White House Switched to Linux

[Warren Togami]

The Code Red worm that cracked those 200,000+ Microsoft IIS servers was
poorly coded to attack the IP address, and not the domain name of
whitehouse.gov.  So all they did was change their DNS info to point to some
other location that just happened to be running Linux, and Code Red
attempted to attack a location that no longer existed.  That particular worm
couldn't form connections to the target, so it didn't deliver the attacking
payload that would have potentially destabilized the Internet.  The Netcraft
scan could mean that the web server(s) themselves are running Linux, or
their setup could be behind some type of Linux load balancer or router.

What does this mean?
WINNER White House - With prompt technical analysis and action, they managed
to protect not only themselves but the Internet.
WINNER Internet - Thanks to the White House technicians, the Internet wasn't
flooded and destabilized.
WINNER Linux - Somebody thinks Linux is reliable enough for the White House
web site.
LOSER Microsoft.

----- Original Message -----
From: "W. Wayne Liauh" <LiauhW001 at Hawaii.rr.com>
To: "Linux & Unix Advocates & Users" <luau at list.luau.hi.net>
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 10:45 AM
Subject: [luau] White House Switched to Linux


> As we know, a couple of days ago, White House was under a serious cyber
> attack.  What did the IT manager of the headquarters of the most
> powerful nation in the history of mankind do? Switched to Linux!  And
> White House survived!
>
> Looks like someone with connections ought to forward this story to the
> Governor.  (Ron? Jeff? Anybody else?)
>
> http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2001-07-23-004-20-NW-CY
>
> (BTW, I sent this story to LinuxToday; check the e-mail address of the
> poster.)