[SunHELP] Security Alert

[English, John]

>From our Nextwork Security Group

John R. English
NEXTEL Communications
Unix Systems Administrator

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Hall, Darlene 
> Sent:	Friday, April 20, 2001 11:26 AM
> To:	#SA - HP; #SA - Sun; #LAN Services (DCI); #GroupWare Team;
> #MiddleWare & Planning
> Cc:	TechnologySecurity
> Subject:	Important Information 
> Importance:	High
> 
> Please take a moment and read the attach news article.  
> the full story is enclosed or can be accessed via the link that is shown.
> <http://www.securitywatch.com/newsforward/default.asp?AID=7121> 
> (04/19/2001) If you thought the China-US spy plane conflict was over,
> think again. Though political tensions are easing, hackers are just
> getting ready for an all out attack and we may all get caught in the
> crossfire. 
> Hackers in both China and the United States have become self-styled
> vigilantes. For some reason they have made the spy plane incident their
> own personal issue and they will not stop fighting till they've got the
> other in a headlock. 
> PoizonBOx has been particularly active with their so-called ChinaKiller
> mission, having hacked over 100 Chinese sights since April 4. The group,
> however, has been very careful during their attacks to refer to their
> actions as "net cracking" and have refrained from using any political or
> hate messages. Apparently, PoizonBOx plans to continue their offensive,
> staking their "This site was owned by PoizonBOx" flag wherever they can. 
> Other American hacking groups, such as pr0phet, have urged other hackers
> to join the anti-China bandwagon, if for no other reason than "to fuck
> with China in any little way" they can. Charming. Of course, pr0phet just
> today hacked another Chinese site with a message for the media claiming
> that there is absolutely no political motivation behind their hacks. Yeah
> right. 
> So how do the Chinese feel about this? Well, they don't exactly have the
> warm fuzzies that's for sure. Chinese hackers are preparing for an all out
> attack planned for the week of May 1 to May 7, which conveniently
> coincides with two major Chinese holidays. 
> The so-called "Laodong Jie Wuy Strike" (Labor Day Strike) is in honor
> first of International Workers Day. May 4 or Qingnian Jie (Youth Day),
> when hacks are expected to increase, commemorates demonstrations which
> occurred on May 4, 1919 in Tiananmen Square. Students were demanding that
> China resist interference by foreign powers by refusing to comply with
> official concessions to Japan at the end of World War I. 
> May 4 holds a lot of symbolic significance for China; it is a celebration
> of patriotism and Chinese nationality -- fitting for a retaliation against
> the United States. 
> Chinese hackers believe the US is interfering in Chinese politics by
> influencing their neighbors -- Japan, Taiwan, Philippines -- to surround
> China with enemies. 
> How does this China-US hacker war affect the average business, person etc?
> Chances are continued defacements will cost huge sums of money as sites
> are taken down to be repaired. Furthermore, virus attacks and DoS are
> expected to increase the first week of May, possibly leaving many without
> access to crucial sites. 
> Website owners, network administrators -- start patching your holes now!
> These hackers don't care who they hack, it is just a matter of where the
> sites originate. Scanning tools are being used to broadcast a search for
> security holes in any domains hosted by either China or the United States.
> 
> Don't become part of the headcount! 
> 
> Intrusion Detection Analyst
> Nextel Communications, IT Operations
> 
> 
>