Thank you for visiting "The Navigator – Live." Today's chat ended at 3 p.m. EST.

My guest today was George Smith, editor of Crypt Newsletter. Smith is a debunker of the first water who fearlessly fights against the stuporous and the stupid. He will answered questions on Internet issues such as cyberterrorism and the Y2K hysteria.

"The Navigator – Live" appears each Thursday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time. It's a live, moderated discussion offering washingtonpost.com users the chance to talk directly to intriguing and sometimes unusual guests who are shaping the digital world. "The Navigator" appears in The Washington Post print edition every Thursday. You can read past columns by following this link.

Linton Weeks: Please tell us about The Crypt Newsletter and about yourself? How do you know so much about computer security issues?

George Smith: The Crypt Newsletter is an Internet publication that features analyses and
essays on computer culture, crime and the world of info-warfare. It informally started near the beginning of the decade as a response to
media hype over the Michelangelo virus. Michelangelo was a bust but I got the idea that
quite a bit of what everyone sees in the media along these lines doesn't pass reality checks.
So, Crypt News was a reaction to that. In turn, it led to a book,
"The Virus Creation Labs," on the subculture of computer virus writers and the growth of the anti-virus industry.

Linton Weeks: George, greetings. You jumped the gun, but that's quite all right. This is the new frontier and we're still making, and breaking, the rules. Often at the same time. Keep on answering those questions.

Linton Weeks: Is being editor of the newsletter a full time job?

George Smith: Writing about this stuff has become so. I write for a variety of publications as a result of Crypt News. I consult a bit on the side on the subject and am in the process of writing another book.

Linton Weeks: You don't seem to take cyberterroism very seriously. Why is that? What security issues should we be concerned about when it comes to the Internet?

George Smith: If you mean can hackers or miscreants from Iraq turn off all the lights, loot the national treasury and turn all the traffic signals to green in Manhattan, no I don't take that seriously. These are ludicrous claims and scenarios that have all been passed on at one time or another by the Department of Defense, arms of the
government or teenagers who enjoy bragging to the media. On the gov'mint side --
the claims have often been used as a scare tactic to justify contracts and increaded spending. Privacy, however, is something that should be of concern. Intel's new chip is a nasty development. And the blurring of the distinction between domestic law enforcement and the military's responsibility in cyberspace.

Linton Weeks: What is the story behind the virus called "Clinton"?

George Smith: "Clinton" was an April Fool's joke published in a PC mag.
Along with a number of similar tales, it was republished in an FBI
paper on computer crime in 1996. While it's amusing that the FBI would be taken in
by an April Fool's joke, it's rather confounding to realize that this was passed off as serious research. It's a great lesson in why it pays to be skeptical of our leaders when they talk of "cyberterror."

Linton Weeks: Why don't you believe that infowars could break out between nations?

George Smith: Because the ability of info-warriors is greatly exaggerated.
It's quite possible any attempt to cause mischeif with computers
wouldn't rise above the level of noise already associated with
our techno-society. And, if you want to destroy something, generals think bombs are still the way to go. And for the most part, they are right.

Birmingham, AL: Have you noticed the tie-in that the Y2K crazies in the military are making with Electronic Pearl Harbor now?

George Smith: Yes. Y2K is being offered as proof -- ahead of time, mind you --
the electronic Pearl Harbor is practical. Y2K is also being
touted as a way the nefarious can plant logic bombs in
software. These are the ravings of the professional paranoids.

Arlington VA: George, I'm curious what you're next book is about? Can you give us some clues?

..frank burns

George Smith: Chupacabras of cyberspace. A lot of it will deal with the techno-ghost stories of our time.
The idea is to explain their genesis and the results of them.

Linton Weeks: Are some hackers dangerous?

George Smith: Generally speaking, I don't think so. They're not on a par with the
Osama bin Laden's of the world.

Linton Weeks: A friend from Bangor, Maine asks: When will Linton stop hogging all the conversation and post some of our questions? My answer: When I get some sharp questions from Bangor.

Linton Weeks: You're not that concerned about hackers breaking into military info. But what about banks, stock exchanges, power grids, communication companies, university research labs and other non-military targets?

George Smith: There's no doubt hackers cause break-ins at universities,
DoD webservers and the like. However, that's a far cry from
bringing down the power grid. One does not necessarily connect
to a potential for bringing about the other. The alarm about
the vulnerability of the power grid comes mostly from a
classified Pentagon wargame called Eligible Reciever. The
Pentagon insists it can be done. However, it's not open to independent audit and problems associated with
other portions of the game it would discuss more opnely
suggest that critical regard of these claims is warranted.

Washington DC: Do you think Congressman Markie was a fool for firing off a letter to the Treasury Department based on the biased story printed in the Washington Post?

George Smith: I don't think he was fool. I do think he really didn't
understand the entire circumstances of the story you're talking about.
This event happened a couple of years ago and concerned
a Department of Treasury bulletin board system that was used
by computer security professionals in government and industry.
There was a few viruses made available on it for analysis
and inspection. This was not abused but the story was
cast that it was quite a danger.

allentown, pa: who profits from Y2K hysteria?

George Smith: Consultants who can often be found spreading the biggest scare stories. The authors of some books on Y2K. Not all of them -- there are way too many at this point for all of them to be best-sellers [said with a wink].
Y2K remediation firms. The public is losing -- mostly.

Linton Weeks: You're highly critical of the Pentagon's stance toward the Internet. Please explain.

George Smith: Too many of the Pentagon's assessment's of the Internet
come from an irrational fear of it. Recently, DoD went
through a paroxysm over the availability of informaion on its
Websites. It was as if material that had been formerly believed to be boring to care about in hard copy was suddenly a security hole because it was on the Net.
The Army acted the most crazily. It yanked all of its
Websites for a period of time. What this says to me is that the military has a prodound lack of understanding
about computer security issues and information.

Linton Weeks: Well, we're about half-way through and we're really ginning. I'm going to take a sip of my cherry coke here and let George keep answering your great questions.

North Pole: Does anyone plan to upgrade all the computer viruses to be Y2K compliant? hehe

Norrin Radd [NuKE 99]

George Smith: Ho! Excellent question. There's no need. Trivial computer
viruses are written fast enough so that there will be plenty that are
Y2K compliant in 2000. No need to worry. Heh.

Washington, DC: A while ago we had an ice storm in this area
that left many people without
power for 5 or 6 days.
Some called it a preview of
what will happen in 2000.
What do you think ?

George Smith: Power outages have been with us as long as there has been
electricity. Have they all been just a prologue to 2000?
Nah, bet against.

Linton Weeks: Do you think Americans who use the Internet should feel that the information
stored on their computers and networks is protected?

George Smith: Yes. They have a right to require their Internet Service
Provider's keep others from reading their saved mail if they keep it on
remote machines. They have a right to expect their ISP's
to keep their credit information secure. They have a right to expect not to
be harassed by teenagers. If they can't get it they should
vote with their feet and walk to another business.

Washington DC: I've seen references to the US installing chips containing viruses into printers going into IRAQ during the Gulf War. Could you clear that up please?

Linton Weeks: George, this is news to me. Do you know if there's any truth to this?

George Smith: This is a hoax. And quite an old one. The Gulf War virus
hoax started life as, and you can guess the answer by now,
as an April Fool's joke in Infoworld magazine in 1991.
It was a joke story that outlined how a US Intelligence agency had written
virus aimed at interfering with Iraq's air defense computers. The virus was
smuggled into Iraq hidden in a printer. US News and World
report was the first big media organization to bite on it.
Since then, it's become an inescapable part of hoax lore.
It's been in a book on info-war published in 1998. A permutation of it is in a think tank report that was just released on "cyberterrors." It's fooled a lot of traditionally authoritiative sources.

Mount Rainier MD: As a government computer systems analyst, my take on the Y2K hysteria is that it's a compound of snake oil salesmen, millenial superstition, and plain ignorance. "Compliancy" is largely determined by software companies who insist you have to buy an upgrade, even if the software you're using correctly calculates all its dates. Dumb!

George Smith: That's certainly a great deal of it. James Gleick called this "the
new McCarthyism" in an essay he wrote last week.

Maryland: George: Where do do you get YOUR information?

George Smith: I get my information from open sources: technical analyses,
my own research, trusted colleagues, books, materials
requested under FOIA, the Net.

dc: does information want to be free anymore?

George Smith: Ahh, the old hacker bromide. Yes, it still holds.
Like I've said -- open source intelligence, smartly gathered
and analyzed, is hard to beat.

Washington, DC: Back to the Viruses in Iraqi chips, a program in the learning channel stated that the chips served as homing beacons for Tomahawk missles.

George Smith: It's a permutation of the original hoax. Hoaxes evolve
over time as they gain momentum and pass through our
culture. The Gulf War virus hoax is no different.
It's still bogus.

Linton Weeks: Chupacabras? Please explain.

George Smith: The Gulf War virus hoax is a good example of a chupacabras
of cyberspace. The chupacabras is the Mexican goat-sucker,
that fearsome animal that many have claimed bites a hole
in your trousers -- even though it doesn't exist.
The chupacabras of cyberspace doesn't exist either although
many have often claimed to have seen it. It bites a hole in
credibility of those who fall for it.

Linton Weeks: What will happen when Y2K rolls around? Are you taking any personal precautions? Has the pending dilemma been overrated?

George Smith: I intend to watch the Rose Bowl and eat pizza. It's time to
take a step back from this. Consider, the HOuse of Representatives' computer network was infected with a virus called Class a few weeks ago. This is a computer problem
that could be seen to be on a par with the types of faults described by Y2K
doomsayers. I didn't see any change in the impeachment proceedings.
The Congress ground on. The virus was dealt with. Technology is buggy. Often it crashes -- and at the worst time. Everyday. People go on, businesses transact.

Mount Rainier MD: Your chupacabras sounds like the Internet version of the urban legend. One of the liabilities to the amazing communication abilities of the 'net is how fast those urban legends get spread - and how very many gullible people there are out there. Somehow the 'corrections' never catch up.

George Smith: Exactly!

Linton Weeks: Okay, that wraps up another amazing episode of the ever-exploring Navigator--Live. Thanks to our guest, George Smith of Crypt Newsletter, to the staff at Washingtonpost.com and to all of you who sent in terrific questions. Next week we'll be talking about the Internet and the future of the music recording industry. Until then...

   |       |   

Back to the top