Message-ID: [More info available at www.infowarrior.org, treachery.net or attrition.org! -jericho] 'Electronic Jihad' fails to materialise By John Leyden Published Thursday 26th August 2004 11:06 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/26/cyberfud/ Rumours that the Internet would witness a sustained and devastating cyber-attack by Islamic "cyber-terrorists" today have turned out to be completely baseless. The non-story kicked off earlier this week when Kaspersky Labs execs referred to reports on unspecified Arab websites that Islamic hackers had declared 26 August as a day of "electronic jihad" against Israel. The comments were picked up in the Russian media, resulting in a number of alarmist articles on the supposed threat. "Terrorists will paralyse the Internet on 26 August," reported MosMews. Vmyths editor Rob Rosenberger was quick to dismiss the reports as "baseless hysteria" pointing out that the latest prediction of cyber-apocalyse are nothing new. Previous "cyber-wars" have resulted in nothing beyond a few defaced websites. Rosenberger's predictions have been borne out by a notable absence of carnage of the information cyber-highway this morning. Meanwhile Kaspersky Labs is distancing itself from the story. It seems the Russian media put a sensationalist spin on off the cuff remarks by company founder Eugene Kaspersky. In a statement, it said: "Kaspersky Labs do not believe that anything serious will occur [on 26 August], although obviously it will be prepared accordingly. However, Kaspersky Labs is concerned of the use of the term 'electronic jihad' for the first time, implying that Arab hackers are thinking about a more aggressive attack." ?