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Financial firms warned of Qaeda cyber attack
Reuters ^ | 12-1-06 | Kristin Roberts

Posted on 11/30/2006 9:02:42 PM PST by xtinct

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government warned American private financial services on Thursday of an al Qaeda call for a cyber attack against online stock trading and banking Web sites beginning on Friday, a source said.

The source, a person familiar with the warning, said the Islamic militant group aimed to penetrate and destroy the databases of the U.S. financial sites.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed an alert had been distributed but said there was no reason to believe the threat was credible.

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued a "situational awareness report to industry stakeholders," said Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke.

The warning said the threat called for attacks to begin Friday and run through the month of December in retaliation for the United States keeping terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

"Denial of service is what it called for," said a Homeland Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; banking; cyberattack; stocks; terrorism; wot

1 posted on 11/30/2006 9:02:48 PM PST by xtinct
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To: xtinct

Hmmmm...the NYSE electronic system was down for 4 hours today.


2 posted on 11/30/2006 9:06:18 PM PST by spyone
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To: spyone
They've needed a serious upgrade IMO for quite sometime. 4 hours is an eternity though. When was it, time wise?
3 posted on 11/30/2006 9:08:44 PM PST by kinoxi
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To: xtinct
Old news...


4 posted on 11/30/2006 9:08:53 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: kinoxi

I think it was the first 4 hours.


5 posted on 11/30/2006 9:10:07 PM PST by spyone
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To: spyone
I just googled it. They claim it wasn't entirely down but 10-2 is pretty much the whole day. I project a general rise on manufacturers of computer screens and keyboards tomorrow... /half sarcasm
6 posted on 11/30/2006 9:21:12 PM PST by kinoxi
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Think it's a new threat... It's on radio news and Reuters tonight.


7 posted on 11/30/2006 9:22:42 PM PST by xtinct (I was the next door neighbor kid's imaginary friend.)
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To: xtinct

This is probing for a future attack (2010-2013). Sort of like Afgahanistan and Iraq, they're trying to gain the experience and the skills to pull something big off.


8 posted on 12/01/2006 1:21:16 PM PST by rjp2005 (Lord have mercy on us)
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