KREBS gets "SWATed" by unknown hackers during DDoS attacks!

[ShyWriter]

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This a 2-fer! Two stories on Brain Krebs' hair-raising brush with a faked 911 call by hackers to the police during a DDoS attack on KREBSONSECURITY website. Great reading.

The World Has No Room For Cowards

It’s not often that one has the opportunity to be the target of a cyber and kinetic attack at the same time. But that is exactly what’s happened to me and my Web site over the past 24 hours. On Thursday afternoon, my site was the target of a fairly massive denial of service attack. That attack was punctuated by a visit from a heavily armed local police unit that was tricked into responding to a 911 call spoofed to look like it came from my home.

Well, as one gamer enthusiast who follows

me on Twitter

remarked, I guess I’ve now “unlocked that level.”

Things began to get interesting early Thursday afternoon, when a technician from Prolexic, a company which protects Web sites (including KrebsOnSecurity.com) from denial-of-service attacks, forwarded a strange letter they’d received earlier in the day that appeared to have been sent from the FBI. The letter, a copy of which is reprinted in its entirety here, falsely stated that my site was hosting illegal content, profiting from cybercriminal activity, and that it should be shut down. Prolexic considered it a hoax, but forwarded it anyway. I similarly had no doubt it was a fake, and a short phone call to the FBI confirmed that fact.

Around the same time, my site came under a series of denial-of-service attacks, briefly knocking it offline. While Prolexic technicians worked to filter the attack traffic, I got busy tidying up the house (since we were expecting company for dinner). I heard the phone ring up in the office while I was downstairs vacuuming the living room and made a mental note.. (More...)

Read this story in its entirety at: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/03/the-world-has-no-room-for-cowards/

Steve

[ShyWriter]

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Hackers launch DDoS attack on security blogger's site, send SWAT team to his home

by Lisa Vaas on March 17, 2013

Brian Krebs

Thankfully, award-winning US computer security reporter Brian Krebs is safe.

Nobody was harmed. But they could have been.

Given a DOSed website, a fake and libelous FBI letter sent to his website host, and a dinner party delayed by a SWAT team training guns on him and ordering him to "Put your hands in the air!", Krebs last week surely endured the most dramatic retribution ever meted out to a security blogger.

Krebs has a good idea of the specific criminal element behind the trio of attacks. Since the dramatic events of Thursday, he's traced the denial-of-service attack to a common operator who apparently launched a similar attack on Ars Technica following its coverage of Krebs's victimization.

As described by his fellow security scribe Dan Goodin at Ars Technica, Krebs is known for work that includes:

• "Exposés [that] completely shut down a California hosting service that coddled spammers and child pornographers and severely disrupted an organized crime syndicate known as Russian Business Network" and, more recently,
  
• "Investigative journalism that followed the money to the people who sell malware exploit kits, illicitly procured credit reports, and denial-of-service services in underground forums."
  

In short, Krebs has enemies. (More...)

Read the rest at: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/03/17/swat-ddos-brian-krebs/

Steve

[GT500]

It sounds like he had a rough time.

I'm glad that nothing like that has happened to me. If police where aiming weapons at me at the front door to the house I live in, I would have asked them if they had a warrant. If they said 'no', I would have told them to go get one, and then I would have slammed the door and armed myself in case I needed to defend myself (which is completely legal in the state I live in, as it is illegal for them to enter the house and attempt to search it or arrest me without a warrant).

[AdvancedSetup]

Unfortunately probably not exactly true anymore when they do stuff in the name of the "Patriot Act" they seem to be able to do just about anything they want and to date not sure I've seen anyone successfully overturn them in court.

[ShyWriter]

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National Security Letters Are Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules

eff.org

March 16, 2013

Court Finds NSL Statutes Violate First Amendment and Separation of Powers

San Francisco – A federal district court judge in San Francisco has ruled that National Security Letter (NSL) provisions in federal law violate the Constitution. The decision came in a lawsuit challenging a NSL on behalf of an unnamed telecommunications company represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

In the ruling publicly released today, Judge Susan Illston ordered that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stop issuing NSLs and cease enforcing the gag provision in this or any other case. The landmark ruling is stayed for 90 days to allow the government to appeal.

“We are very pleased that the court recognized the fatal constitutional shortcomings of the NSL statute,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. “The government’s gags have truncated the public debate on these controversial surveillance tools. Our client looks forward to the day when it can publicly discuss its experience.”

The controversial NSL provisions EFF challenged on behalf of the unnamed client allow the FBI to issue administrative letters — on its own authority and without court approval — to telecommunications companies demanding information about their customers. The controversial provisions also permit the FBI to permanently gag service providers from revealing anything about the NSLs, including the fact that a demand was made, which prevents providers from notifying either their customers or the public. The limited judicial review provisions essentially write the courts out of the process.

In today’s ruling, the court held that the gag order provisions of the statute violate the First Amendment and that the review procedures violate separation of powers. Because those provisions were not separable from the rest of the statute, the court declared the entire statute unconstitutional. In addressing the concerns of the service provider, the court noted: “Petitioner was adamant about its desire to speak publicly about the fact that it received the NSL at issue to further inform the ongoing public debate.”

“The First Amendment prevents the government from silencing people and stopping them from criticizing its use of executive surveillance power,” said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. “The NSL statute has long been a concern of many Americans, and this small step should help restore balance between liberty and security.”

EFF first brought this challenge on behalf of its client in May of 2011.

For the full order:

https://www.eff.org/...g-march-14-2013

For more on this case:

https://www.eff.org/...security-letter

This article was posted: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 10:48 am

[GT500]

Unfortunately probably not exactly true anymore when they do stuff in the name of the "Patriot Act" they seem to be able to do just about anything they want and to date not sure I've seen anyone successfully overturn them in court.

Below is a screenshot of part of Senate Bill 1 that was signed into law in Indiana on March 20th, 2012 by the Governor of Indiana:

Obviously this law does not prevent abuse by government, and courts will interpret "reasonable force" as they see fit, however at least our lawmakers here in Indiana are acknowledging that a person has the right to defend themselves against a police officer who is breaking the law. I just hope that police officers will be willing to back down if a citizen does defend themselves against a police officer who is breaking the law, rather than treating the citizen who was only defending themselves as if they are a criminal.

[AdvancedSetup]

Just saying... crazy times we live in these days and don't care to be in a situation to test the limits myself.

For your article Steve, I think the title was misleading. I read the article but came away with they basically only found fault in delivery not intent or what they actually did or something along those lines (without re-reading the article again). Certainly not much meat to the ruling

[GT500]

Just saying... crazy times we live in these days

I agree. This are very crazy. Sometimes I feel I would prefer the simplicity of no government at all.

... don't care to be in a situation to test the limits myself.

I certainly wouldn't want to test the limits either, but I also wouldn't want to be illegally harassed or assaulted by police.

[ShyWriter]

I agree. This are very crazy. Sometimes I feel I would prefer the simplicity of no government at all.

[...]

I certainly wouldn't want to test the limits either, but I also wouldn't want to be illegally harassed or assaulted by police.

When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, notwithstanding that the police have a habit of shooting people pointing a gun back at them, regardless of one being right, resistance to arrest or interfering with an officer in the performance of his/her duty, regardless of state-statue, is just not a good decision. Knowing one is right, and living, is often the better part of valor; especially when being right and DEAD kind of leaves your lawyer with nothing to do except exercise your will. *sad smile*