Site Presented By
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
Saddam Hussein could lose Internet access at the flip of a switch, and there's not much his geeks can do about it.
Mar 6, 2003 | Like an artist concealing his signature in the background of a painting, Loay Edmon Al-Botany tucks his name in the source code of Web pages at
Al-Botany, a lifelong resident of Baghdad, says his work for the government-controlled Iraqi newspaper site doesn't pay very well -- the equivalent of 100 U.S. dollars per month. But he considers himself lucky to have one of the few Internet jobs in the country, and a high-profile position at that.
Any day now, however, it could all come crashing down from a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, says Al-Botany.
"If USA attack Iraq, the first thing [they will do] is a cyber-war," he says.
Al-Botany, 30, remembers well the U.S. bombing of Baghdad in 1991, which targeted telecommunications and power systems. This time around, many observers predict that the U.S. will also deploy viruses, government-trained hackers, and special electromagnetic pulse bombs to knock out Iraq's computers and other sensitive electronic equipment.
But if the U.S. wants to cut off Iraq's access to the Internet, it need only give a nod to operators of a satellite farm in the woods west of Atlanta, or to a similar facility in the English countryside.
An analysis of network records and routing patterns shows that Iraq's only Internet service provider, the State Company for Internet Services (SCIS), appears to send and receive nearly all of its traffic over satellite hookups provided by Atlanta International Teleport of Douglasville, Ga., and by SMS Internet of Rugby, Warwickshire.
Whenever Al-Botany or other Iraqis send an e-mail or browse the Web, their bits leave Iraq via SCIS's satellite modems, bounce off orbiting satellites, and touch down again in satellite dishes run by AIT and SMS, which connect them to the Internet backbone in Georgia and England, respectively.
This provision of Internet access may not be legal. A 1990 executive order prohibits U.S. firms from exporting "goods, technology or services" to Iraq. And a U.N. trade embargo has similarly sanctioned member nations from dealing with Iraq.
But it's obvious that if predictions about the U.S. launching "offensive computer operations" against Baghdad are correct, George W. Bush and Tony Blair clearly have Saddam right where they want him.
On instructions from the U.S. or U.K. governments, AIT and SMS could effectively disable e-mail and Web access for Iraq's government and citizens.
Surprisingly, Iraqi computer specialists appear oblivious to their network's vulnerability to attack. And even though they vow they will get their networks back up and running if they are attacked, they are also in no position to fight back.
