Just a FYI folks....from one of the hacker lists I'm on...
>Speaking of taking down the internet > > > Extra points for only needing to affect one device and having that device > > successfully spread the payload to every other device as a part of it's > > routine network communications. Think you can't cross boundaries between > > different chipsets as implemented by different vendors (i.e. Cisco exploit > > code which wouldn't presumably work on Foundry gear)? Think again. Think > > polymorphic multi-architecture assembly. Think stuff that we were doing for > > fun in a hotel room at Defcon two years ago. > >Heh. That's fucking evil, Dan. That's completely fucking evil. I like it. >The only problem I can see with it is that it'd take a lot of space. >Routers are tight on how much you can fit into 'em, and I think you'd >stand a good chance at setting off an alarm somewhere by adding that much >code. But maybe not... you could even store the code remotely... have your >evil router 'upgrade' it's neighbors. But then you might get caught by an >IDS system. Probability is low on that happening, though. Needle in a >haystack. > >How about using the same plan, except instead of just making the routing >infrastructure go dead, how about spicing it up a little and have it go >after the root DNS servers? Thousands of devices on the backbone stuffing >a DoS down an OC192 circuit at 9.6 Gigs per second would certainly have >folks confused, I'd imagine. Especially if you spoofed the source >addresses. > >Every time they trace the attack back to the other side of yet another >router, it looks like the problem is further away. People would be >completely mystified. Traffic coming from the routers would just look like >traffic coming from something on the other side of the routers. And it >would be... each router would be generating (and routing) a huge attack. >And as pretty much all communication would be down, even if a couple folks >figured it out, they'd have no easy way to spread the word of what was >happening. Although I'm sure it would certainly hit the news. > > > Having said all of that, it's a cool (in the sense of being skillful) > > attack against the Global Data Network, but hardly the easiest. It would > > probably cost lots less overall to just crash something big or something > > that goes boom over at Verisign and/or some places in the EU. I'm sure they > > have plumbing. Computers still don't like water. > >And fiber still doesn't like tractors ;-) Hmmm...? You make the decision if this is relevant...you didn't hear it from me...
