October 2011 – Page 16 – Public Intelligence Blog

Is this more of the same as the alleged attack planning on the Saudi
Ambassador?

Stuxnet Clone Found Possibly Preparing Power Plant Attacks

Security researchers have detected a new Trojan, scarily similar to the infamous Stuxnet worm, which could disrupt computers controlling power plants, oil refineries and other critical infrastructure networks.

The Trojan, dubbed “Duqu” by the security firm Symantec, appears, based on its code, to have been written by the same authors as the Stuxnet worm, which last July was used to cripple an Iranian nuclear-fuel processing plant.

“Stuxnet source code is not out there,” wrote F-Secure cybersecurity expert Mikko Hyppönen on his firm's blog. “Only the original authors have it. So, this new backdoor was created by the same party that created Stuxnet.”

. . . . . . .

This new entry into the Stuxnet family comes just after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a bulletin warning that the notorious hacking group Anonymous may soon start looking to bring down or disrupt industrial control facilities. Posted yesterday (Oct. 18) to publicintelligence.net, the unclassified bulletin assesses Anonymous' ability to compromise SCADA systems that run power plants, chemical plants, oil refineries and other industrial facilities.

Government officials did not blame Anonymous for any such hacks, and the bulletin says that based on available information, Anonymous has “a limited ability to conduct attacks” on industrial control systems.

The group's agenda could change, however. The DHS document cites several recent actions, including Anonymous' cyberattack on the websites and servers of biotech seed company Monsanto, as proof that Anonymous could “develop capabilities to gain access and trespass on control system networks very quickly.”

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: We realize DHS will not be held responsible for being stupid or dishonest or both, but for the record:

1. Stuxnet is said to be an Israeli/US operation against Iran. If it is out within the USA, there are two possibilities, both equally viable; a) the Israelis are doing their usual mayhem against the US which they consider like a Christian girl, as in “shicksas don't count;” and b) it got away from NSA/Cyber-Command or NSA/Cyber-Command is setting the stage for a false flag attack to increase or protect its grossly excessive budget.

2. Anonymous is not after critical infrastructures–Anonymous, like Wikileaks and OccupyWallStreet (OWS) is after institutionalized secular corruption, in which context Monsanto makes perfect sense….along with the Federal Reserve, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.

3. Robert Steele, Bill Caelli, Winn Schwartau, and Jim Anderson all told Marty Harris at the National Information Infrastructure (NII), in writing, in 1994, what needed to be done, and were ignored. The fact that the US Government has been both ignorant and dishonest all these years about the total vulnerability of all SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acqusition) systems is not something that can be blamed on Anonymous.

Continue reading “DefDog: Is DHS Stupid, Dishonest, or Both? + RECAP”

2011/10/182011/10/18

BrowGate: Ron Paul’s Eyebrows Hold – Comments

Offbeat Fun

BrowGate Update: Ron Paul's eyebrows stayed put tonight, but the comments across the country have expanded to include his senatorial son's toupee from hell, and are posted here to satisfy all those searching for Ron Paul's eyebrows (pun). And then no more — BrowGate is over.

Campaign Comment for the Record:

Jesse Benton, a campaign spokesman, insisted that Mr. Paul had been the victim of the elements, namely a heavy pollen season in New Hampshire, and called accusations that he’d been artificially enhancing “stupid” and “insulting.”

“Dr. Paul’s allergies acted up a touch,” Mr. Benton said in an explanation that might raise some, you know, questions.

Not that Mr. Paul would be blamed for trying to keep up with bushy brows like Rick Perry’s, whose upper-eye area is full, or Mitt Romney, whose orbital outliers are sometimes speckled with gray.

National Comments (Selected):

Allergies? What? That doesn't even make sense. I have allergies, they make me cough and sniffle. They don't make my eyebrows fall off.

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Uhm, his allergies acted up so his eyebrows fell off? Is that what the spokesman is implying? And isn't spring allergy season?

You know, if you don't have anything remotely intelligent to say, just say you don't have a clue.

Now I can't wait for Michelle Bachmann's head to fall off and have some alien looking creature crawl out of her.

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You think you know someone, and then something like this happens!

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2011/10/18

DefDog: Goldman Sachs Executives Stay Fat and Happy

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth

For those who are looking for a reason for the OWS movement…… and the lacking of ability on those who think it is a counter to the Tea Party……

Goldman Execs Stay Fat and Happy

The Daily Beast, Oct 18, 2011

The investment bank had a lousy third quarter, but employees will still take home billions in bonuses. Gary Rivlin asks, what gives?

Read full article.

2011/10/182011/10/18

Chuck Spinney: Why AF & IQ Have Broken US Military

03 Economy, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, DoD, Government, Military, Officers Call

Want to understand why the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have broken the bank?

Then I suggest you carefully read the attached report in the current issue of Harpers, written by my very good friend Andrew Cockburn. The subject of this brilliant and very important report is the Pentagon's battle against land mines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Land mines are one of the oldest and most effective forms of warfare [see my essay, Why Mines Warfare is Good for Protracted War, in Counterpunch, 12 January 2011]. They are weapons of choice for the weak, guerrillas in particular, something we certainly should have learned from Vietnam.

Nevertheless, the high tech Pentagon was caught flatfooted by land mines and booby traps in Afghanistan in Iraq. The surprise was so complete that “planners” found it necessary to spend $60 billion since 2001 to counter what they euphemistically call Improvised Explosive Devices, as if booby traps constructed by guerrillas were a new and unexpected thing. Notwithstanding this huge expenditure on technology, a cornucopia for defense contractors much greater in fact than the Manhattan Project, even if one removes the effects of inflation, Cockburn lays out a splendid micro history of what really worked — guts, brains, and most importantly, what the Germans used to call fingerspitzengefühl*; and what has not worked — high-cost, high-tech boondoggles produced by contractors, employing gobs of retired military to help them cash in on the golden cornucopia unleashed by the dogs of war.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Why AF & IQ Have Broken US Military”

2011/10/18

Winslow Wheeler: Media Plays Dead for Panetta Virus

03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Commerce, Corporations, Corruption, DoD, Government, IO Deeds of War, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests

WinslowWheeler Cropped — Winslow Wheeler

Yesterday, the Nieman Watchdog journalism group at Harvard asked me to evaluate how well the press is scrutinizing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. Basically, it's not; instead, Panetta seems to be free of informed, skeptical questioning; he must be absolutely delighted with the treatment he is receiving.

Why is the press ignoring Panetta's frenzied rhetoric and data-free myths?

The defense secretary likens budget-cutters to Nazis and makes assertions that simply aren't true — but the media don't seem to care, writes Winslow Wheeler.

The silence in the press about the overheated rhetoric and dubious myths from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta makes for a very unhappy comparison of today’s defense journalism compared to previous eras when, for example, SecDef Casper Weinberger was the subject of serious critical analysis.

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: Leon Panetta, like Bob Gates before him, is a posturing pimp for the military-industrial complex that pays 5% bribes to get 95% discounts on the taxpayers treasure. He could not stand up to fifteen minutes on the same stage with any one of us–Chuck Spinney, Winslow Wheeler, Ralph Peters, Bob Scales, etcetera.

2011/10/182011/10/18

Event: 5 Nov: Bank Transfer Day

Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth

Just do it.

5 Nov: Bank Transfer Day

Together we can ensure that corrupt crony-capitalist banking institutions will ALWAYS remember the 5th of November! If the 99% removes our funds from major banking institutions to non-profit credit unions on or by this date, we will send a clear message to the 1% that conscious consumers won’t support companies with unethical business practices.

See Also:

Big Bank Revolt in Full Swing (Videos)

2011/10/18

Robert Steele: US Secret Intelligence Next Steps

Advanced Cyber/IO, Cultural Intelligence, Director of National Intelligence et al (IC), Ethics, Government

steele smiling final — Robert David STEELE Vivas

Responding to a media request for comment on Stephen Aftergood's post, Intelligence Community Anticipates Budget Cuts:

“The US secret intelligence community is long overdue for a draconian reduction of its budget from the $80-90 billion a year today that it wastes on contractors producing vaporware, to something closer to the $20 billion a year that Jim Woolsey is on record as saying would be sufficient, and for once I agree with him.”

“General Tony Zinni is on record as saying that when he was in charge of the US Central Command, the secret intelligence community provided, ‘at best' 4% of what he needed to know. The fact is that the secret world is primarily a means of transferring wealth from taxpayers to corporations and banks–it not only lacks intelligence, it lacks integrity.”

“Two books sum up the sorry state of the secret world today–No More Secrets: Open Source Information and the Reshaping of U.S. Intelligence, and Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State.

Continue reading “Robert Steele: US Secret Intelligence Next Steps”