Raleigh Novelist and hacker researcher says worse to come by Conficker Worm and other cyber threats

April 3, 2009 - PRLog -- RALEIGH, NC - The Conficker Worm is just the tip of the iceberg and more catastrophic hacks are on the horizon, according to novelist and hacker researcher Anthony S. Policastro, whose upcoming novel, Dark End of the Spectrum, fictionalizes a probable cyber threat scenario.

“I have always thought that one day well-funded hackers would be bold enough, confident enough, and powerful enough to take control of one of our country’s major infrastructures such as air control, electricity or the Internet,” said Policastro from his home in Raleigh, North Carolina.

He bases his prediction on the fact that hacking has gone from the whiz kid seeing how far he could get into a system to organized crime and nations unfriendly to the United States attempting to compromise computers that control major infrastructures.

This observation spawned DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM, a high-tech thriller about a clandestine group who manage to hack into the nation’s power grid and cell phone network and hold the US hostage, said the novelist.

“I hope to raise awareness about how serious cyber crime is today in my book, and how catastrophic it could be if we don’t significantly raise the bar on computer security,” Policastro said. “I believe the Conficker Worm is a harbinger of something worse to come.”
And the experts agree.
CNN reported that Paul Henry, a forensics and security analyst for Lumension Security in Phoenix, Arizona, said the Conficker Worm is still a threat.

“By no means do I think we are in the clear,” Henry said in the CNN report.

The New York Times ran a report by Reuters that security researchers believe the worm’s commanders are probably waiting until they are under less scrutiny to launch an attack.

“I never thought it would happen April 1,” said Roger Thompson in the Reuters report. Thompson is the chief research officer at AVG, an anti-virus company. “It might be tomorrow. It might be next week. It might be next month,” he said according to the Reuters report in The New York Times.

And on April 8, The Wall Street Journal reported, "Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials."

"This is exactly the scenario I developed in my book about the dangers of weak security and now it has come true," Policastro said.

The plot in DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM involves an Internet worm that cannot be defeated by conventional security methods and which takes control of the US power grid and cell phone network using botnets.

The digital terrorists give the government an ultimatum - bomb the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan with nuclear weapons to put an end to Al-Quada or they will start downing commercial airliners. Only security expert Dan Riker can stop them, but they have kidnapped Dan's family. Will Dan save his family or will millions die?
The eBook version of DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM is available on Amazon’s Kindle or from Smashwords.com. The paperback version will be released by the end of April.
Link to the Publication: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/625

Additional information about the author’s other work can be obtained from the author’s media site at http://home.earthlink.net/~tonjoann/Media%20Kit.htm

Sources for this press release
CNN - http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/01/tech.viruses/index.html
The New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/04/01/technology/tech-us-security-virus.html?_r=1&hpw
The Wall Street Journal - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123914805204099085.html#articleTabs%3Darticle


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ANTHONY S. POLICASTRO has worked in wireless industry at Ericsson and Sony Ericsson and currently serves as a consultant testing their latest mobile phones and accessories. He also worked for AT&T and IBM, and he was a former journalist and professional photographer.

The publication of his first novel, Absence of Faith, is the pinnacle of his work having previously published articles in The New York Times, American Photographer and other national, regional, and local publications.

Policastro was the former editor-in-chief of Carolina Style magazine, a regional lifestyle publication similar to Southern Living magazine. He was a former journalist, photographer, and web master.
The author’s background is in technology, business intelligence, and communications.

He has two BA degrees - one in Creative Writing, and another in American Studies from Penn State University, both of which have greatly enhanced his writing career.

A member of the Backspace writers group, a large, diverse community of writers, authors, literary agents and book professionals.

His short essay on “What does it mean to be an American family” won in the Borders Books Gather.com contest to promote the movie and book, Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.

He currently writes a blog with Michael Neff, creator and editor of the Webdelsol and Algonkian websites, about writers’ issues called The Writer’s Edge. Policastro and Neff have been referred to as the Ebert and Roeper of the literary scene with their point/counterpoint posts.

Born in New Jersey, he now lives in North Carolina with his wife. He has two sons and a daughter.

Author’s Web Presence:

Website: http://home.earthlink.net/~tonjoann/novelist.htm
Personal Blog: http://aspnovelist.blogspot.com
The Writer’s Edge blog: http://writersedgeinfo.blogspot.com
The Dog is Chasing Ghosts blog: http://ghost-chasing.blogspot.com
Twitter: aspolicastro


MEDIA CONTACT:

Anthony S. Policastro
919 961-0198
aspolicastro@earthlink.net

# # #

Anthony S. Policastro is the author of two novels, and a freelance writer with articles in The New York Times, American Photographer, and other national, regional and local publications. His background is in technology and business intelligence.