Freaks Macintosh Archive/Freaks Macintosh Archive.bin/Freaks Macintosh Archives/Attack⁄DoS/herf warfare- windark.sit/herf warfare- windark.rsrc/TEXT_256.txt

Text File | 1998-04-06 | 14KB | 278 lines

          The FAA Discovers HERF

          On a recent series of US Scare plane flights, I noticed
          a new flight attendant spiel.

          "We're descending below 10,000 feet for our approach
          into (safe major metropolitan airport). Please turn off
          all laptop computers, CD and cassette players. Thank you
          for flying US Scare."

          In the July 26, 1993 issue of Newsweek, the following
          appeared.

          "On an uneventful flight over the Southern Pacific last
          February, the 747-400 pilot stared wide-eyed as his
          navigational displays suddenly flared and crackled. The
          data made no sense. But a flight attendant was already
          whisking a passenger's laptop computer up to the flight
          deck. When the crew turned it on, the navigation
          displays went crazy. They returned to normal when the
          crew switched off the laptop. The plane reached its
          destination safely. Investigating the incident, Boeing
          engineers bought the same model laptop and tried to
          replicate the glitch in another 747. They couldn't." And
          then, "In a holding pattern 13,000 feet somewhere above
          the southeastern United States, the pilot saw the
          guidance computers and controls that maintain the
          craft's lateral stability shut down. A passenger in Row
          1 - directly above the flight computers and near the
          navigation antennas - was using a radio transmitter and
          receiver, a flight attendant said. The first officer
          hurried back and the told the man to shut it off; the
          systems blinked back on. Five years later, no one can
          explain how, or even if, the radio zapped the
          computers."

          Welcome to the world of HERF.

          HERF is an acronym for High Energy Radio Frequency, and
          holds potential disaster within its enigmatic
          description.

          Over the last couple of years, Security Insider Report
          has discussed HERF and its potential for disrupting
          electronics (June, 1992, October, 1992, November, 1992,
          January, 1993). Word is getting out.

          A fundamental axiom of electronics is at the heart of
          the phenomena, and needs to be understood to appreciate
          the potential severity of the problem. An electric
          current creates a magnetic field, which travels at the
          speed of light in all directions. This is the principle
          of radio and TV and cell phones.

          If you stick a wire in the air, and connect it a
          completed circuit, a magnetic field will induce a
          current flow. Again, radio and TV. If you modulate the
          signal with information, then the information can be
          sent from one place to another almost instantaneously.

          On the other hand, we have all heard interference on the
          radio or a cell phone when passing through a tunnel or
          on a bridge.

          HERF is the magnetic field, intentional or not, that
          when detected by an electric circuit can disrupt its
          operation to varying degrees of intensity.

          A HERF signal, if properly aimed at an electronic target
          can so disrupt its operation as to render it useless.

          This may well be what's happening to the 747-400's that
          experience anomalies such as those Newsweek described.
          You see, the latest generation of planes are known as
          "fly-by-wire", meaning that the planes functions, from
          nose to tail are controlled by a maze of computers and
          145 miles of wires and cables. Many of these signals are
          so-called low-level signals, high impedance low voltage
          signals that are the most susceptible to interference.

          Now, a laptop computer or CD player will emit
          unintentionally, a quantity of radiation by its very
          nature. Despite the regulations made by the FCC to
          minimize electromagnetic emissions on consumer
          equipment, the shielding is far from complete. While the
          home computer may no longer screw up a TV picture as it
          did in the days of the TRS-80 and VIC-20, enough signal
          leakage occurs as to be of concern to the DoD and NSA.
          That's why they have the Tempest program - to stop all
          leakage at all costs. That's an intelligence concern,
          but the principle is the same.

          While the FAA and most airlines deny that there are any
          safety concerns to worry about, malfunctions of avionics
          systems do bring up serious public safety issues. Since
          1990 the FAA has complied almost 100 reports of such
          occurrences with a six-fold increase this year alone.
          Why? We suspect, as many do, that fly-by-wire planes are
          indeed affected by computers and digital music systems.

          The number of potential paths that a radiated signal can
          take include flowing down the metal skin of the
          airplane, down the conduits of the wiring, directly into
          low level paths, or bouncing off of metal surfaces
          directly into antennas. Another possibility is one of
          resonance; where the radiated signal and the affected
          circuitry operate at the same frequency, thus increasing
          the apparent effects. A 10 MHz signal tends to attract
          and apparently "multiply" the energy of a nearby induced
          10MHz signal. It's the nature of the beast.

          Another culprit is the FCC testing method for emissions
          certification of consumer products, especially
          computers. The tests as run by the manufacturer are
          idealized, under nearly perfect conditions. But, if you
          add RAM or a bigger hard disk, or one from another
          manufacturer, or use a higher speed CPU or add a modem,
          the rules change, and the emissions characteristics
          change. The power supply is drained faster, the clock
          cycles differently, and the location of the added RAM
          creates new magnetic patterns that might not still
          meet the barely adequate FCC emissions standards.

          Back in the mid 1980's, I worked for computer companies
          who spared no effort in minimizing compliance with the
          FCC. The bare minimum configurations were tested, and
          often we had to run back and forth to the factory to
          find the one single, unique computer system that would
          comply. Manufacturing tolerances and the bottom line
          took precedence over compliance. In many cases, the mere
          addition of 256RAM, bringing the machine up to a fully
          loaded 640K, would literally increase the emissions by a
          factor of 10! The FCC be damned. And then the addition
          of peripherals were even worse. Only those peripherals
          which actually had a port or a cable were required to
          have their own FCC compliance, but there's no provision
          for the synergistic effects of different manufacturer's
          products working together and still meeting the
          specifications. It was a total scam by every company I
          worked for. The edict was clear: Do whatever it takes to
          pass the test, for every day we're not selling, we're
          losing money.

          Also, some of the approved FCC testing laboratories were
          less than on the up and up. A typical suite of tests can
          run from $2500 to $25,000 and take 6 weeks or so; a
          costly death knoll for the competitive computer biz. But
          a double payment, in cash, often insured that the
          product was guaranteed to pass in less than a week. Get
          the point?

          Then there's the mice. A mouse - in distinction to a
          built in track ball within the unit itself - is attached
          by a wire. Another word for a wire is an antenna, and
          antennas are meant to amplify signals. In the case of
          the mouse, the wire is merely meant to carry stepped
          signals to the CPU; however, the shield or ground
          signal, especially in a battery driven laptop, is what
          we call floating; that is, it never really reaches
          ground to sink into the power company's and Mother
          Earth's natural ground point.

          Instead it floats at some undetermined level above
          ground, and guess what it does? It radiates! At some
          undetermined level, depending upon what is stuck inside
          the machine and by whom.

          It's no wonder that the engineers at Boeing and NASA and
          Apple are having such a time trying to figure out what's
          happening. The rules are wrong in the first place.

          We live in an electromagnetic sewer, and God knows we
          shouldn't be playing "let's not worry about it" with
          computers flying planes at 37,000 feet.

          The FAA knows better, and I would hazard to guess, wants
          to do everything within its power to avoid a panic or
          loss of public faith in the airline industry. That's
          perhaps why, they have kept it pretty quiet that they
          are protecting their own airport based facilities
          against HERF and radiated emission interference.

          In a low-profile massive endeavor, the FAA is replacing
          the glass in its control towers and offices in and
          around airports.

          We have received information from sources close to the
          FAA that their very concerned about HERF interference
          problems in air traffic control systems fromthe high
          power radar that keeps the airways safe. According to
          these sources, they are replacing control tower and
          office glass with shielded glass which attenuates
          electromagnetic signals by anywhere from 60-100db
          depending upon the severity of the problem.

          The replacement program is supposed to last for several
          years, which coincides with the upgrading of the nations
          control systems - which will obviously be more automated
          and computer driven than ever.

          If the FAA is as aware of the problem and the
          possibilities as it appears they are, one would hope
          they would take some stronger proactive measures to
          protect passengers - even if they're is only a glimmer
          of a chance that a laptop or a CD player could cause a
          plane to crash.

          It seems entirely reasonable to suggest that the FAA
          should just go ahead and ban such electronic devices on
          planes altogether. What's the big deal? Would the
          traveling Road Warrior care that he would lose 5 hours
          of productivity on the Red Eye? Probably, but if all
          airlines stick to a policy (there's that word again . .
          . funny how it keeps cropping up) especially is mandated
          by the FAA, everyone would still be playing on a level
          playing field, and no one would lose business.

          On the other hand, if planes are in fact susceptible to
          low level emissions from computers, is that such a good
          thing to openly admit? Because, what if you just turn up
          the volume a few db?

          There are plenty of crazies out there; and with
          terrorist concerns on the rise, who knows what they
          might pull. Well, here are a couple of possibilities.

          Suppose I'm a real crazy bad guy, and I bring a
          specially modified laptop onto an airplane. The airport
          security is dismal and you can get just about any
          electronic device through with no trouble. But this
          laptop is modified to emit very high levels of
          radiation; either automatically or upon command. If I'm
          real nuts, and am totally committed to my cause celebre,
          I might be willing to bring the plane down with me on
          board. More than a few people meet that criteria. It
          might take a little tinkering and get on the right
          fly-by-wire plane to do it, but with the number of
          events already on the books, it's doable.

          Or, if my survival is important, I might check my
          luggage through with a HERF device, timed to 'go-off' at
          some point during the flight. Without me on board, of
          course. Luggage scanning can't tell the difference
          between a 'good' electronic device and a 'bad' one. If
          the FAA has something to worry about in this realm, this
          certainly qualifies.

          Or, let's replace the rocket launcher at the end of the
          O'Hare runway scenario which was disclosed by the FBI
          during a CPSR meeting in Washington, D.C. on June 7,
          1993, with a powerful HERF Gun. A HERF Gun is an
          electromagnetic generator which is focused and aimable
          and frequency specific. Situated in a
          van, powered by a V-8 and an alternator, the HERF
          energy, several orders of magnitude louder than that
          emitted from a laptop, could have a devastating effect
          on planes taking off and landing.

          And acquiring such devices is pretty simple. You can go
          out and build one -it's an exercise in Electronics 101 -
          or I can buy one. Where? From the US government of
          course. A military surplus high power radar antenna is
          easily modified for higher signal strength and focussed
          targeting by someone familiar with electronics.

          Cyberspace has indeed come of age, and modern airplanes
          are as much a part of it as computer networks.

          It's just that the FAA doesn't know what to do about it
          yet.

          Let's hope they get up to speed quickly. Very quickly.

          --------------------------------------------------------

          -- Winn Schwartau