The
internet is touted as one of the most important inventions in the history of
modern man, and like the discovery of the atom, its ability to benefit mankind
is matched only by its potential to unleash massive destruction.
Web
Warriors is a one-hour documentary that offers an unprecedented glimpse into
the world's newest and most vulnerable frontier: cyberspace. This
CBC documentary explores the world of cyber warfare. It talks about how the
Internet has evolved to become a heaven for crooks and criminals who are now
stealing people's money and identity online using trojans, worms and viruses.
Once of the main characters is Mafia
Boy, a 15 year old high school student who launched a Distributed Denial of
Service Attack on Yahoo!, Ebay, CNN and Dell. He was finally caught after
bragging too much about it on online forums. Also, the author traces the
evolution of worms and viruses and how they have evolved from just pranks to
organized crime.
Hackers like Donnie is interviewed who goes on a journey into the Russian cyber
underground as he searches for the creators of a computer virus with the hopes
of collecting the $250,000 bounty being offered by Microsoft.
Just
as in nature, computer viruses have rapidly evolved and now have the ability to
control millions of computers unbeknownst to their owners, thereby creating
massive illegal computer networks known as "Botnets".
These
"Botnets" are being put to a variety of illicit uses including
identity theft and cyber extortion, but they are also the latest and most
potent weapon being deployed in military conflicts. Web Warriors dissects the
massive cyber attack against Estonia in 2007 which virtually shut down the country
and resulted in NATO deploying its cyber response team.
Web
Warriors offers rare interviews with cyber sleuths from the FBI, the Pentagon,
NATO, and the Department of Homeland Security who explain how cyberspace has
become the latest battle ground between nation states and how terrorist groups
are already plotting their next move.
Web
Warriors offers a fast-paced never-seen before glimpse into the cyber trenches
of a world wide battle. Some reports say the cost of cyber crime is now on par
with the illegal drug trade.
Web
Warriors was produced by Edward Peill for Tell Tale Productions Inc.
Stuxnet: An
Effective Cyberwar Weapon
In
2010, Iran reported that as many as 1,000 of its centrifuges at the Natanz
nuclear facility, used for enriching weapons-grade uranium, were destroyed by a
computer virus. The virus allegedly wrecked the electric motors by accelerating
them to damaging speeds and setting back the Iranian nuclear program for at
least two years. Iran blamed the U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies for the
attack.
According
to the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, the
weapon used for the attack was probably a virus called Stuxnet. But unlike
other computer viruses, Stuxnet is designed to attack only networks with
specific configurations.
Stuxnet
is a type of computer program called a "worm" that can be inserted
into a computer or a network of computers, where it replicates itself infecting
other machines. Once inside a computer, a worm can corrupt or damage files, causing
malfunction of programs.
Stuxnet
is designed to attack computers with Microsoft Windows operating systems, and
it can be most easily inserted through infected removable drives - pocket-size
memory banks that connect to standard USB ports.
After
the damage is done, Stuxnet is designed to self-destruct so it is very hard to
trace. According to experts studying Stuxnet, it is a very complex program and
only government agencies are capable of designing it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=34cwMz3HZ8Q
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