Truth About Computer Security Hysteria
It's obvious when you compare the two (part 3)
Rob Rosenberger, Vmyths co-founderTuesday, 20 May 2003
[continued from part 2]
I SAID IT before and I'll say it again. "I would gladly throw away the entire Internet just to reinstall the USS Cole as easily as we reinstall an operating system." It's obvious when you compare these two events:
Viruses & worms cause "billions of dollars in damage" — each! — yet the U.S. government doesn't care enough to slap a bounty on these perpetrators. In fact, in a number of high-profile cases, the Justice Department launched a global manhunt only to ignore the billion-dollar cyber-attacker once identified. Go figure.
Name: USS Cole Name: Nimda virus Attacked: 12 October 2000 Attacked: 18 September 2001 Highlighted in a PBS "Frontline" special on terrorism: yes Highlighted in a PBS "Frontline" special on terrorism: yes Culprit: Al Qaeda Culprit: identity unknown Damage toll: $250-275 million Damage toll: 3-5 times as much as the USS Cole attack Recovery operations: 11 months Recovery operations: 5 days Human casualties: 2 suicide, 17 dead, 39 injured Human casualties: 0 suicide, 0 dead, 0 injured Presidential involvement: yes Presidential involvement: yes White House point man: Richard Clarke (National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counterterrorism) White House point man: Richard Clarke (demoted three weeks later to Special Advisor to the President for Cyberspace Security) Reward offered: yes Reward offered: no
[continued in part 4]