Mad Hacker threatens to wreck US with "War" virus

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By SAM SMITH

A notorious computer hacker has threatened to launch the most destructive computer virus the Internet has seen if the United States invades Iraq.

Vladimor "Melhacker" Chamlkovic, 23, a Malaysia-based computer-geek who named a previous virus after Osama bin Laden, told The Post he has developed a new super virus.

He declined to elaborate on the characteristics of the virus but vowed it will be launched in response to any U.S. attack on Iraq.

"I hate war," Chamlkovic said in an e-mail exchange. "I hate people die [sic]."

Chamlkovic, who offers novice hackers access to viruses through his Web site and has been linked online to others claiming to be al Qaeda supporters, has been in operation for six years.

He is thought to be behind a number of damaging viruses, including VBS.OsamaLaden@mm, Melhack, Kamil, BleBla.J, and Nedal (Laden spelled backward).

Internet security experts say the hacker has ties to Russian and Pakistani virus writers.

Some Internet security firms are taking Chamlkovic's latest virus threat seriously.

They say a mysterious Oct. 22 attack on the Internet's 13 major root servers showed the system has security flaws.

The root servers, which control nearly all the communication on the Internet, were flooded with so much data that they shut down.

Experts worry that a virus could cause worldwide economic damage, but some disagree. A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in D.C. suggests there would be only minimal damage to our daily lifestyles from any attempted major cyber-attack on the Internet.

"Viruses can have an effect, but people are much better at dealing with them," said CSIS's James Lewis. "Of all the things to worry about, this should be low on the list."

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2002


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