The 'Here You Have' Virus Harvested Computer Passwords

Sept. 17, 2010 — -- In the latest cyber attack, computers in homes, businesses, and government offices across the country were effectively shut down by the so-called 'Here You Have' virus, which prodded recipients to download a message that would then infect the user's computer.

A cyber jihadi who may be Libyan posted a video on YouTube taking credit for the massive hack, saying he was protesting the US presence in Iraq and threats by American pastor Terry Jones to burn the Koran.

But as former White House national security official Richard Clarke explains on this week's episode of "Brian Ross Investigates," whoever was behind the attack, the intent seemed to be harvesting passwords from computers worldwide – and the US can do little to stop a repeat. The US needs to disconnect vital systems like the national power grid from the internet, says Clarke, or risk the consequences of a far more serious attack.

Clarke, an ABC news consultant and author of the new book "Cyber War," called the "Here You Have" virus a classic "zero day attack," meaning it used a new and never-seen-before technique to penetrate computer defenses. "That actually occurs very frequently," said Clarke. "Almost every day there is a new access technique. . . . So your anti-virus, your firewalls or intrusion detection systems don't see it coming."

Clarke said the 'Here You Have' hacker or hackers seemed to want to harvest passwords, which were then emailed to outside servers for several hours before those servers were found and shut down.

Hackers are capable of launching much more serious attacks, said Clarke, and the current internet architecture is not capable of stopping them. "Any one of our systems can be taken down," said Clarke. "Our railroads, our banks, our critical infrastructure can be taken down. Our power grid can be taken down. We need to start disconnecting systems like the power grid from the internet."

Click here to watch the interview with Richard Clarke

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