''Iraq will destroy us by computer,'' the experts screamed

Rob Rosenberger, Vmyths co-founder
Thursday, 1 May 2003

"IRAQ WILL CRIPPLE the U.S. with cyber-attacks," the fearmongers warned. I tell you, everyone got into the act — from Congress to the FBI to former CIA officials to computer security salesmen.

FBI NIPC (now known as DHS NIPC) actually feared Iraq might cripple the U.S. with spam.

Even a fire-breathing Muslim cleric living the high life in Britain got into the act. Even a delusional narcissistic hacker living in the slums of Kuala Lumpur got into the act. I tell you, everyone screamed about the coming cybergeddon.

Hmph. Wusses. All of them.

I mean, c'mon! How much effort does it take to open a digital can of whoop-ass on the United States? From what I hear, even a 14yr-old Iraqi nomad can remotely shut down our national power grid and remotely pollute our vital toilet water supplies.

Let's review what the "experts" said as they pounded the drums of cyber-war.

Part 1: prelude to war (physical and digital)

In August of last year, an ominous mi2g press release quoted CEO D.K. Matai: "it would seem highly likely that the launch of a physical attack on Iraq will see counter-attacks from disgruntled Arab, Islamic fundamentalist and anti-American groups." mi2g warned terrorists might launch remote-controlled "SCADA" attacks along with those (equally?) scary "chemical, biological, radiological, [and] nuclear" attacks.

In December 2002, IDC chief research officer John Gantz predicted a major cyberterrorism event would occur in 2003 — a cybertastrophe "that will disrupt the economy and bring the Internet to its knees for at least a day or two," according to News.com scribe Ed Frauenheim. Gantz specifically warned "the [looming] war with Iraq will galvanize hackers."

Yep. So much for those galvanized hackers, eh Johnny?

A New York Times story in mid-January quoted House Armed Services Committee member Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ), who warned "a cyberattack really fits Saddam Hussein's paradigm for attacking us." The same New York Times story quoted ex-FBI flunky Michael Vatis (a well-documented fearmonger) on the cyber-threat Iraq could pose to U.S. interests should war break out. ""I would suspect [Iraq's computer warfare program is] at a middling stage ... but even a middling capability can cause serious harm."

"A cyberattack really fits Saddam Hussein's paradigm for attacking us."

Yep. So much for that horrific Iraqi cyber-war, eh Robert? eh Mikey?

FBI's National ~~Internet~~Infrastructure Protection Center (now known as DHS NIPC) issued a pre-war advisory to say Iraq or its sympathizers might cripple the U.S. with spam. I swear I don't make this stuff up, folks. Read the advisory if you don't believe me.

Meanwhile, Japan's version of NIPC — the Information Technology Security Center within the Ministry of Economy — went on "heightened alert" after their prime minister made comments supporting the U.S.-led coalition against Iraq. The agency soon upgraded its cyber-threat assessment and sent a written plea ("written"?) to computer security firms to ask them to "watch for computer virus attacks and unauthorized changes to Web sites."

According to a Kyodo newswire, Japan's version of NIPC wanted to assure the public "[computer security firms] will be on alert day and night to be able to act immediately on any abnormal incidents." No doubt.

[Continued in part 2:
"Two words: 'Dan Verton' "]