Since the author also requests remuneration, we would ask these

W >> Winn Schwartau >> Since the author also requests remuneration, we would ask these

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A number of heads in the hearing room nodded in agreement with
the question; others merely acknowledged that it was NSA bashing
time again.

Hammacher continued. "There is one theory that suggests that the
NSA, as the largest eavesdropping operation in the world wanted
to make sure that they could still listen in on messages once
they have been encrypted. The NSA has neither confirmed or
denied these reports. If that is true, then we must ask our-
selves, if DES is so weak, why does the NSA have the ultimate say
on export control. The export of DES is restricted by the Muni-
tions Control, Department of State, and they rely upon DoD and
the NSA for approval.

"The export controls suggest that maybe NSA cannot decrypt DES,
and there is some evidence to support that. For example, in
1985, the Department of Treasury wanted to extend the validation
of DES for use throughout the Treasury, the Federal Reserve
System and member banks. The NSA put a lot of political muscle
behind an effort to have DES deaffirmed and replaced with newer
encryption algorithms. Treasury argued that they had already
adapted DES, their constituents had spent millions on DES equip-
ment for EFT and it would be entirely too cumbersome and expen-
sive to make a change now. Besides, they asked, what's wrong
with DES? They never got an answer to that question, and thus
they won the battle and DES is still the approved encryption
methodology for banks. It was never established whether DES was
too strong or too weak for NSA's taste.

"Later, in 1987, the NSA received an application for export of a
DES based device that employed a technique called infinite en-
cryption. In response to the frenzy over the strength or weakness
of DES, one company took DES and folded it over and over on
itself using multiple keys. The NSA had an internal hemorrhage.
They forbade this product from being exported from the United
States in any form whatsoever. Period. It was an extraordinary
move on their part, and one that had built-in contradictions. If
DES is weak, then why not export it? If it's too strong, why
argue with Treasury? In any case, the multiple DES issue died
down until recently, when NSA, beaten at their own game by too
much secrecy, developed a secret internal program to create a
Multiple-DES encryption standard with a minimum of three sequen-
tial iterations.

"Further embarrassment was caused when an Israeli mathematician
found the 'trap door' built into DES by the NSA and how to decode
messages in seconds. This quite clearly suggests that the gov-
ernment has been listening in on supposedly secret and private
communications.

"Then we have to look at another event that strongly suggests
that NSA has something to hide."

"Mr. Hammacher!" Shouted Senator Rickfield. "I warned you about
that."

"I see nothing wrong with his comments, Senator," Deere said,
careful to make sure that she was heard over the sound system.

"I am the chairman of this committee, Ms. Deere, and I find Mr.
Hammacher's characterization of the NSA as unfitting this forum.
I wish he would find other words or eliminate the thought alto-
gether. Mr. Hammacher, do you think you are capable of that?"

Hammacher seethed. "Senator, I mean no disrespect to you or this
committee. However, I was asked to testify, and at my own ex-
pense I am providing as accurate information as possible. If you
happen to find anything I say not to your liking, I do apologize,
but my only alternative is not to testify at all."

"We accept your withdrawal, Mr. Hammacher, thank you for your
time." A hushed silence covered the hearing room. This was not
the time to get into it with Rickfield, Nancy thought. He has
sufficiently embarrassed himself and the media will take care of
the rest. Why the hell is he acting this way? He is known as a
hard ass, a real case, but his public image was unblemished. Had
the job passed him by?

A stunned and incensed Hammacher gathered his belongings as his
lawyer placated him. Scott overheard bits and pieces as they
both agreed that Rickfield was a flaming asshole. A couple of
reporters hurriedly followed them out of the hearing room for a
one on one interview.

"Is Dr. Sternman ready?" Rickfield asked.

A bustle of activity and a man spoke to the dais without the
assistance of a microphone. "Yessir, I am."

Sternman was definitely the academic type, Scott noted. A crum-
pled ill fitting brown suit covering a small hunched body that
was no more than 45 years old. He held an old scratched brief-
case and an armful of folders and envelopes. Scott was reminded
of the studious high school student that jocks enjoy tripping
with their feet. Dr. Sternman busied himself to straighten the
papers that fell onto the desk and his performance received a
brief titter from the crowd.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Chairman," Sternman said. "I'm ready now." Rick-
field looked as bored as ever.

"Thank you, Dr. Sternman. You are, I understand, a computer
virus expert? Is that correct?"

"Yessir. My doctoral thesis was on the subject and I have spent
several years researching computer viruses, their proliferation
and propagation." Rickfield groaned to himself. Unintelligible
mumbo jumbo.

"I also understand that your comments will be brief as we have
someone else yet to hear from today." It was as much a command
as a question.

"Yessir, it will be brief."

"Then, please, enlighten us, what is a virus expert and what do
you do?" Rickfield grinned menacingly at Dr. Les Sternman, Pro-
fessor of Applied Theoretical Mathematics, Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology.

"I believe the committee has received an advance copy of some
notes I made on the nature of computer viruses and the danger
they represent?" Rickfield hadn't read anything, so he looked at
Boyers who also shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes, Dr. Sternman," Nancy Deere said, "and we thank you for
your consideration." Rickfield glared at her as she politely
upstaged him yet again. "May I ask, though, that you provide a
brief description of a computer virus for the benefit of those
who have not read your presentation?" She stuck it to Rickfield
again.

"I'd be happy to, madam Chairwoman," he said nonchalantly. Rick-
field's neck turned red at the inadvertent sudden rise in Senator
Deere's stature. For the next several minutes Sternman solemnly
described what a virus was, how it worked and a history of their
attacks. He told the committee about Worms, Trojan Horses, Time
Bombs, Logic Bombs, Stealth Viruses, Crystal Viruses and an
assorted family of similar surreptitious computer programs.
Despite Sternman's sermonly manner, his audience found the sub-
ject matter fascinating.

"The reason you are here, Dr. Sternman, is to bring us up to
speed on computer viruses, which you have done with alacrity, and
we appreciate that." Rickfield held seniority, but Nancy Deere
took charge due to her preparation. "Now that we have an under-
standing of the virus, can you give us an idea of the type of
problems that they cause?"

"Ah, yes, but I need to say something here," Sternman said.

"Please, proceed," Rickfield said politely.

"When I first heard about replicating software, viruses, and this
was over 15 years ago, I, as many of my graduate students did,
thought of them as a curious anomaly. A benign subset of comput-
er software that had no anticipated applications. We spent
months working with viruses, self cloning software and built
mathematical models of their behavior which fit quite neatly in
the domain of conventional set theory. Then an amazing discovery
befell us. We proved mathematically that there is absolutely no
effective way to protect against computer viruses in software."

Enough of the spectators had heard about viruses over the past
few years to comprehend the purport of that one compelling state-
ment. Even Senator Rickfield joined Nancy and the others in
their awe. No way to combat viruses? Dr. Sternman had dropped
a bombshell on them.

"Dr. Sternman," said Senator Deere, "could you repeat that?

"Yes, yes," Sternman replied, knowing the impact of his state-
ment. "That is correct. A virus is a piece of software and
software is designed to do specific tasks in a hardware environ-
ment. All software uses basically the same techniques to do its
job. Without all of the technicalities, if one piece of software
can do something, another piece of software can un-do it. It's
kind of a computer arms race.

"I build a virus, and you build a program to protect against that
one virus. It works. But then I make a small change in the
virus to attack or bypass your software, and Poof! I blow you
away. Then you build a new piece of software to defend against
both my first virus and my mutated virus and that works until I
build yet another. This process can go on forever, and frankly,
it's just not worth the effort."

"What is not worth the effort, Doctor?" Asked Nancy Deere. "You
paint a most bleak picture."

"I don't mean to at all, Senator." Dr. Sternman smiled soothing-
ly up at the committee and took off his round horn rim glasses.
"I wasn't attempting to be melodramatic, however these are not
opinions or guesses. They are facts. It is not worth the effort
to fight computer viruses with software. The virus builders will
win because the Virus Busters are the ones playing catch-up."

"Virus Busters?" Senator Rickfield mockingly said conspicuously
raising his eyebrows. His reaction elicited a wave of laughter
from the hall.

"Yessir," said Dr. Sternman to Rickfield. "Virus Busters.
That's a term to describe programmers who fight viruses. They
mistakenly believe they can fight viruses with defensive software
and some of them sell some incredibly poor programs. In many
cases you're better off not using anything at all.

"You see, there is no way to write a program that can predict the
potential behavior of other software in such a way that it will
not interfere with normal computer operations. So, the only way
to find a virus is to already know what it looks like, and go out
looking for it. There are several major problems with this
approach. First of all, the virus has already struck and done
some damage. Two it has already infected other software and will
continue to spread. Three, a program must be written to defeat
the specific virus usually using a unique signature for each
virus, and the vaccine for the virus must be distributed to the
computer users.

"This process can take from three to twelve months, and by the
time the virus vaccine has been deployed, the very same virus has
been changed, mutated, and the vaccine is useless against it. So
you see, the Virus Busters are really wasting their time, and
worst of all they are deceiving the public." Dr. Sternman com-
pleted what he had to say with surprising force.

"Doctor Sternman," Senator Rickfield said with disdain, "all of
your theories are well and good, and perhaps they work in the
laboratory. But isn't it true, sir, that computer viruses are an
overblown issue that the media has sensationalized and that they
are nothing more than a minor inconvenience?"

"Not really, Senator. The statistics don't support that conclu-
sion," Dr. Sternman said with conviction. "That is one of the
worst myths." Nancy Deere smiled to herself as the dorky college
professor handed it right to a United States Senator. "The
incidence of computer viruses has been on a logarithmic increase
for the past several years. If a human disease infected at the
same rate, we would declare a medical state of emergency."

"Doctor," implored Rickfield. "Aren't you exaggerating . . .?"

"No Senator, here are the facts. There are currently over 5000
known computer viruses and strains that have been positively
identified. Almost five thousand, Senator." The good Doctor
was a skilled debater, and Rickfield was being sucked in by his
attack on the witness. The figure three thousand impressed
everyone. A few low whistles echoed through the large chamber.
Stupid move Merrill, though Nancy.

"It is estimated, sir, that at the current rate, there will be
over 100,000 active viruses in five years," Dr. Sternman dryly
spoke to Rickfield, "that every single network in the United
States, Canada and the United Kingdom is infected with at least
one computer virus. That is the equivalent of having one member
of every family in the country being sick at all times. That is
an epidemic, and one that will not go away. No sir, it will not."
Sternman's voice rose. "It will not go away. It will only get
worse."

"That is a most apoplectic prophesy, Doctor. I think that many
of us would have trouble believing the doom and gloom you por-
tend." Rickfield was sloughing off the Doctor, but Sternman was
here to tell a story, and he would finish.

"There is more, Senator. Recent reports show that over 75% of
the computers in the People's Republic of China are infected with
deadly and destructive software. Why? The look on your face
asks the question. Because, almost every piece of software in
that country is bootleg, illegal copies of popular programs.
That invites viruses. Since vast quantities of computers come
from the Pacific Rim, many with prepackaged software, new comput-
er equipment is a source of computer viruses that was once con-
sidered safe. Modem manufacturers have accidentally had viruses
on their communications software; several major domestic software
manufacturers have had their shrink-wrapped software infected.

"If you recall in 1989, NASA brought Virus Busters to Cape Kenne-
dy and Houston to thwart a particular virus that threatened a
space launch. A year later as everyone remembers, NASA computers
were invaded forcing officials to abort a flight. The attacks go
on, and they inflict greater damage than is generally thought.

"Again, these are our best estimates, that over 90% of all viral
infections go unreported."

"Doctor, 90%? Isn't that awfully high?" Nancy asked.

"Definitely, yes, but imagine the price of speaking out. I have
talked to hundreds of companies, major corporations, that are
absolutely terrified of anyone knowing that their computers have
been infected. Or they have been the target of any computer
crime for that matter. They feel that the public, their custom-
ers, maybe even their stockholders, might lose faith in the
company's ability to protect itself. So? Most viral attacks go
unreported.

"It's akin to computer rape." Dr. Sternman had a way with words
to keep his audience attentive. Years of lecturing to sleeping
freshman had taught him a few tricks. "A computer virus is
uninvited, it invades the system, and then has its way with it.
If that's not rape, I don't know what is."

"Your parallels are most vivid," said a grimacing Nancy Deere.
"Let's leave that thought for now, and maybe you can explain the
type of damage that a virus can do. It sounds to me like there
are thousands of new diseases out there, and every one needs to
be isolated, diagnosed and then cured. That appears to me to a
formidable challenge."

"I could not have put it better, Senator. You grasp things
quickly." Sternman was genuinely complimenting Nancy. "The
similarities to the medical field cannot go unnoticed if we are
to deal with the problem rationally and effectively. And like a
disease, we need to predict the effects of the infection. What
we have found in that area is as frightening.

"The first generation of viruses were simple in their approach.
The designers correctly assumed that no one was looking for them,
and they could enter systems without any deterrence. They erase
files, scramble data, re-format hard drives . . .make the comput-
er data useless.

"Then the second generation of viruses came along with the
nom-de-guerre stealth. These viruses hid themselves more elabo-
rately to avoid detection and had a built in self-preservation
instinct. If the virus thinks it's being probed, it self de-
structs or hides itself even further.

"In addition, second generation viruses learned how to become
targeted. Some viruses have been designed to only attack a
competitor's product and nothing else."

"Is that possible?" Asked Nancy Deere.

"It's been done many times. Some software bugs in popular soft-
ware are the result of viral infections, others may be genuine
bugs. Imagine a virus who sole purpose is to attack Lotus 123
spreadsheets. The virus is designed to create computational
errors in the program's spreadsheets. The user then thinks that
Lotus is to blame and so he buys another product. Yes, ma'am, it
is possible, and occurs every day of the week. Keeping up with
it is the trick.

"Other viruses attack on Friday the 13th. only, some attack only
at a specified time . . .the damage to be done is only limited by
imagination of the programmers. Third generation viruses were
even more sophisticated. They were designed to do damage not
only to the data, but to the computer hardware itself. Some were
designed to overload communications ports with tight logical
loops. Others were designed to destroy the hard disk by directly
overdriving the disk or would cause amonitor to self-destruct.
There is no limit to the possibilities.

"You sound as though you hold their skills in high regard, Doc-
tor." Rickfield continued to make snide remarks whenever possi-
ble.

"Yessir, I do. Many of them have extraordinary skills, that are
unfortunately misguided. They are a new breed of bored
criminal."

"You mentioned earlier Doctor, that there were over 5000 known
viruses. How fast is the epidemic, as you put it, spreading?"
Senator Nancy Deere asked while making prolific notes throughout.

"For all intents and purposes Senator, they spread unchecked.
There is a certain amount of awareness of the problem, but it is
only superficial. The current viral defenses include signature
identification, cyclic redundancy checks and intercept verifica-
tion, but the new viruses can combat those as a matter of rule.
If the current rate of viral infection continues, it will be a
safe bet that nearly every computer in the country will be in-
fected ten times over within three years."

Dr. Arnold Sternman spent the next half hour answering insightful
questions from Nancy Deere, and even Puglasi became concerned
enough to ask a few. Rickfield continued with his visceral
comments to the constant amazement of the gallery and spectators.
Scott could only imagine the raking Rickfield would receive in
the press, but being Friday, the effects will be lessened.
Besides, it seemed as if Rickfield just didn't give a damn.

Rickfield dismissed and perfunctorily thanked Dr. Sternman. He
prepared for the next speaker, but Senator Deere leaned over and
asked him for a five minute conclave. He was openly reluctant,
but as she raised her voice, he conceded. In a private office
off to the side, Nancy Deere came unglued.

"What kind of stunt are you pulling out there, Senator?" She
demanded as she paced the room. "I thought this was a hearing,
not a lynching."

Rickfield slouched in a plush leather chair and appeared uncon-
cerned. "I am indeed sorry," he said with the pronounced drawl
of a Southern country gentleman, "that the young Senatoress finds
cross examination unpleasant. Perhaps if we treated this like a
neighborhood gossip session, it might be easier."

"Now one damned minute," she yelled while pointing a finger right
at Rickfield. "That was not cross-examination; it was harassment
and I for one am embarrassed for you. And two, do not, I repeat,
do not, ever patronize me. I am not one of your cheap call
girls." She could not have knocked Rickfield over any harder
with a sledgehammer.

"You bitch!" Rickfield rose to confront her standing nine inches
taller. "You stupid bitch. You have no idea what's at stake.
None. It's bigger than you. At this rate I can assure you, you
will never have an ear in Washington. Never. You will be deaf,
dumb and blind in this town. I have been on this Hill for thirty
years and paid my dues and I will not have a middle aged June
Cleaver undermine a lifetime of work just because she smells her
first cause."

Undaunted, Nancy stood her ground. "I don't know what you're up
to Senator, but I do know that you're sand bagging these hear-
ings. I've raised four kids and half a neighborhood, plus my
husband talked in his sleep. I learned a lot about politicians,
and I know sand bagging when I see it. Now, if you got stuck
with these hearings and think they're a crock, that's fine. I
hear it happens to everyone. But, I see them as important and I
don't want you to interfere."

"You are in no position to ask for anything."

"I'm not asking. I'm telling." Where did she get the gumption,
she asked herself. Then it occurred to her; I'm not a
politician, I want to see things get fixed. "I will take
issue with you, take you on publicly, if necessary. I was Presi-
dent of the PTA for 8 years. I am fluent in dealing with bitches
of every size and shape. You're just a bastard."

****************************************************************

Chapter 21

Friday, January 8
Washington, D.C.

As the hour is late, I am tempted to call a recess until tomorrow
morning," Senator Merrill Rickfield said congenially from the
center seat of the hearing room dais. His blow up with Nancy
left him in a rage, but he ably disguised the anger by replacing
it with overcompensated manners.

"However," he continued, "I understand that we scheduled someone
to speak to us who has to catch a plane back to California?"
Rickfield quickly glanced about the formal dais to espy someone
who could help him fill in the details. Ken Boyers was engrossed
in conversation and had to be prodded to respond. "Ken," Rick-
field whispered while covering the microphone with his hand. He
leaned over and behind his seat. "Is that right, this True Blue
guy flew in for the day and he's out tonight?"

Ken nodded. "Yes, it was the only way we could get him."

"What makes him so bloody important?" Rickfield acted edgy.

"He's one of the software industry's leading spokesman. He owns
dGraph," Ken said, making it sound like he was in on a private
joke.

"So fucking what? What's he doing here?" Rickfield demanded.
Keeping it to a whisper was hard.

"Industry perspective. We need to hear from all possible view-
points in order to . . ." Ken explained.

"Oh, all right. Whatever. If this goes past five, have someone
call my wife and tell her I'll see her tomorrow." Rickfield sat
back and smiled a politician-hiding-something smile.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, a little scheduling confusion.
I guess there's a first time for anything." Rickfield's chuckle
told those-in-the-know that it was time to laugh now. If Rick-
field saw someone not laughing at one of his arthritic jokes, he
would remember. Might cost a future favor, so it was simpler to
laugh. The mild titter throughout the hall that followed gave
Rickfield the few seconds he needed to organize himself.

"Yes, yes. Page 239. Everyone there?" Rickfield scanned the
other committee members and aides flipping pages frantically to
find the proper place.

"We now have the pleasure of hearing from Pierre, now correct me
if I say this wrong, Trewww-Blow?" Rickfield looked up over his
glasses to see Pierre seated at the hearing table. "Is that
right?" Scott had been able to keep his privileged location for
the busier afternoon session by occupying several seats with his
bags and coat. He figured correctly that he would be able to
keep at least one as the room filled with more people than had
been there for the morning session.

"Troubleaux, yes Senator. Very good." Pierre had turned on 110%
charm. Cameras from the now busy press pool in front of the
hearing tables strobe-lit the room until every photographer had
his first quota of shots. Troubleaux was still the computer
industry's Golden Boy; he could do no wrong. Watching the reac-
tion to Pierre's mere presence, Senator Rickfield instantly
realized that True Blue here was a public relations pro, and
could be hard to control. What was he gonna say anyway? Indus-
try perspective my ass. This hearing was as good as over before
it started until the television people showed up, Rickfield
thought to himself with disgust.