back to article London police chief: City bankers, prepare for a terrorist cyber attack. Again

Western financial institutions should prepare themselves for cyber attacks from Islamic militants, the head of the City of London police warns. Commissioner Adrian Leppard urged preparations ought to be put at hand during a security conference in New York. According to the FT, he singled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ( …

  1. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Alert

    Really

    If these "terrorists" come from the same stock as the shoe bomber, underpants bomber, and muppets who thought LPG was somehow high explosive, then I'm hardly going to be shaking in my boots.

    However, we have to keep up the hyperbole, or we can't control the masses.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Really

      Yeah, agree up to a point, you dont have to be a suicide muppet to undertake a cyber attack. Let's face it, you don't waste resource if you can so suicide bombers are low-hanging retards.

      Agree too about the hyperbole, saying you should be capable of resisting an attack is a bit different from seeing them coming over the horizon with their moped mounted AK47s....

    2. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: Really

      And meanwhile we continue to be doing the terrorists' job for them. I can't think of an easier time for terrorists; sit back with a cool milkshake and simply let the infidels fearmonger themselves into a panic. They've won haven't they?

  2. hplasm
    Coat

    Simple-

    Dont use ISIS- move to OSPF or EIGRP...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Simple-

      I never liked ISIS - it seemed to just work on a wing and a prayer.

  3. M7S

    "push back and take action now before it happens"

    Is this what Terry Pratchet described in one of the Johnny Maxwell books as "getting your retaliation in first"?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "push back and take action now before it happens"

      Maybe that's not such a bad idea....if we can't use nukes, lets bring in the daisy cutters. You know the fuel/air explosives that level a square mile or so?

      Lets start with dropping one in the middle of the Syrian desert and video lighting it off. Put it on THEIR Facebook page. I know we have people who can do that.

      Follow that with dropping leaflets in every mosque there is in the Middle East that say "You're Next! Might as well forewarn them to cause some terror.

      And then do it. This will never be over until one side obliterates the other. That's the way THEY look at it, so why don't we get realistic about it?

      This conflict has been going on since before the Crusades. It only has one possible conclusion.

      They say they are "peaceful" but they won't prevent their people from stabbing and tomahawking truly peaceful people in a place of worship. Their leaders knew about those attacks and did nothing.

      Every place they take foothold in the Western World becomes all about "their" religious rights being trampled. What about mine and yours?

      Why should we even wait any longer?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Facepalm

        Re: "push back and take action now before it happens"

        "This conflict has been going on since before the Crusades."

        You may want to look up what religion did the Crusades. While you are at it, look how relatively well Muslims and Christians co-existed prior to this and also the reasoning behind it.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Elmer Phud

        Re: "push back and take action now before it happens"

        "Every place they take foothold in the Western World becomes all about "their" religious rights being trampled. What about mine and yours?"

        What if I don't have a religion?

        1. Gordon 10
          Mushroom

          Re: "push back and take action now before it happens"

          @Elmer

          "What if I don't have a religion?"

          Then both sides take turns burning you. There is no middle ground recognised by opposed fanatics.

          Fortunately fanatics are the (bell) ends of the distribution curve.

        2. P. Lee
          Terminator

          Re: "push back and take action now before it happens"

          >What if I don't have a religion?

          Doesn't matter, your government worships National Security on your behalf.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "push back and take action now before it happens"

        That's why we should have nuked the Vatican to stop the IRA

      4. MSLiermann

        Re: "push back and take action now before it happens"

        Does being as stupid as you are actually hurt?

  4. batfastad

    EVERYONE BE AFRAID...

    EVERYONE BE AFRAID... WE WILL PROTECT YOU!

    Oh actually, no we won't. We can't really. Sort yourselves out, especially you city bankers, you're very important to us. Peons and the hoi polloi, not so much. We don't need to spend all that tax dosh on offence/defence and anti-terror after all! But we'll keep the budget thx.

  5. SolidSquid

    How could they possibly know this with all the encryption people are using now? It's inconceivable!

    Anyway, this really does stink of them trying to use OMG TERRORISM to get their way, either pushing the banks to tighten their security or stronger anti-terrorism laws with regards to the internet. And as for Iran getting involved, I wasn't aware that there were any ties between the UK and Stuxnet in the first place. Surely it would be the NYSE they would target rather than LSE?

  6. Billa Bong
    Facepalm

    "Be seen to be doing something regularly..."

    "... it doesn't matter what.".

    One of the <opposite>best</opposite> management strategies, right?

    I'm just going to send an email round my office telling them to be on their guard for viruses when using the internet or reading email...

    1. Billa Bong

      Re: "Be seen to be doing something regularly..."

      I'm happy to report that the backlash from my email was astronomical! Maybe sending it round a team of developers was a bad idea...

  7. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Global banking disaster

    Threatened if cyber-attack doesn't shut down the banks

  8. Deimos
    Devil

    Jolly alert !!

    He was originally handed a bit of paper saying

    "We have managed to get a couple of our chaps on continuous holiday in New York !!. All you have to do is host a couple of Yank holidaymakers in London and find a way to explain it to the great unwashed. Something to do with criminal bearded types or protecting children. Use your best judgement and you get to go to regular review meetings over there."

  9. evlncrn8

    will they remove the queens head from the notes too then?

  10. evlncrn8

    will they remove the queens head from the bank notes too then?

    1. Elmer Phud
      Pint

      Queen's Head?

      Nah, they closed that a few years ago.

      Along with the Spread Eagle, The Goerge and many other pubs.

      I shall raise a glass to thier passing

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    At least it will be good for something

    Should do a lot to get London house prices moving downwards.

  12. teebie

    "ISIS may attack bankers"

    is the most effective terrorist recruitment slogan ever.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    LONDON POLICE CHIEF, BEWARE...

    Of City Bankers ROBBING the people of Britain... AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

  14. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

    Quaking in my boots...

    ...because something might happen, sometime in the future.

    As others have said, the terrorists have won when our own governnmets and officials are creating the terror for them.

    It reminds me a bit of the USA "winning" the cold war by outspending the USSR, sometimes with judicious "leaks" of very expensive research and tech claimed to be being worked on so as to divert funds.

    Terrorist are now at the point where they only have to "leak" plans, possibly with a patsy or two being implicated, and "we" spend millions investigating and increasing our securuity theatre.

  15. nsld

    It must be

    Budget approval time

    Wheel out the can of fear and feel the pounds/dollars roll in.

    Given how totally incompetent our Police are at managing anything cyber related unless its dealing with copyright infringement why is anyone even giving these muppets airtime?

  16. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Meh

    YAWN

    That's all

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Totally clueless

    The populace is pretty much totally clueless on what is actually happening in the world. Terrorism is here to stay and growing daily. Ignoring it won't make it disappear. Being proactive will minimize the damage but nothing can eliminate all terrorism. Being oblivious or in denial certainly does not reduce terrorism.

    1. P. Lee

      Re: Totally clueless

      Terrorism was always around - we even have an annual celebration of the capture of a terrorist in 1605. Its a small issue not worth the time and resources devoted to combating it. More to the point, we're sick of the government removing freedoms, privacy and generally making life hard to combat an almost non-existent threat.

      The stupidity of the police making a fuss around terrorist-inspired cyber attacks, as though the banks didn't already have cyber-defences in place, is palpable. The internet doesn't care about motivations and I doubt the Syrians are high on the list of potential internet-based troublemakers.

      Quite frankly the banks have done far more to damage UK society than IS ever will. They've certainly cost us a lot more. Our own government has done far more to remove our rights and destroy our privacy than IS could ever dream of. They've killed more of our people by sending them to fight terrorism than the terrorists ever had. With the way things are going in Iraq, Saddam is looking rather like the least-worst option, which we knew before we went in there, because in 1929 our own military noted that the place was ungovernable, but history was ignored and has thus been repeated.

      Thatcher got slammed by the Left for warmongering in the South Atlantic, but there was never a chance of the disaster Labour jumped for and the Coalition has meekly followed. Our politicians appear to be blind to the evil that they do and they dance as if controlled by an unseen puppet-master bent on wreaking havoc at home and abroad. They continually seek distraction of the populace from the disaster of the economy and they do it by spending vast amounts of cash on war. Its stupid, dangerous and downright evil.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    News?!?

    It's just another cynical attempt to keep the "terrorism threat" in the headlines.

    Hasn't there supposed to have been a terrorist attack forecast every week for at least the last 14 years?

    And the liars and cheats expect people to vote for them...

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well golly..

    "... that paint a misleading view of the threat landscape ..."

    Have they done an opinion poll that suggests we aren't adopting the 'proper attitude'? Or just talking up their own relevance?

    'Getting' social media and managing fades and text overlays in video does not yet equate to heavyweight IT skills**, and I'd suggest the qualities needed to fall for ISIS spectacularly dense flavour of Skyfairyism leave them as very improbable candidates for an IT GCSE let alone a 'major cyber attack'.

    ** Why is it anyone these days that manages to upload a video and has a social media audience of more than four is described as making "sophisticated use of social media"? Perhaps a reflection of the journalist or media outlets own comprehension?

  20. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    Just Desserts ... Pure and simple

    Why bankers and banks and accommodating politicians are legitimately considered valid targets for extremely prejudicial pro action .... http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-19/next-round-great-crisis-just-around-corner. ...... public and private, pirate and pariah?

  21. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Coat

    Has no one considered the possibilty of a *terrific* new TV series?

    Hilarious opportunities for culture clashes galore.

    It's a "professionals" style bomber jacket.

    RIP Lewis

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Has no one considered the possibilty of a *terrific* new TV series?

      More apt might be a sequel to "Four Lions" from the other side of the 'terror' gravy train/power trip.

  22. This post has been deleted by its author

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