Xephyer

First, let me say I know I promised a more detailed look at the pirates and a historical perspective on the issue - but what started out as a short post, ended up being nearly six pages long. I decided not to post it at this time - but will at some point polish it up a bit and post it as a PDF for anyone who is interested.

So - yesterday, the US Navy rescued Maersk Captain Phillips from his four Somali pirate-captors. It seems it went something like this:

Phillips was being held captive in a lifeboat from the Maersk vessel. The lifeboat had long since run out of fuel. At some point on Sunday, the sea conditions were worsening and the lifeboat was "floundering". The pirates acknowledged that by establishing a tow, it would be a smoother ride.Tthe pirates and the Navy agreed to tow the lifeboat while negotiations were underway for Phillips' release. The USS Bainbridge hooked up a tow line to the life boat. Three captors were onboard the lifeboat with Phillips, all armed with AK-47s and small arms, while the fourth pirate went aboard the USS Bainbridge to conduct negotiations.

The White House had issued a standing order for the military to move in an rescue Phillips if his life was in imminent danger.

Shortly after the USS Bainbridge began towing the lifeboat, the situation escalated. It became increasingly clear to the pirates that they were not going to get the cash ransom they were looking for - as the officers of the USS Bainnridge made it very clear they were not in a position to provide any cash ransom. Shots were fired from the lifeboat and the pirates were seen holding a gun to Captain Phillips back. Acting on the standing order from the White House, the snipers, positioned on the fantail of the USS Bainbridge, were ordered to fire.

They established clear head shots on all three pirates. One of the pirates was visible through the front window, and the heads of the other two were visible above the hatch. Shots were fired, and all three pirates were hit. Navy Seals traversed the tow line attached to the lifeboat, and were the first to get to Phillips. They surveyed the scene and found three dead pirates. Phillips was alive, although tied up. The fourth pirate was taken into custody on the USS Bainbrdge.

Moments after the Seals reached Phillips, a Navy RIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) approached the life boat and safely escorted Phillips back to the Bainbridge. He has since undergone a medical exam and had the chance to take a shower.

According to Admiral Gortney, commander of the US Navy's 5th Fleet, Phillips is healthy and unharmed.

Yesterday, the Information Warfare Monitor (an initiative of the The Secdev Group, an operational think tank based in Ottawa, Canada, and the Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto) released their report of GhostNet.

What is GhostNet - well, according to Infowar Monitor, it is a suspected cyber espionage network of over 1,295 infected computers in 103 countries, 30% of which are high-value targets, including ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organizations, news media, and NGOs.

The detailed report reveals that GhostNet penetrated Tibetan computer systems giving attackers access to potentially sensitive information, including documents from the private office of the Dalai Lama. The report also presents evidence that numerous computer systems were compromised in ways that (at least potentially) points to entities in China as the culprit. The report is careful not to draw conclusions about the exact motivation or the identity of the attacker(s), or how to accurately characterize this network of infections as a whole. The report argues that attribution can be obscured.

Perhaps more importantly, the report makes the case that who controls GhostNet may not be as important as the implementation of the concept of low-cost, homegrown signals intelligence gathering through computer network exploitation.

The report is definitely worth reading. The full Tracking GhostNet report is available to read online or download.

This morning while browsing over at CDNN (Cyber Diver News Network), I saw an article about a diver that had been mistaken for a large fish and killed in Vietnam.

Apparently four fishermen, out for a routine day of destroying coral reefs fishing with dynamite, saw bubbles and movement underwater. Thinking this was a large fish, one of the fishermen tossed some dynamite into the water to kill it. After the explosion, the four jumped into the water to retrieve their catch, only to discover the body of a diver instead of a fish.

The fishermen then tired to hightail it out of there, but the Phu Cu District Coast Guard heard the explosion and came to investigate - catching the fishermen as they tried to escape.

Dynamite fishing, which severely damages coral reefs, is illegal in Vietnam but is apparently a common practice.

Nguyen Ngoc Liem, head of the Phu Cu District police department, said the fishermen would be charged with killing the diver and destroying aquatic resources with the illegal use of explosives.