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Domestic terror

Sat down to read my Atlanta Journal and Constitution last night, and
this was the banner front page headline story. Thought I'd share it, as
captured from Lexis.

                   Copyright 1997 The Atlanta Constitution

                    The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

                     April 19, 1997, Saturday, ALL EDITIONS

SECTION: NATIONAL NEWS; Pg. 01A

LENGTH: 369 words

HEADLINE: OKLAHOMA BOMBING ANNIVERSARY; U.S. open to terrorism, panel
told

BYLINE: Ron Martz; STAFF WRITER

 BODY:

Visions of the future of terrorism border on the apocalyptic.

   Massive power outages. Prolonged disruptions in water and sewer
systems. Major outbreaks of food-borne illnesses through disruption of
transportation systems. Bank fraud on a global scale. Shutdowns of air-
traffic control grids.

   With little more than a laptop computer and a telephone, future
terrorists may be able to create far more global chaos than a dozen
bombs, a special presidential panel was told Friday.

   Meeting in Atlanta on the eve of the anniversaries of the Oklahoma
City bombing and the deaths of the followers of David Koresh near Waco,
Texas, members of the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure
Protection were told that defenses of a number of the nation's critical
systems have not kept pace with advances in technology that could be
used to disrupt or permanently disable them.

   U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander warned the commission that while there
has not been a major, catastrophic attack on the nation's computerized
information infrastructure, "I'm afraid it is coming."

   Alexander, who prosecuted a computer hacking case known as the
"Legion of Doom" in 1990, said that was long before many people had home
computers or access to the Internet and it still cost BellSouth more
than $ 5 million in damages.

   Former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, co-host of the event with Atlanta Mayor
Bill Campbell, said that the Department of Defense information system is
attacked by hackers about 250,000 times a year with a success rate of 65
percent.

   "We should not wait for an electronic Pearl Harbor to begin to
address these vulnerabilities," Nunn said.

   The commission, created in July by President Clinton, plans to look
at several critical areas, the threats to them, and ways they can better
be defended. They include vital human services such as water supply and
health services; the energy infrastructure; financial services;
electronic distribution of information; transportation; emergency
services; and continuity of government.

   The hearing in Atlanta was the second of five regional hearings,
after which the commission will issue a report on its findings and
recommendations to the president.
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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