New Year fear: Y2K or terror?

Is it the Y2K bug, or is it a terrorist attack? That may be the question government officials will be asking themselves on New Year’s Eve.

Computer-based attacks by terrorists take place every day, according to a leading senator. But top government and corporate computers are not adequately protected against cyber attacks.

“There is the possibility that a terrorist organization could disrupt a major computer system and make it look like it was Y2K-related,” said Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, in an exclusive interview with WorldNetDaily.

Sen. Bennett has been warning businesses and individuals of the potential hazards of the Year 2000 computer bug in his role as Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. Now he believes that America’s enemies are planning a cyber attack that could bring down America’s infrastructure.

“They could attack by causing disruptions that appear to be Y2K-related when in reality they are not,” Sen. Bennett explained.

The Department of Defense has held top-secret briefings on the subject, and Sen. Bennett has been a participant in those meetings. He was not able to provide details of the discussions, but did say that computer attacks against the United States government take place every day.

Bennett also stated that the threat of a major disruption is very real, and that government and private industry computers are extremely vulnerable.

The General Accounting Office also has issued a strong warning about the dangers to government computers.

GAO computer experts were able to penetrate over 20 government agencies’ computers in a recent security test. Jack Brock, director of government and defense information systems at the GAO made the admission to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week in a hearing.

The GAO was able to penetrate the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, and others. Brock said most of the computers at government agencies lack adequate information security management procedures.

The Department of Defense claims they have begun to improve intelligence operations and assigned technologists to upgrade defenses of the nation’s crucial computer networks.

Intelligence agents now believe rogue nations and terrorist groups are planning either to take advantage of Y2K disruptions to steal electronic information, or even to create what appears to be Y2K-related disruptions to hurt the U.S. economy.

Rogue nations with a desire to hurt the United States could use cyber warfare to disrupt computers that control infrastructure systems. Even if computers are all Y2K compliant in time for the new year, cyber-terrorists could cause shutdowns of electricity, phone service, air travel, shipping and banking.

“It’s not likely, but it is possible,” said Sen. Bennett. He believes the threat is real, but also expressed faith in the ability of the U.S. to defend itself against the attacks.

Security and intelligence forces teamed up for a top secret planning meeting last week, called “Preparing for the Cyber War.” Top experts participated from the FBI National Infrastructure Protection Center and the Joint Task Force for Computer Network Defense (JTF-CND), which organizes the defense of DOD computer networks and systems.

The meeting reportedly included classified discussions on intelligence, law enforcement and counterintelligence. They also reviewed the JTF-CND Year 2000 Operations Plan, according to sources.

Another separate top-secret meeting was held last week by the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Information Warfare Support Office. It was discussed how the intelligence community will both collect and share information on cyber-attacks during the Y2K rollover period. The entire meeting dealt with cyber-attacks and threats related to Y2K, according to information released by DIA.

Concerns also have been expressed that some foreign companies have been hired to fix the Y2K bug in many government agency computers. This breach in security has given enemies of the United States an opportunity to obtain access to government computers at any time. It also has provided an opportunity to plant computer viruses that will cause problems at a future time, such as on Jan. 1, 2000.

Many government agencies have sent orders to change all passwords and access codes to try and thwart such efforts. Official memoranda already have been sent and the changes have been made.

But it is not government computers that some terrorists will be going after. Osama bin Laden has been quoted in London and Israel papers as having a much different target. He reportedly has ordered his forces to shut down American banking, communications, power and transportation systems.

Such a shutdown could be accomplished using cyber-terrorism, and could be made to look like a Y2K failure.