[LINK] Re: The Net and US terrorist attacks

[Bill D'Arcy]

Linkers
Some more stories:

Companies warned about possible cyberattacks
http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO63724,00.html?OpenDocumen
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By DAN VERTON AND AND BOB BREWIN
(September 11, 2001) WASHINGTON -- Government and private-sector security
experts fear that today's attacks against the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon are only the beginning of a wave of assaults that could include
cyberterrorism.
Officials at the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC),
located at FBI headquarters here, were gathering for an emergency meeting
to collect and analyze all available cyberintelligence information, said
Navy Rear Adm. James Plehal, the deputy director of the NIPC. Details of
the meeting aren't yet available.
Meanwhile, Marv Langston, former deputy CIO at the Defense Department,
viewed today's terrorist attacks as an act of war and warned that they
could be followed by a series of cyberattacks. Langston said the U.S. needs
to prepare itself for what he described as an ³electronic Pearl Harbor.²

Tragedy Results in Web News Gridlock
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article/0,,12_882061,00.html
By Pamela Parker and Christopher Saunders
[NEW YORK] Although Web sites like MSNBC.com, CNN.com and CBSNews.com
initially began their coverage of Tuesday's tragedy by offering big
graphics, live audio, and video, staffers rushed to distribute server loads
and put up text only sites, in an effort to make information as accessible
as possible.
Initially, Internet users across the country reported being unable to
access national news sites as they frantically sought information about the
situation, receiving 500-13 error codes -- "HTTP Error 500-13 - Server too
busy" -- or 404 error codes -- "Cannot find server or DNS Error."

Web acts as hub for info on attacks
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7129241.html?tag=mn_hd
By Jim Hu and Greg Sandoval
Staff Writers, CNET News.com
September 11, 2001, 12:25 p.m. PT
update Moments after airplanes separately crashed into both towers of the
World Trade Center, and then later the Pentagon, Web sites for the major
news outlets were swamped by an overflow of traffic.
Major Web news outlets such as CNN.com, MSNBC.com, Yahoo News, ABCNews.com
and FoxNews.com have been slow to respond.
Keynote Systems, which measures Internet performance, said that by late
morning the Web sites it tracks were taking slightly longer to reach--more
than 4 seconds, instead of the average 3.5 seconds.

State Department technology lagging
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7132563.html?tag=tp_pr
By Rachel Konrad
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 11, 2001, 1:30 p.m. PT
Tuesday¹s attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon could put a
spotlight on a long-standing State Department mandate to upgrade its
computer systems to better prevent terrorism.
In the early 1990s, the State Department announced a sweeping $530 million
program to upgrade its technology infrastructure, replacing the
department¹s proprietary hardware and software systems with an open systems
environment by 1998. The program, which was announced in 1992 and
intensified after a 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, was intended to
boost communication among U.S. counsels abroad, ultimately preventing
potential terrorists from entering the United States by land or air.

Tech Sites Pick up the News
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,46716,00.html
By Brad King
10:48 a.m. Sep. 11, 2001 PDT
Personalized Internet radio stations and technology websites abandoned
their normal news-delivery operations as major Internet media outlets
wilted under the crush of traffic following Tuesday's attacks in New York
and Washington.
Minutes after two commercial airliners smashed into the twin towers,
Internet traffic spiked, causing Web-based news sites to fail during the
biggest story in years. Major news outlets -- CNN, MSNBC and network news
sites -- slowed to a near halt almost immediately, and remained difficult
to access throughout the day.

Bill D'Arcy