Caveat Internetor

3/26/08 - Anyone who runs Windows
knows that it has become a part time job to just keep it running.
Something always seems to be going wrong. No matter how persistently
you update your firewall(s), spyware program(s), virus definitions,
operating system, etc. things just don't work they way they should.
Even after you repeatedly run various scans to identify what has gotten
through these barriers things continue to get worse.

We
are meticulous about computer maintenance around here. However, when
things still go wrong it is not as of you can get on the phone with
some well informed technician at Microsoft as you could just a couple
of years ago. Now if you call for help you are directed to Hyderabad or
Mumbai where you find yourself speaking to someone called "Bob" reading
from a script. The script is almost always wrong.

About a month ago we found ourselves with four dead Windows computers.
They all just suddenly died. I wondered out loud whether it was
possible that someone in the White House might be upset that some of us
had gone "too far" in our persistent criticism of this administration.
It seemed quite possible that our computers had made some Executive
Branch hit list. I mean they hacked two elections didn't they?

Then
I heard that Jeff Rense and a number of other kindred spirits were also
experiencing a similar pattern of computer attacks. Hmm.... some sort
of cyber warfare seems to be taking place.

Then,
as if it were choreographed by divine potentiation, one of the people I
had enjoyed a great rapport with at Microsoft contacted me! He had
recently gone into retirement. He said that he was coming through my
neck of the woods and it might be a good idea for us to get together.
We met at a local bookstore and sat down for a chat.

I
told him what many of my friends and I have recently been experiencing
with the nightmare that the Windows operating system has become. He
responded by saying, "You don't know the half of it." He went on to say
that Windows had become such a behemoth of tangled "spaghetti" code
that it was nearly impossible to protect.

But
it goes way beyond that. He told me that some of the source code for
the Windows OS was now in the hands of programmers in India. He was
certain that this was a "major mistake" on the part of Microsoft's
upper management. He said he considered it "a threat to International
Security".

"I know there are some very
competent IT personnel in India. I have been there several times for
the company. When you consider the fact that some of these people are
almost undoubtedly Islamic militants, I think it was a tragic decision
to allow anyone in that country access to the source code. On top of
that other companies such as Symantec have also outsourced much of both
customer service and product maintenance to India. So here you have
potential adversaries with the source code for the most widely used
operating system in the world and the most widely used security software."

He
continued, "Purportedly there is also a special group within the NSA
that has complete access to every Windows machine through the
supercomputer/server farm that maintains the Windows operating system
and processes those "error messages" Windows users frequently generate.
The operating system itself can be used as a real time monitor of every
keystroke you make as long as you are online."

"It
is even possible to do selective data mining through the
Microsoft/Redmond access whereby someone writing emails or articles
against this ridiculous war or this absurd administration can be
identified and attacked with various exploits in real time."

So
you have potential foreign adversaries and domestic adversaries within
the administration who have the keys to the vast majority of computers
in the world.

"Practically speaking
this means that "Bob's" cousin Abdul could potentially hack into your
computer or even shut down large banks of servers in the United States
or any other country. A team of skilled programmers with access to the
source code and online access to Microsoft can wreck havoc. It is just
another in the long series of national disgraces encouraged by the
policies of this Administration."

"On
the other front Bush/Cheney can give the order to shut down free speech
on the Internet. If you say something negative about them you could
become a target. These guys can just reach into your world through
Windows/Redmond and screw your computer to death. Logistically they
don't even need thousands of agency employees attacking you."

"The
NSA supercomputer assigned to data mining and other nefarious tasks
purportedly has a half-petaflop (500 trillion floating point operations
per second) throughput capability. It also has complete access to all
Windows users through Microsoft's central computer array. This system
is said to be capable of developing and improving its own pattern
recognition skills second by second. It is learning like HAL did in
2001 a Space Odyssey."

"In this all
too real scenario the computer can be programmed to think that it is
supposed to protect the "president" and all of his cohorts at all
costs. If you are saying something like, "when is someone in Congress
going to find the courage to do something about these guys?" BAM! Your
computer is slammed."

"The way this
works is that after a few weeks of this program running on this
insanely powerful computer it isn't just the high profile guys who get
hit. Millions of Americans can lose their computers to this crap. Gates
can't do a thing. It is his deal with the devil."

I
was kind of stunned when I heard this but it all made sense. Then today
an old friend contacted me. She told me that she was writing a chapter
in her new book wherein a sentient canine character is making fun of
the "president". As she was writing, her font suddenly started changing
until she found it impossible to continue. Finally her computer just
died. She said, "The strangest thought crossed my mind. I thought for a
moment that I was personally under attack for making fun of this guy.
Do you think that is possible Adam?"

I told her what I just told you...

If
you have experienced these kinds of difficulties recently (and I know
that many of you have) then write and print out a letter (or even hand
write it) to your Senators and Representatives on the State and Federal
level demanding that a real, full blown investigation of this alleged
abridgement of our rights is started immediately and that those
responsible are prosecuted. Just consider the people, who hacked the
2004 Presidential Election in Ohio, who are now sitting in prison.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2007/2506

Use
snail mail. Sign your real name. Let's have a tsunami of real physical
mail hit the Capital. Make the effort. Network exponentially. Raise
your voices to the high heavens before HAL (or is it Dick?) hacks
another election or finally seizes complete control of Spaceship Earth.

There is no escape pod.



March 3, 2007

Adam Trombly

Founder Project Earth