muslim love for computer hacking

Iranians Hacked New York Dam And Banks, Says US

The dam sluice gate was under maintenance, which prevented it being opened by one of the "relentless" hackers, say US prosecutors.

Thursday 24 March 2016
By Sky News US Team

Seven hackers allegedly tied to the Iranian government have been charged with cyber attacks on a small dam outside New York City and dozens of banks.

Unsealing the indictment in Washington DC, the Justice Department said all seven accused were employed by Iranian computer companies that have worked for the Iranian government.

The attacks on the American financial sector disabled bank websites and caused tens of millions of dollars in losses, say the charges.

The cyber raids happened between December 2011 and May 2013, escalating until they recurred on an almost weekly basis.

Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, HSBC and the New York Stock Exchange were among the targets, said US authorities.

"These attacks were relentless, they were systematic, and they were widespread," Attorney General Loretta Lynch told reporters on Thursday.

One of the seven, Hamid Firoozi, is accused of hacking the control system of the Bowman Avenue Dam, about 20 miles (32km) north of New York City.

Luckily for operators of the 20ft high flood-control structure, its sluice gate had been disconnected from the computer system for maintenance at the time, so it could not be manipulated by the hacker.

The individuals named in the indictment are not in American custody.

But FBI Director James Comey said: "The message of this case is that we will work together to shrink the world and impose costs on these people, so that no matter where they are, we will reach them."

In May 2014 the Justice Department indicted five Chinese military officials suspected of hacking into US companies and stealing trade secrets.

A Web forum for Muslim extremists is calling on its members to organize an Islamist hackers' army to carry out Internet attacks against the U.S. government.

The site has posted tips, software and links to other resources to help would-be cyber-warriors.

The Jamestown Foundation, a District-based nonprofit with a history of extensive ties to the CIA, said that it has monitored postings on a new section of an extremist bulletin board called al-Farooq.

According to Jeffrey Poole, a researcher for the foundation, the forum "represents a how-to manual for the disruption and/or destruction of enemy electronic resources, including e-mail, Web sites and computer hardware."
The new section was set up two weeks ago, according to a briefing written by Mr. Poole and distributed by the foundation, which added that one member of the forum has called for the creation of an Islamist organization, which he dubbed "Jaish al-Hacker al-Islami," the Islamic Hacker's Army.

The would-be Islamist cyber-warrior, who calls himself "Achrafe," pointed out that organization of large numbers of attackers is a key force multiplier in some forms of Web warfare -- such as denial-of- service attacks in which the target's servers are bombarded with so many requests for information from other parts of the Internet that they effectively are shut down.

The foundation described in detail a "hacker library" maintained on the al-Farooq site, offering special software that can be used to steal passwords; tools and tips on anonymous Web surfing; and programs the site says can destroy or disable a target computer if installed on it.

Ron Gula, a former National Security Agency official who worked on computer security issues, said that many of the hacking efforts made by such groups are "amateurish" and "lost in the background noise" of other hackers and Internet criminals.

"Between 1 and 5 percent of the Internet is infected [with viruses, spyware, worms or other malicious software] at any one time," Mr. Gula said.

So-called keystroke logs -- which record every letter typed into a computer -- were among the programs offered for download on al-Farooq. The software can be used to learn passwords and log-in information.

Once the program is clandestinely installed on a computer, typically via a virus or an unwitting download, the records of the key strokes are transmitted to the hacker, giving him access to password-protected computer systems.