FBI says motive for Internet attacks remains mysterious

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WASHINGTON (February 29, 2000 7:44 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Despite serious obstacles, senior law enforcement officials told Congress on Tuesday "we are making progress" in an investigation of the attacks against some of the Internet's most popular Web sites that occurred weeks ago.

Michael Vatis, head of the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center, said federal agents are following "hundreds of leads," and he was optimistic the case will be solved. "We continue to make good progress," he said.

But there were important questions that Vatis candidly said he couldn't answer, suggesting no arrest was close. The FBI still has no idea of the motive for the Internet attacks or whether one group or several groups were responsible.

"I think it's too early to tell," Vatis told a joint congressional panel. He said FBI agents were "looking at possible linkages between all the investigations," and responded to one lawmaker that it was unlikely foreign governments were involved.

Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who also testified, assured lawmakers that "we are making progress" and repeated his earlier pledge to "prosecute these people to the fullest extent that we can."

Vatis acknowledged that investigators have been hampered because vandals sought to cover their digital trail falsifying information within the flood of data that overwhelmed Yahoo!, eBay and other major Internet sites about three weeks ago. The FBI's own Web site was overwhelmed for about three hours in a similar attack on Feb. 18.

The bureau is frustrated that some computers used in the attacks failed to adequately record useful details, and some of the spurious data that disrupted service at the Web sites apparently was routed through computers overseas.

"Because parts of the evidentiary trail have led overseas, we are working through our legal attaches in many U.S. embassies abroad to work with foreign counterparts," Vatis said. "Despite all these challenges, I remain optimistic that the hard work of ... that we will in the end prove to be successful."

Panels from the House and Senate Judiciary committees organized the hearing to determine what changes, if any, are needed to existing crime laws.

Holder and other federal authorities have urged Congress, for example, to reduce the $5,000 minimum in damages that victim companies must suffer before attackers can be prosecuted under federal computer crime laws.

Holder called the $5,000 minimum "a potential problem" that might hamper some prosecutions.

Some lawmakers, though, indicated they were reluctant to grant sweeping new authority to the federal government.

"Passing laws for the mere purpose of sending a message has not proven effective," said Rep. Robert "Bobby" Scott, D-Va. He said he was worried about consequences on Internet privacy and the technology industry.

Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., said the attacks in February against commercial Web sites amounted to vandalism, not terrorism, and said he was doubtful they represented as serious a threat as biological or chemical attacks

http://www.nando.net/24hour/sacbee/nation/story/0,1733,500174948-500227261-501094768-0,00.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 01, 2000

Answers

Good Lord, what planet did y'all say that man Barr is from? I used to hear the same thing about gang grafitti.

-- little wifey at home (littlewifey@home.com), March 01, 2000.

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