From Russia with Love: Cyxymu

Thursday August 6 2009 Twitter and Facebook were simultaneously interrupted by a “denial of service attack”.   Max Kelly, chief security officer at Facebook, claims the attack was directed at one blogger, Cyxymu.

Cyxymu is also the name of a town in the Republic Of Georgia-this is an English translation of Cyxymu’s Live Nation blog site. Here is some of the text on the blog site that is apparently a letter to the President of the Republic of Georgia:

“Уважаемый Дмитрий Анатольевич! Dear Dmitry!
Несмотря на то, что мы с Вами являемся можно сказать политическими оппонентами, да и к тому же Вы являетесь президентом той страны, которая оккупировала часть моей Родины, я хочу обратится к Вам с советом. Despite the fact that we are political opponents can say, and besides you are the president of the country which has occupied part of my homeland, I want to ask you to board.
Может быть этот коммент Вы так и не увидите тут (т.к. мои комментарии в этом сообществе часто не раскрываются), но я приложу все усилия, чтоб он дошел до Вас по тем или иным каналам. Maybe this коммент you did not see it (because my comments in this community often are not disclosed), but I will spare no effort, that he came to you on certain channels.
Думаю Вы уже в курсе того, что неизвестные хакеры устроили DDoS атаку на мои блоги, расположенные на livejournal.com, facebook.com, twitter.com, blogger.com. I think you’re already aware of the fact that unknown hackers staged a DDoS attack on my blog, located at livejournal.com, facebook.com, twitter.com, blogger.com. Кроме последнего все сервисы были повалены хакерами, которые по всем данным были из России. In addition, all projects have been the last stretch by hackers, who all data were from Russia.
Но это была не первая DDoS атака на мои блоги, в прошлом году мой блог на livejournal.com так же был под атакой, и не работал с октября 2008 года, по май 2009. But this was not the first DDoS attack on my blogs, in the past year, my blog on livejournal.com also was under attack, and has not worked since October 2008 to May 2009. Однако это не получило широкой известности и не было расследовано правоохранительными органами России, что видимо дало хакерам эффект вседозволенности. However, it is not widely known and was not investigated by law enforcement agencies of Russia, which apparently has the effect of permissiveness hackers.
Теперь же весь мир, с моих слов, говорит о том, что российские хакеры, которые по всей видимо на службе у правительства, могут, ради блокирования одного блоггера с иным мнением, закрыть доступ в большие социальные сети для миллионов человек. Now the whole world with my words, suggests that Russian hackers, who apparently in the service of the Government, may, for the sake of blocking one blogger with a different view, close to the big social networks for millions of people.
Так вот, уважаемый Дмитрий Анатольевич! So, dear Dmitry!
Прошу Вас дать задание своим спецслужбам найти и исполнителей, и организаторов этой атаки, и показательно наказать, чтоб другим было неповадно. I request you to give the job to find and special performers, and organizers of the attacks, and revealing to punish, to others it was nepovadno.
Необязательно публиковать скриншот этой страницы с Вашей резолюцией, но сделайте это, для восстановления имиджа Вашей страны. You do not need to publish a screenshot of this page in your resolution, but do it, to restore the image of your country.
А то, Ваше ПВО сбивало во время войны Ваши же самолеты, которые бомбили Ваши же колонны, а некто Нагавицин, утверждает, что это грузины перекрашивали свои самолеты в цвета ВВС России и так бомбили.. And then, your aircraft to shoot down during the war, your the same aircraft, which bombed your same columns, but someone Nagavitsin, argues that the Georgians perekrashivali their aircraft in the Air Force colors, and so Russia bombed ..
Постыдились бы. Would be ashamed.

Итак, я Вас предупредил, господин президент. So, I warned you, Mr. President.
Вы любите интернет, надеюсь Вы понимаете, как важно восстановить облик России после этой грязной атаки. You love the Internet, I hope you understand how important it is to restore the image of Russia after this dirty attack.

С Уважением Sincerely
Георгий George”

 

Some have suggested this shut down of Twitter and Facebook is due to the Koobface Virus. Of note is that criminal authors also picked August 6^th to launch and updated version of the Koobface Virus, which propagates by using Facebook and Twitter posts to trick folks into downloading trojanized software. So if Twitter or Facebook goes down-it would seem counter to the purpose of the malware. But then thankfully I don’t understand the twisted minds of those who create malware.

Hmmmmmm………………..I must say, this reeks of international intrigue.  Cyxymu’s government shutting down his blog seems to be the most logical explanation. I hear James Bond music playing in my head; I am having visions of Robert Redford and Brad Pitt in Spy Game.

Seriously, I do have a question though:

1. Who thinks that this guy’s blog is so dangerous that they are willing to go to such extremes to quiet his voice?

He must be worth listening to if his government wants to shut him up that bad!

Follow Your Heart And The (fill in the blank) Will Follow

For some the “blank” is money, other’s it is love, for many it is success in whatever they are pursuing. While I will always consider conventional wisdom-I won’t blindly follow it-personally or in business. Anything else is just crazy talk, foolish to me.

Next time someone tells you something is impossible, remember this. That is the short story of Christian the lion. Christian was purchased from Harrods department store in London by 2 guys. Christian had been part of a store display and got too big for the window display. When he outgrew his owners, they released him in Africa. The owners wanted to visit him 2 years later and were told Christian was forming his own lion pride and not only would he not recognize them it would be dangerous. Christian did recognize them and in fact brought his wife and children to meet with them. True story.

Next time you are told your quarterback (quarterback is figurative here-it could be your boss or spouse) sucks and you can’t win, visualize this.

If you think change isn’t possible, reconsider.

Inspiration isn’t the same as opportunity. Opportunity often knocks at the door. Inspiration on the other hand rarely knocks; mostly you have to look for it. Next time you feel weak remember this, it spans generations.

Blowfish Encryption

I was watching 24 the other night and Blowfish Encryption caught my attention. I started wondering to myself if that was even a real thing. You know like how doctors in shows like Grey’s Anatomy and ER do fake CPR? Turns out Blowfish is a real thing, so here is my version of “Blowfish for Dummies”.

To make a computer do anything, you would have to write a program, basically give it a task. An algorithm (aka cipher) tells the program how to do the task. So here is an easy example.

I am going to wash my car-that is my program. There are lots of ways to get my car washed:

1. Go to the car wash.

2. Do it with a hose in my driveway.

3. Pay a neighbor kid to do it for me.

The way I choose to get my car clean is the algorithm or a cipher.

In cryptography, Blowfish is a keyed, symmetric block cipher, designed in 1993 by Bruce Schneier. There is no record of anyone ever “breaking” a Blowfish code. So my curiosity got the better of me when Morris found a “backdoor” and that is how he broke the encrypted message sent from Rene to Jack. A backdoor is basically a way the original developer of the code can break the code by entering through a back door they themselves created. Most often it’s someone’s birthday or their dogs name and so on. Turns out there is no back door for Blowfish and I know this because its creator Bruce Schneier has a blog of his own, loves 24 and has been blogging about it since Monday night. If you go to his site-it is both informative and hilarious. Those guys are talking so far over my head! As in the Gary Larsen cartoon where 2 mathematicians taped a paper with a math problem on it to the 3 mathematicians back. The rest of us aren’t even smart enough to know why it is so funny!

The long and the short of it is, Blowfish is real, there is no back door and it has never been broken which begs the question how would Rene have gotten the key to Jack so he could open it?

Cipher isn’t a new idea-quite old actually, in fact it goes back as far as the Greeks. They would use ciphers, specific codes that involve subsitutions or shifting information. For example here is a cipher with a grid of letters and numbers:

	1	2	3	4	5
1	A	B	C	D	E
2	F	G	H	I/J	K
3	L	M	N	O	P
4	Q	R	S	T	U
5	V	W	X	Y	Z

If a Spartan general wished to send the message I AM SPARTA to another general, he would write this series of numbers:

42 11 23 34 53 11 24 44 11

As long as both generals had the correct cipher, they could decode any message the other sent.

And that is Blowfish for Dummies. And I only barely understand the tip of this so if I have made mistakes or someone smarter than me wants to correct me-please feel free to comment.

And last but not least I want you all to know I voted for Jack Bauer for President.

Commit And Providence Will Move

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves as well. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”

This quote is most often attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe lived from August 1749 until March 1832. He is quite an interesting fellow who studied and influenced numerous things from philosophy, eroticism, law, poetry, drama, literature, theology and science. He wrote Faust-a very thought provoking philosophical story of the main character Faust selling his sole to Mephistopheles (a.k.a. the Devil). A great read-but not at all light, you must pay attention the entire time. The story of Faust is also the inspiration for the Police hit song “wrapped around your finger” in case you like music trivia. Makes sense given that Gordon Sumner was a teacher before he was Sting, the Rock Star. If you were looking for a quick, easy, 5 minute read stop now and come back when you have time because the ideas in this blog are going to be harder to understand than my next blog about Blowfish Encryption.

Goethe is talking about commitment and how it affects one’s life. There is this chasm of difference between a wish, a hope, and idea, the truth and commitment and it is easy to spot in daily life.

This is what you say when you aren’t truly committed:

1.    I need to quit smoking.

2.    I hope President Obama can get us out of this financial mess.

3.    I should stop drinking.

4.    I want to grow my business.

Conversely, this is what commitment sounds like:

1.    I have joined a quit smoking support group and bought nicorrette, I start tomorrow.

2.    I refuse to allow outside influences to control my destiny.

3.    I am checking into rehab today.

4.    I will do whatever is necessary to make my business not just survive but flourish right now.

Why is it important to know the difference? Because, if you know your mental position you can change it and that makes you the most powerful force in your life. Destiny, karma, fate, a political party and addiction no longer control you. Only you control your life and that is the upside. The down side to being in control of your life is that you and you alone, claim responsibility. Sales weren’t good today-well that’s on you, not the phone company, not the network server not the thunderstorm that blew up your server. Marriage is failing-yeah-that’s on you-not your spouse, kid uses crack-yep that’s your responsibility, not your fault but your responsibility. There are some who would prefer to blame the weatherman, their spouse, other people’s carbon footprint-the list goes on forever when they could have unlimited power to influence their lives and success.

Now here is where it gets tricky so take a moment to digest this idea before you go further, commitment, truth and reality aren’t the same things. Commitment is a mental position, a notion, an idea not necessarily the truth with a capital “T”. Let me give you a very offensive example of truth and reality as follows:

Let’s say you give birth to a child with disabilities. No parent wants to give birth to a disabled child. If you are cognizant at all you will worry about that child’s future in every way possible. The “TRUTH” with a capital “T” is that your child’s disability was probably random, it’s painful, it’s frightening, it will make yours and their life harder, it will make you cry, want to throw up and it isn’t fair. And that is the truth. At that point you can make the “truth” your commitment, your mental position. Or not.

I happen to believe in God but if you have some other higher power-wherever I say God insert the name of your higher power, whether it’s Karma, Darwin or Buddha or a doorknob.  You could make your position that “God found me uniquely qualified for this task, he gave me this child quite purposefully the same way he will guide me to cope with mine and my child’s challenges.” That mental position of commitment returns the power to you instead of giving it to fate, karma or the fairness of life. Now you have your power back-you are in charge of your destiny, not the fairness we know real life doesn’t guarantee. In short if the problem is yours-you can fix it, change it and deal with it. If the problem belongs to fate-you have no control to fix it, change it, or deal with it whatsoever. Fate will decide how your life goes, the weatherman controls what you wear, and political decisions completely out of your control decide what you are having for dinner.

Tomorrow I am committing to go to the gym at lunch. I have promised my best friend and invited 2 people to go with me, my clothes are in the car and I have a plan on eating lunch after at my desk while working.

What are you going to commit to? Ready to accept the consequences of flipping the switch on Providence?

Connectzone.com is Purple and Gold

We have a few sneaky relatives that are Crimson and Gray but we are Purple and Gold. For us that means it is T-20 days until spring football practice at the University of Washington.

So here are some interesting things to things about:

How cute can a mascot be-I mean really? Seriously?  Totally?  Meet “Dubs”. Could he be any cuter-especially compared to a duck? A beaver? Get real!

Next time you are all kinds of sideways mad that Jake Locker spent most of last season on the bench-well just watch this video and make sure your speakers are on, full volume. Side note-Jake please don’t play baseball this year!

And Yep it’s a new era here at UW with the Sark! Ducks, Beavs, Cougs-hope you enjoyed last year ’cause we are so over it……………