Posted on 01/30/2002 1:27:56 PM PST by Senator Pardek
The FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) said it has uncovered evidence that terrorists may have planned attacks on water supply systems in the United States and abroad.
According to a bulletin issued by the NIPC Tuesday and labelled as of "high" importance, a computer, owned by an individual with indirect links to Osama bin Laden, was found to contain several software programs used for structural engineering of "dams and other water-retaining structures."
The presence of the programs demonstrates "terrorist interest" in water supply systems, the bulletin said.
The bulletin did not identify the individual who owned the computer nor provide more details about how the device was obtained by law enforcement.
NIPC officials were not immediately available for comment.
The NIPC said the programs included CATIGE, which stands for computer-aided teaching in geotechnical engineering; and Microstran, a structural engineering system. Both are developed in Australia, according to their Web sites.
Also installed on the PC were AutoDesk's AutoCAD 2000 computer-assisted design and drafting program, as well as the Beam stress analysis software package from ORAND Systems, according to the NIPC.
The computer also contained programs used to identify and classify soils, the bulletin said.
Following up on an earlier NIPC "Internet Content Advisory," the bulletin issued Tuesday said U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies have also received indications that Al Qaeda members have sought information about water supply and wastewater management practices at unidentified Web sites containing information about Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) technology.
The NIPC bulletin also noted that suspected terrorists have shown "interest" in insecticides and pest control products at several undisclosed Web sites.
The NIPC's Jan. 17 advisory, "Considering The Unintended Audience," cautioned Web sites to review the sensitivity of the data they provide online.
The FBI advisory on Internet content is at http://www.nipc.gov/warnings/advisories/2002/02-001.htm .
FReegards,
Unfortunately, the people who designed the Maginot line probably said something similar.
Sometimes offense is much easier than defense, because on offense you have the advantage of already knowing what the target is, allowing you to imagine many possible strategies. On defense you have to try to imagine all the possible measures your opponent might take against you. If the opponent can observe your countermeasures, he only needs to think of one attack plan you haven't thought of to succeed.
Undoubtedly true of a large system. But what about a small system serving say ten to thirty thousand people? The dilution problem wouldn't be nearly as bad as in a system serving a million people, the system is more likely to have a single point of vulnerability, and the operators are less likely to be able to deal with the problem even if they do discover it.
The "take" of infidels would be lower of course, but if coupled with "credible threats" against larger systems, panic could indeed be a problem.
P.S. The Government needs a whole chunk more money, to.. ..protect us, ..yeah, that's it, To Protect Us, uh... by delivering war to North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, but not friendly Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia, etc. (plus some mandatory volunteer service, plus a complete suspension of what's left of the individual protections found in the Constitution, but only for the few decades or centuries it will take to establish enough control to guarantee that no terrorist act will ever again occur.)
Er... this is the DOJ. It behooves us to wonder about the exact meaning of 'indirect links', and whether the guy might be, for instance, a civil engineer. Not that the DOJ would ever issue an insubstantial, weasel-worded press release to make itself look good, of course.
No, thankfully, they stopped Robert Reid, the Shoe-Bomber, on December 23rd.
And quite possibly, on November 12th, they didn't stop a shoe bomber when AA flight 587 exploded and crashed into Rockaway Beach.
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