InfoGram

January 11, 2001

NOTE: This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the emergency services sector with news and information concerning the protection of their critical information systems. For further information please contact the U.S. Fire Administration's Critical Infrastructure Protection Information Center at (301) 447-1325 or email at usfacipc@fema.gov

Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP)
Terrorism

• During the 1990's, domestic and international terrorist incidents became a real threat to our Nation. Domestic terrorists destroyed the federal building in Oklahoma City and international terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in New York. Likewise, the type of weapons used by terrorists was expanded when the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan used a chemical nerve agent to kill and/or harm hundreds of civilians.
• The weapons used by terrorists in this new millennium will continue to expand and evolve. The use of computer weapons is already upon us. From anywhere in the world terrorists can attack our critical infrastructure with basic computer systems.
• The Aum Shinrikyo Cult is still active today, http://www.aum-shinrikyo.com, and their computer skills are well documented. Prior to the 1995 subway attack, the cult broke into a large manufacturing facility and downloaded information regarding laser weapons. In March of 2000, the cult designed and sold software to Japan's Defense Agency. Fortunately, the source of the software was discovered before it was utilized. The use of their software would have provided the cult with unlimited access to Japan's defense networks. (Information found in 'Tangled Web, Tales of Digital Crime form the Shadows of Cyber-Space' by Richard Power.)
• Today the cult is selling computer hardware and software on the Internet to finance their operations. Are they planning another attack? The next time this group or another terrorist group attempts to make a statement by harming innocent civilians, will they also attempt to delay the response of emergency response personnel? The answer is YES. Emergency services dispatch and 911 centers are part or our interconnected informational infrastructure.

The questions you should be asking are: Has my jurisdiction provided cyber protection for our information systems? Do we have a plan if our dispatch and 911 systems are disabled?

If you have a plan that addresses 911 center and dispatch center shutdowns and would like to share it with other fire and emergency response organizations, please forward it to the U.S. Fire Administration's Critical Infrastructure Information Center.