Attacks on the Financial Sector: Reprise I've spent the last two weeks in Europe, five countries, an avarage of 2.6 countries per day. Two kids and a wife along for a 'family vacation' which I have concluded is a modern day oxymoron. I'm thankfully back on the road to DC and Atlanta, sans kids, in a few days for a well earned rest. :-) (Love you honey, really do, but I do need a break . . . .) But what you care about is the attacks that the Sunday Times has been talking about for the last couple of weeks. I've received incredible volumes of email on this story asking for more details - mostly very supportive - so here goes I met with the Times in London's Trocadero (while the kids played Virtual Games upstairs in an incredible arcade). I also spoke with them at length while at the top of Le Tour Eiffel, at Euro-Disney (Space Mountain violently pivots you end over end in complete darkness: a definite PG-13 ride), on the Chunnel Train and at Legoland. First, the errors in their reporting that annoy me: 1. As a co-sponsor of InfoWarCon, I can assure you that the Brussels event had *nothing* to do with the alleged attacks as the June 2 article implies. 2. There were absolutely *no* secret meetings at InfoWarCon about the alleged attacks, 3. Laithe Gambit is not a secret study group about the distresses of the financial community. It is a NATO SHAPE security group and most of it is quite open. Despite the protestations of the Net community, masses of media folks and my own criticisms of their writings, the Sunday Times is sticking by their stories with dedicated vehemence. In some ways they seem confused and chagrined that their reporting is suspect. They really do believe what they are saying. I argued that they gave no names of their sources and they responded that it wasn't necessary since they used the word 'spokesman' in several places. We have to remain disagreed on that point. If it's a rumor, then say it's a rumor. If it's a well placed source who wants anonymity, say so. If it's a spokesman, name him in writing. As a result, the U.S. media has been calling Kroll Associates and the NSA and the British DTI and so on and getting rebuffed at every turn with firm denials of having ever had conversations of the nature claimed in the Times' articles. According to the media with whom I've spoken, this is a giant red flag. Curiously, though, according to the Times, when they call back the very sources used for the articles in the first place, they too are being met with cold shoulders and 180 degree attitude shifts. Curiouser and curiouser. The Times swears by the validity of the story, and is putting on additional pressure to those people who they claim are in-the-know and will come out with the real details which could be further corroberated. I will be receiving, hopefully this weekend, (not here yet) an updated article that is being published in the UK on this story. From what I've heard about it so far, it will include some comments from Russian Admiral Pirumov (ret) and others on the record. In the next couple days: Someone in Basel corroberates the tale. Peace Winn Winn Schwartau - Interpact, Inc. Information Warfare and InfoSec V: 813.393.6600 / F: 813.393.6361 Winn@InfoWar.Com