Internet Bully Shuts Down Largest Free Security Site…
… PacketStorm Security site (packetstorm.harvard.edu)
was abruptly shut down... PacketStorm was one of the largest
and most respected sites catering to security professionals worldwide…
a valuable resource to an estimated 10,000 security professionals
world wide.
This major security resource did not suffer at the hands of
hackers, crackers, network intruders, or cyber terrorists. Instead,
a new kind of malicious bad guy found success through a fear
that haunts more and more Americans today. A single piece of
email from John Vranesevich (founder of AntiOnline) to the university
hosting Packetstorm requested that the site be shut down. This
email claimed that PacketStorm was hosting potentially libelous
material about John Vranesevich… With that mail, Harvard
University pulled the plug.
Email from Ken Williams, primary administrator for the site,
indicated that not only did Harvard shut down the site, they
denied him access to the machine and all information stored on
it. The correspondence noted the likelihood that all information
on the machine, and all backups would be destroyed in order to
avoid any sort of legal fallout from AntiOnline. "All of
the content and the backups made are either destroyed, being
destroyed now, or will be before I can do anything to prevent
it." Said PacketStorm founder Ken Williams.
…Along with the security site, months of William's own
school work was lost. "I have just lost seven weeks of [class]
work and data that cannot be replaced in 4 weeks." Williams
said, referring to deadlines on the school work.
