Adam Shostack <adam@bwh.harvard.edu> wrote:

I hate to join any thread which talks about blowing up rooms and killing security guards, but I'll point out that for a few hundered dollars worth of transmitter parts, you can cause transient failures with EMF pulse weapons, and for a bit more, you can fry all the electronics, then drive away before they have any idea that their company has been destroyed.

Killing people is a stupid way to accomplish things.

I would have to agree, and since this whole thread seems to be one of those conspiracy things, it is completely unnecessary to cause much at all in the way of physical damage. No matter who rents the T1 lines and other forms of communication that unite an ISP with the rest of the world, sooner or later they have to enter some sort of communications node. This could be a satellite or some huge telephone routing center, or any number of things. If the government wanted you shut down, all they have to do is find one of these things for each redundant line to an ISP and cut them all simultaneously. I am sure a court order could be obtained very quickly to arrange such a thing, and even this may not be necessary. I read in some magazine about ten years ago that all US-launched communications satellites contain software that allows the government to ascertain direct control over their functioning. The purpose stated was that in the event of war the US is highly dependent on commercial satellites for non-military communications and can not afford to have the Soviets (or whatever foreign power) trying to reprogram our satellites utilizing security loopholes on the part of the owning company. In any case, unless the ISP is actually expecting some terrorist group to attack their center and has taken deliberate steps to protect themselves (an absurdly expensive proposition for just about anyone except the military), I doubt there is much that could prevent even a private citizen from taking them out, let alone a well-organized group. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Richard T. Freeman <rfreeman@netaxs.com> - finger for pgp key 3D CB AF BD FF E8 0B 10 4E 09 27 00 8D 27 E1 93 http://www.netaxs.com/~rfreeman - ftp.netaxs.com/people/rfreeman