Ops and Intel update: 05.22.10

Maldives hosts Afghan peace talks
Aljazeera.net
Representives from the Taliban and the Afghan government attended the talks. There was no immediate statement on the outcome of the meeting, ...

US Air Force building cyber troop staff, all bases, already  30,000 Troops.
( prep for cyber attack on Iran? G )
SOURCE:

'Iran to boost 'cyber war' deterrence
They installed AV. 


  jricole 

Pakistan's Social Media Ban may endanger the country's Economic Growth http://ping.fm/wiKdO

  Geraldanthro

"Bugnets" & "Bugbots" + Rootkit & GPS give a new meaning to social nets.

Lot of  activity at secret Xe base, details with held for opsec reasons. G.

Taliban attack Kandahar Airfield

May 22, 2010 12:10 PM ET
By Bill Roggio

A rocket strike was followed by a ground assault; fighting is still ongoing. The attack is the third major strike against the Coalition in six days, and the fourth attempt to overrun a Coalition and Afghan base in the country during the same time period. The largest assault targeted the airbase at Bagram in central Afghanistan, the largest Coalition base in the country.  

Crime Links to Terror

the Colombian government arrested thirty-six individuals on money laundering and drug charges. According to authorities, this network — comprised of Lebanese expatriates —was more than a traditional criminal syndicate, and was shipping a portion of its profits back to Hezbollah in Lebanon.  

Google Launches Encrypted Search

Q is why Google did this? G

 

I am no fan of some of the Special Forces work in Afghanistan because there is no need to hit local compounds with the full SF direct action package which includes the varsity Afghan Commandos (who are very very good) a half dozen or so helicopters, dedicated UAV platforms, dedicated attack jets and AC 1230 gunships, etc…   to pick up a few suspected Taliban.  That is a ton of time and money to spend on trying to get villains who may or may not be in the targeted compound.   It is easier and cheaper to drive up in the middle of the day with some ANA troops, knock on the door and ask your target if he wants to come now or does he want to fight?  These guys are inside compounds with 9 foot high walls, it’s not like they can run away – there are four options when faced with deadly force confrontation; fight, flight, posture or submission.  When trapped inside a compound those options are reduced to fight or submission.  If the target wants to fight you can invite him to be a true Pashtun man of honor and let the women and kids out of the compound before you come in to get him.  You can also move the neighbors out of their compounds, and then try to talk them out or bomb them or go in after them… whatever option you want. It is much easier and safer for everyone (except the target because this is only going to end one way for them) if you would just think things through and take your time.

SOURCE:

G


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Draw Mohammad day?

Draw Mohammad day?
محمد
Western back lash for response to Lars Vilks.

From a Islamic blog:
"I am not perturbed by those who try to spit on the moon."

If Vilks had been ignored there would not be a
Draw Mohammad day.


Are you feeding the fires?

Is there anything in the Koran that prohibits
drawing Mohammad? I couldn't find it.

This is a cultural knee jerk reaction to
experiencing terrorism.
The terrorist are impacting how the 
WORLD views Islam.

Is the enemy those that try and spit on the moon
or the Terrorist?
Is this the religion of peace or the religion of
WAR?

Bill

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• Pakistan's Blocking Binge: First Facebook, Now YouTube; Others Inaccessible (wired.com)

cyber Fear warmonger or Paul Revere?

I'm going to be accused of "cyber Fear warmonger," but I think history 

may classify me closer to a Paul Revere?

Security software vendors are loosing the battle on every front.

Research: 1.3 million malicious ads viewed daily.

New research released by Dasient indicates that based on their sample, 1.3 million malicious ads are viewed per day, with 59 percent of them representing drive-by downloads, followed by 41 percent of fake security software also known as scareware.

The attack vector, known as malvertising, has been increasingly trending as a tactic of choice for numerous malicious attackers, due to the wide reach of the campaign once they manage to trick a legitimate publisher into accepting it.

More findings from their research:

• The probability of a user getting infected from a malvertisement is twice as likely on a weekend and the average lifetime of a malvertisement is 7.3 days
• 97% of Fortune 500 web sites are at a high risk of getting infected with malware due to external partners (such as javascript widget providers, ad networks, and/or packaged software providers)
• Fortune 500 web sites have such a high risk because 69% of them use external Javascript to render portions of their sites and 64% of them are running outdated web applications

The research’s findings are also backed up by another recently released report by Google’s Security Team, stating that fake AV is accounting for 50 percent of all malware delivered via ads.

The increased probability of infection during the weekend can be attributed to a well known tactic used by the individual/gang behind the campaign. Once the social engineering part takes place, in an attempt to evade detection, they would first feature a legitimate ad, wait for the weekend to come thinking that no one would react to the attack even if it was reported, and show the true face of the campaign.

Case in point is NYTimes malvertising campaign (Sept. 2009):

More here SOURCE:

SOUNDS BAD? IT GETS WORSE.

Potential to bring down the WWW and keep it down.

http://warintel.blogspot.com/2010/05/us-losing-cyber-war-defense-official-bs.html

BY AN INDIVUAL:

http://warintel.blogspot.com/2010/05/rise-of-cyber-person-state-threat.html

HOW BAD IS IT?

http://warintel.blogspot.com/2010/03/cyber-defcon-1-level-highest.html

I SINCERLY HOPE HISTORY PROVES ME WRONG, BUT IT SEEMS

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE AND WORSE.

Gerald

Internet Anthropologist

Tactical Internet Systems analyst.

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What does Arizona's Immigration law say?

It says that with the drug cartels and kidnappings and deaths of Americans,
THEY DON'T FEEL SAFE. AND THEY DON'T FEEL THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT IS DOING A GOOD ENOUGH JOB PROTECTING
THE BORDER. SO THEY ACTED.

G

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Carder forum Hacked, exposed.

Vigilantes Hack Criminal Carding Forum and Expose Underground Dealings



The hackers also posted information on the IP addresses forum members used when they signed up for membership, noting that most of the administrators and moderators on the site didn’t use a proxy to access it. They also posted usernames, e-mail addresses and some cracked passwords of members, who number 5,000. The data was posted to the RapidShare file-trading site.



A German cybercrime forum was hacked by attackers who have exposed the underground dealings of the criminal denizens. The hackers snagged the database containing what appears to be all of the private correspondence of the forum members and posted it to the web.


Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/?intcid=gnav_b#ixzz0oP9SoF2w


Jeeze hope Feds see this.




Gerald


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Nosy Taliban Leaders

Ever notice the Taliban leaders have BIG noses? 

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar                                          Qari Hussain Mehsud.

Azam Tariq.                                    Siraj Haqqani.

                  Mullah Nazir.                                   And this guy? Oct. 3, 2009 attack on Combat                               Outpost Keating


( Sorry Google formating screwing up. G will try and fix later )


More Taliban leaders HERE:


Why are their noses so big?

Because their finger is so BIG.
LOL ROF ha ha






G


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Observations 05.18.10

Terrorist leaders go dark, Zawahiri.nothing in 5 mos, Binny even longer, and now Omar, curiouser and curiouser...


Recent two attempted attacks both bungled, Lone Wolf's "Peter Principle" at work. Lone Wolfs equal high "fail rate". Epic Fail.


Recently two insurgents caught, arrested for talking about attacking, if you communicate, we will hear you.


 Two 'White' teens spotted in Taliban video http://bit.ly/cErN32 

  

Western looking teens walking around with 300 Taliban, not being noticed? http://bit.ly/cErN32 Is it because they look like kids? Puzzling


Suicide attack on UN convoy in Kabul start of Taliban desperate spring offensive.
Taliban experiencing the highest level of PTS syndrome ever.
Internet Anthropologist Think Tank: The Taliban secret wounded.




Gerald
Anthropologist


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'White' teen spotted in Taliban video

The video contains very brief glimpses of a clean-shaven young man in his late teens or early 20s, dressed in Western-style clothing, in a gathering of Taliban fighters.

The analyst said the video, which followed an Oct. 3, 2009 attack on Combat Outpost Keating..

Western intelligence agencies have become increasingly worried about the prospect of non-Asian or -Arab Westerners joining terrorist groups.

“(At) 42:22, he comes in picture, the white guy, neat blouse, Western coat and no beard (he's the only one around without traditional clothing or a beard). (At)

 42:25 he's in the center of the picture, pulling his hand through his hair.” 


SOURCE:

If you know these people contact your local FBI office

or email us at InternetAnthropologistTT at gmail.com

Note stripes on sleeve.

He doesn't appear to be with any one, nor do we see him making any contact.

Anthropologically these photos provide no "evidence" he is not Asian.

 But his hair color, clothing and personal hygiene ( shaving & short hair ) suggest he may me Western or European. The way everyone ignores him is very un-nerving, does everybody

know him, why isn't any one suspicious? How does he just seem to blend in for the 300  Taliban but stands our to the viewer? He is well KNOWN by villagers.

Possible second westerner at 40:42, young man short hair, US army field jacket, clean shaven.

His dress, shirt and fatigue jacket, and unshaven and

the presents of the first young man brings him to our attention.

Gerald

Further extensive review of the video picks him up earlier:

.

The leader of the attack:

Anyone Know who he is? G Mullah Sadiq?

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Ops and Intel update 05.18.10

Here's the round up.

From Thomas P.M. Barnett 

Brazil and the bomb

The requirement to "fight through" a cyberattack = reasonable planning

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Greece Considering Legal Action Against U.S. Banks for Crisis

Israel plays wargame assuming Iran has nuclear bomb

The Pakistani Taliban's top leaders

Reminder DEF CON CFP closing at the end of the month!

Twitter-controlled botnets come to the unwashed masses

Are DNA computer chips a reality?

G

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U.S. Losing Cyber War, Defense Official, BS

U.S. Losing Cyber War, Defense Official Says.

Nonsense, we have not had a Cyber war yet,
Few battles in Georgia etc. but no war. G

U.S. computer systems have been targeted by criminal organizations as well as more than 100 foreign spy agencies, said James Miller, principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy.

"Our systems are probed thousands of times a day and scanned millions of times a day," Miller told a forum sponsored by Ogilvy Washington, a public relations company.

SOURCE/:

My response to Thomas P.M. Barnett article :

Cybersecurity: Be afraid! But how much afraid?

I also tend to add: even if you, the weaker guy, shut down my nets for a bit and get some surprise attack accomplished, at the end of the day, I will still be there with my superior conventional military force, and I am likely to be able to make clear my unhappiness regarding whatever trick you just pulled.  Fait accompli or no, you will now have me as a more committed enemy, and when I decide to strike back, the cybertricks won't be enough to protect you. Tom is a genius, but I have a different hypothesis.

SOURCE:

"and when I decide to strike back, the cybertricks won't be enough to protect you."
Maybe, maybe not? 
The anti-cornfliker cabal hasn't been identify the owner, or even what country they are in, they can't shut down his bot nets, can't find him, they can't stop him or take control of the bot net. "THEY" have been trying to do that to cornfliker for a over a year now, not even Micro Soft can't take them out. G


But lets look at an Cyber WAR.

The WWW can be used as a WMD.

YES I'd like to practice some cyber war.

Lets play:

I pull up cornfliker bot net, millions of zombies, and attack all 13 Internet nodes,
with advanced, force multiplier Dos attacks from my millions of zombies,

in effect shutting down the WWW , well ok maybe only 85% of it.
And since US also have a strong cyber force they counter attack, inadvertently taking out more or the residual 15% capacity of the WWW.

Internet Anthropologist Think Tank: CYBERWARS's Pearl Harbour

Aug 1, 2007

But your not worried you have "superior conventional military force" with its secure
intra nets, but of course the Mil.com WWW cable plug is DEAD, They can't communicate,
with their world wide military force" Cell phones out,land lines out,
Banks down, ATMs dead,of course CB and short wave work.

And If I can keep the WWW down long enough ,or just knock it back down every
time USA bring it back up I can watch the world Economies Crash, and the WWW
is the lubricant for Globalization, so that grinds to a halt.
But US have a US military force".which is addicted
to the WWW, attached to an electronic nipple.

My Cyber attack on USA. Asterisk.Gerald

As I watch the core dissolve into a morass of 1950's technology.
Of course the Gap bumbles alomg un connected to the WWW.
The Gap is best prepared for a WMD strike on the WWW.

Now if that isn't a WMD strike I don't know what is.
"cyber warmongers," or Paul Revere?

Please discredit me, show me the error in my hypothesis,
punch it full of holes, PLEASE, I'll sleep better tonight if you
do.

It gets worse:

The rise of the "Person State" Threat.

How bad is it?

Cyber Defcon 1 Level, highest

Gerald
Internet Anthropologist
Tactical Internet Systems analyst.

.

The rise of "cyber person state" threat

New Cyber War paradigm.
The rise of Cyber  person state threat

Dancho Danchev outlines a new crimeware paradigm,
but its equally applicable to the Cyber War Paradigm.G

But by mid-2009, phishing was dominated by one player as never before the Avalanche phishing operation. This criminal entity is one of the most sophisticated and damaging on the Internet, and perfected a mass-production system for deploying phishing sites and "crimeware" - malware designed specifically to automate identity theft and facilitate unauthorized transactions from consumer bank accounts.

The Avalanche botnet is the middle-step between the spamming botnet and Trojans that steal banking information. It is basically a hosting platform used by the attackers. Because the Avalanche bots act as a simple proxy, and there are thousands of them, it has been exceedingly difficult to shutdown the phish pages.

One of the most notable facts about the botnet, is their persistent interaction with the TROYAK-AS cybercrime-friendly ISP, where they used to host a huge percentage of their ZeuS C&Cs, next to the actual client-side exploit serving iFrame domains/IPs, found on each and every of their phishing pages. The following chronology, exclusively details their client-side exploits/ZeuS crimeware serving campaigns.

SOURCE:

This maybe proof of concept of the WWW dominated by one player.
The elements are there, and is a very disturbing look into the future
of Cyber War.

The criminal has mastered the WWW to the extent no one can catch
him or force his bots off the Net, or even take control of them.
And I remind you of Cornfliker many, many times the size of the
Avalanche bots net.

This presents the possibility of one person having the same power 
as state in a cyber attack.

This is a very problematic paradigm.


Gerald
Internet Anthropologist


Control of the Cyber Battle field.

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Shura for Reducing Civilian casualties.

Image by isafmedia via Flickr

Shura for Reducing Civilian casualties.

“More than 90 representatives from all regions of Afghanistan, the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police participated in the COIN shura, the first of its kind hosted by the ISAF Joint Command (IJC).
“We want to ensure that we are doing everything we can to reduce civilian casualties,” said U.S. Marine Col. Bradley Weisz, deputy chief of IJC Current Operations and shura coordinator. “We need to change the mindset of our troops to the COIN approach of ‘protecting the people,’ and the best way to do that is by sharing best practices and improving overall COIN awareness.”
SOURCE:
http://www.isaf.nato.int/en/article/isaf-releases/leaders-tackle-counterinsurgency-and-civilian-casualties.html
In a poll of 550 tribal area residents last year, 58 percent said drone attacks did not foster anti-American sentiment. Fifty-two percent said the strikes were accurate, and 60 percent said they damaged insurgents.
In some tribal areas that have not been targeted, residents have requested drone attacks against local militants, said Samina Ahmed,
SOURCE:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100516/ARTICLE/5161037/2055/NEWS

Busting Taliban Propagandists chops

Busting Taliban Propagandists chops.
Kinda of fun, he makes lots of accusations,
lies and even argues against himself,
Eventually resorts to name calling
when his propaganda agitation fails.
Taliban supporters don't like the TTP...
A fun read, action is in the comments.
HERE:


G

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