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Bank E-Communications Aid During London Bombings 140

Posted by Zonk from the backups-that-work dept.
davidwr writes "Reuters and eWeek report on how the British Banks' emergency chatroom and web site helped them cope with Thursday's terrorist bombing." From the article: "The Bank of England, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority switched on a secure section of their Financial Sector Continuity Web site to talk to major banks in the City of London's financial hub about how they were coping. A Bank of England spokeswoman said this was the first time the secure site had been used in an actual crisis situation since its creation in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York."
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Bank E-Communications Aid During London Bombings More

Bank E-Communications Aid During London Bombings

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  • Who said chatrooms are overrated? :-)

    • Re:chat room overrated? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by lukewarmfusion ( 726141 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @11:51PM (#13018860) Homepage Journal
      This makes me quite happy, actually. Shortly after 9/11, I did a web project for a healthcare system in a nearby city. The site was designed to provide emergency information for 1) doctors 2) staff and 3) press, as well as send email and SMS alerts. While it's unlikely that they would be the target of a terrorist attack, there have been situations where domestic crisis arose and with the chaos of the emergency, getting ahold of staff, and the flood of cameras, newsvans, and reporters it can be awfully difficult to communicate.

      They ran a simulated emergency shortly after the site was built and their protocols were put in place. Fifty 'victims' showed up with fake injuries and had to be processed.

      All of this boils down to one easy proverb: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

  • Obligatory Blame America Thread (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This will be the place to post the usual how America is really to blame for the London attacks, and that whatever wrongs the USA has committed somehow justifies or excuses the deliberate murder of innocent civilians.

    I know that's how this discussion will go, so might as well start it here.

  • Ugh (Score:5, Funny)

    by Quasar1999 ( 520073 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:04PM (#13017179) Journal
    Really now... a 'secure' network for banks to talk to each other in? WTF are they using during normal, non-emergancy times? No wonder all these damned credit card/identity thefts take place... these idiots are broadcasting their info on unsecured networks?
    • Let's see, how can I put this? No.
    • doesnt this kind of prove the original web point- wasn't DARPA net designed for communication after nuclear war?
      I think I read that 90 some odd percent of identity theft still occurs the old fashioned way- stolen mail... trash etc.
      But we geeks can be the communication network if anything goes down... think about it, an army of geniuses in bunkers (well parents basements) with stocks of food stuffs (cheetos and mountain dew in little dorm size fridges...)
    • You gotta wonder about the names they use to describe things like this. I saw an "Emergency Ambulance" the other day. Yes, it's for emergencies, but as opposed to WHAT?

  • Transcript. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:05PM (#13017187)
    [Wanker] Whot's happening over there.
    [Boss] OMG we are teh fux0r3d!!
    [Wanker] Yea but, whot's happening.
    [Boss] The effing bus just blew up in front of me!
    [Wanker] I see. Wh0t about bank business? Wh0t's happening?
    [Boss] Fuck the bank! The bus blew up right in fron of me.
    [Boss] OM Gawd!!! We are totally boned!!!
    {Wanker] What ever. TTFN
    [Boss] OMG! OMG!
    [customer] Morning, I'd like to make a withdrawal, please.
    [Wanker] Sorry, it's my tea break. Ask him.
    [customer] Scuse me old chap, I'd like to make a withdrawal.
    [Boss] OMG! The bus blew up. You can't make a withdrawal. Can't you see the bus blew up?
    [customer] Yes but, the bank seems fine.
    [Boss] Sod off you twat!!! The bus blew up. We're fux0r3d! OMG! OMG!

    • Re:Transcript. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Hogwash McFly ( 678207 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:32PM (#13017388)
      [Bank_P42] What happen?
      [Bank_J67] Somebody set up us the bomb
      [Bank_T113] We get signal
      [Bank_P42] What!
      [Bank_T113] Main screen turn on.
      *** Al_Qaeda has joined #secretbankchat
      [Bank_P42] It's you!
      [Al_Qaeda] How are you gentlemen !!
      [Al_Qaeda] All your public transport are belong to us.
      [Al_Qaeda] You are on the way to destruction.
      [Al_Qaeda] What you say !!
      [Al_Qaeda] You have no chance to survive make your time.
      [Al_Qaeda] Ha Ha Ha Ha ....
      [Bank_T113] Captain !!*
      [Bank_P42] Take off every 'Financial Transaction'!!
      [Bank_P42] You know what you doing.
      [Bank_P42] Move 'Financial Transaction'.
      [Bank_P42] For great justice.

    • Re:Transcript. (Score:5, Funny)

      by nmb3000 ( 741169 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:36PM (#13017414) Journal
      [...]

      [Wanker] Ah, screw it. Any birds 'ere wanna cyber?
      [Boss] Yea, alright.
      [customer] Me too.
      [Boss] Baby, I been havin a tough night so treat me nice aight?
      [customer] Aight.
      [Wanker] Slip out of those pants baby, yeah.
      [Boss] I slip out of my pants, just for you.
      [Wanker] Oh yeah, aight. Aight, I put on my robe and wizard hat...

      Ref [albinoblacksheep.com]

    • Re:Transcript. (Score:4, Funny)

      by Tackhead ( 54550 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:36PM (#13017415)
      > [Wanker] Whot's happening over there.

      [Boss] Blimey, somebody up and set us the bloody bomb!
      [Admin] New users logging onto secure network.
      [Boss] WTF?
      [Admin] Turn on the fookin' telly!
      [Boss] It's you!
      [m4d4r4b] HOW ARE YOU, GENTLEMEN? ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US! YOU ARE ON THE WAY TO DESTRUCTION. YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO SURVIVE MAKE YOUR TIME.
      [m4d4r4b] HA HA HA!
      [Admin] Sir?
      [Boss] Tally-ho, old chap! We're ready for this, clear the damn runway and get those Spitfires in the air! God Save the Queen!

    • This is not funny, this is retarded.
  • BritishBanks.bash.org

  • Secret chatroom... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by thrill12 ( 711899 ) * on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:09PM (#13017222) Journal
    ...well, it ain't that "secret" anymore now is it ?

    In all honesty, I think the real power of such a channel only comes to light in a contingency that directly hits regular communication lines like telephone etc. In that case, an extra "hidden" link could actually have value.
    Now, it was primarily a human tragedy where communication was not directly at risk.
    Maybe they should have kept it a secret a while longer.

    • Re:Secret chatroom... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by John Seminal ( 698722 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:36PM (#13017411) Journal
      In all honesty, I think the real power of such a channel only comes to light in a contingency that directly hits regular communication lines like telephone etc. In that case, an extra "hidden" link could actually have value.

      The police shut down all phones and cell phones. The early news reports were questioning if cell phones were used to detonate the bombs.

      Plus, if you have a group of terrorists, and they all have pre-paid cell phones, it is a good way to coordinate.

      On the other side, it must suck if you are hurt and need help, and your cell phone does not work. No, not at the site of the bombing because the police will be there, but if you are somewhere else, and have a heart attack or get hit by a car.

      Maybe they should have kept it a secret a while longer.

      There are no secrets. If you want to know what a country has or might do, just get together 10 of your super bright friends and spend 2 years thinking about what systems a country might have. I bet you would figure most of it out. Before you label that idea stupid, ask yourself 2 questions. What does the CIA do? Hire 1000 smart people who read newspapers, listen to gossip, look at satellite images, and they think and try and figure things out. #2, I bet Al Queda has been spending many years thinking these exact same questions.

      All you need to know is that everything created by the other side was done by human minds. Chances are they are using logic. So if you think about it long enough, you can figure it out.

      • Re:Secret chatroom... (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Dwonis ( 52652 ) *
        On the other side, it must suck if you are hurt and need help, and your cell phone does not work. No, not at the site of the bombing because the police will be there, but if you are somewhere else, and have a heart attack or get hit by a car.

        With GSM, emergency calls are treated specially (for example, you don't need a SIM to make emergency calls. well, at least not in Canada/USA), so it's possible that emergency calls still worked, while regular calls were blocked.

        • Re:Secret chatroom... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by Durrik ( 80651 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @09:25PM (#13018300) Homepage
          Not only GSM but all cellphones I know will work on the emergency numbers. Both the phones and the infrastructure are set up to throw out all rules when the user keys in 911 (or 119 depending on where you are).

          For instance a phone that shows no service because, the provider in the area rejects the phone for whatever reason, will throw away its perferred roaming list and latch onto the first compatible signal it finds and makes the call.

          By law (in most places) the provider must route the call through even though they might not get the customer to pay for it.

          Usually when a call is made the network sends requests to the billing center to make sure the call is allowed, during an emergency call this process is bypassed. And often if the base station doesn't have the capacity for the new call, and can't kick it off to another channel, will drop a current call to allow the emergency call through. Of course in an emergency like the bombing, ALL calls are probably emergency calls, and you'll have capacity problems.

          When the police shut down the networks in the UK, they probably just got the providers to move the network into an emergency calls only state. That's not really a problem because if cell phones were used to trigger off the bombs they wouldn't be able to receive a call in this mode.
      • While I agree that the CIA can figure out most of what a country might do, I think it is better to say that the CIA can figure out what things might happen but can only give probabilies of what will happen. When you put it that way, you realize the difficulty of accurately predicting an individual terrorist's behavior. Um... I guess like psychohistory ala Asimov.

      • The police shut down all phones and cell phones.

        No they didn't. The problems with the network were caused by congestion. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4659737.stm [bbc.co.uk]

    • Why?

      I mean if it -is- really secure. During the WTC attacks, IRC channels [cnn.com's irc feed comes to mind] did exceptionally well, when cell towers and conventional communications mediums were fubar'd. During that sort of thing, a 1 to many communications protocol is what's really needed anyways.
    • Ah common folks it was just a few bombs.

      Like we've never had any before DOH

    • "Secret chatroom...well, it ain't that "secret" anymore now is it ?"

      Of course it is. And that "Secret Organization Group of al Qaeda of Jihad in Europe" that are supposed to have put up a web page claiming responsibility for the explosions in London? Yep, still secret.

  • I wonder how secure it is...what with all this stuff about protected areas of websites being found, anyone wanna take a crack at it? ;)
    • What...you've not seen the hidden servers.ini entry in mIRC for irc.gov.uk?

      It's great fun. You should see the op wars in #commons.

      MikeyHoward: "L" is for Labour. "L" is for Lice.
      * MikeyHoward makes TonyB -o
      TonyB: Get over it, Tory boys!
      * ChanServ makes TonyB +o
      -ChanServ- TonyB used Op in #commons
      * BettyBoothroid (services@irc.gov.uk) has joined #commons
      * BettyBoothroid sets mode +b *!*@*
      * BettyBoothroid kicks MikeyHoward from #commons (MKICK from QueenLiz)
      * BettyBoothroid kicks TonyB from #commons (MKICK

    • Re:Security (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Well, you can give it a try. The standard technology used to secure these sites is 128-bit certificates, maybe with a backup system such as biometrics or Secure ID tags. Plus, all traffic in and out is monitored and recorded 24x7 (it's a regulatory requirement), so a bunch of IPs knocking on the door would get noticed in seconds flat.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Come on people... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by sveiki_neliels ( 870930 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:13PM (#13017251) Homepage
    Did you not hear all about phone systems and long-distance phone networks getting clogged with calls? If it's anything like here in Canada, when phone systems are backed up, priority can only be obtained for connections by emergency services. On a dedicated network, using a web-based chatline is a simple (and simple is beautiful) way for the banks to conference call with the treasury and whatnot without worrying about phone problems. The whole point is that the banks are legitimately worried about becoming targets, this makes sense.

    • Re:Come on people... (Score:3, Informative)

      by Tim C ( 15259 )
      Did you not hear all about phone systems and long-distance phone networks getting clogged with calls?

      Some of us didn't just hear about it, we were trying to use the network at the time. I live on the outskirts of London and work in the centre, and was walking across London (due to the public transport shutdown) at the time. The first I knew of any bombs was when I got an sms from my parents asking if I was ok.

      It took a frustrating couple of minutes to get through to them, and then to my girlfriend, who

  • Excerpt from a transcript (Score:5, Funny)

    by iamdrscience ( 541136 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:14PM (#13017259) Homepage
    bankofE89: wtf? something blew up
    treasury49: yep i know treasury49: r u ok?
    bankofE89: ya
    bankofE89: it wasnt nearby
    treasury49: ok
    bankofE89: a/s/l?

  • Loop of insanity (Score:2, Insightful)

    by shanen ( 462549 )
    Okay, it's not directly on the banking network, but this is the background of the situation as it exists now. We have an increasingly complicated and fragile infrastructure, and it's all bandaids.

    Basically, based on 9/11, BushCo has demanded and received great power. They claimed they needed these new powers to fight "the terrorists". Instead, they mostly ignored the terrorists and applied the military parts of the power to Iraq, and applied the political power to increasing their control of America.

    Th

    • Just realized the mistake on the title, but nothing can be done there...
    • Sadly, this is far too insightful. +1 insightful, -5 depressing.

      Even sadder still, there are many @#$%ing idiots who actually believe that going to Iraq is flushing out the existing terrorists and not creating new ones!
      • "Even sadder still, there are many @#$%ing idiots who actually believe that going to Iraq is flushing out the existing terrorists and not creating new ones!"

        Shouldn't that be "...many @#$%ing idiots running our government who actually believe that going to Iraq is flushing out the existing terrorists and not creating new ones!"?

    • The United States is having its problems. The new "power" president Bush has obtained boils down (at least domestically) to little more than a fiscal stranglehold on the country, a limitation on citizen's rights, and xenophobic-type immigration and travel policies for foreigners.

      Political moves like this are inherently unstable, especially in a country like the United States. Bush's government is fiscally irresponsible. However, the true power in the country (the corporations) will lose faith in a Republic

    • Excuse me, but the robust banking network is *NOT* important.

      But it helps minimize the chaos in our lives resulting from terrorism. Not to say that the 50+ dead and 700+ wounded are insignificant, but if you put it in perspective, more people will die in auto accidents or from cancer in between now and the next terror attack. By having a stable infrastructure, you help minimize the lasting fear, because people see that things will be ok. That's why it's called terrorism. The threat to you individuall

      • Re:Loop of insanity (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Neoprofin ( 871029 )
        They could launch dozens of terrorists attacks, but what would it accomplish?

        For one terrorist attack the U.S. has occupied two countries, spent billions on revamps and reorganization, detained thousands. If their were terrorist assaults ever weekend how long do you think it would take before every street corner had an armed guard and the middle east was a smouldering nuclear wasteland?

        Would that solve the problem? Probably not. One would almost hope that as another poster spoke, that the terrorist wo
      • A robust banking network is *Very* important.

        If the banking system suffers as a result of what is a comparatively minor disruption (transport out of action for a day) then the effects are multuplied.. businesses go bankcrupt, people lose their jobs, etc.

        As it is, today London is back on its feet and is carrying on as if nothing happened. This is as it should be... any other reaction would be to let the terrorists win (they must be *really* pissed off that we couldn't give a crap about them...).

  • Good for them (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ottffssent ( 18387 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:28PM (#13017357)
    "In the wake of 9/11..." is all too often used to start a paragraph which boils down to "...government spent a ton of money doing absolutely nothing for security while simultaneously doing far more harm to a free and democratic way of life than the terrorists ever could."

    I'm pleased to see that at least in one case, someone actually gets it. You can't stop the terrorists. Random bad stuff happens in life, and the best thing for it is to be as prepared as you can. Communications is the single best way to spend money in preparation for insert-bad-stuff-here. Be it terrorism, natural disaster, industrial accident, or what have you, better communications saves lives. As has been said many times by everyone whose job doesn't involve spending billions of dollars, more money should not be spent on trying to prevent disasters, it should be spent on ways to clean up after them. Billions in airport screening is a complete waste of money because it just forces someone to bomb a mall or movie theater instead - billions in police training, EMT and EMS training, hospitals and clinics, etc. is money that will reap rewards no matter what happens next.
    • I'm pleased to see that at least in one case, someone actually gets it. You can't stop the terrorists.

      You can stop terrorists. Don't give them a good enough reason to attack you. It takes time and money to fight, and lots of people need to be highly motivated. If someone does not hate you, then why would they take all their energy and direct it at trying to kill and terrorize you?

      more money should not be spent on trying to prevent disasters, it should be spent on ways to clean up after them.

      I don't

    • You can stop the terrorists, but it seems no-one wants to do that. But that's another story.

  • Things seemed to work ok (Score:4, Interesting)

    by t_allardyce ( 48447 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:31PM (#13017375) Journal
    I was pretty impressed that my net connection was running perfectly the whole time and various news sites seemed to be coping. I was talking on Skype no problem, but the land and mobile phones were taking a few tries to get through. Even so there were plenty of pictures from camera phones getting on the net.
    • I was pretty impressed that my net connection was running perfectly the whole time and various news sites seemed to be coping.

      That's probably because the internet was designed as the military's version of a secure communications network for emergencies. The reason it's called "the web" is because when you look at a map of the redundant links it looks like a spider web. I wouldn't be surpised if incidents like this will encourage more use of VoIP since it can take advantage of these attributes of the in
      • The web might have redundancies, but most ISPs don't have the capacity to handle all their customers at once, and most websites will get slashdotted in minutes.
        • Yeah, like the beeb site. In spite of going in lo-bw mode it was completely /. for hours. p2p is the legitimate kin of the original "web" concept. These 40-50 yo execs grown up on broadcast trying to force this perspective onto the web are severely damaging it. Hey, some time ago there was a picture of the internet's webbyness: An onion like ball with just a few (some 10s) fat routers in the middle... bad... bad... I remember when 9/11 struck out whole academic network crawled to halt (apparently, the core
    • I don't see the relevance here. The terrorists, whoever they are, attacked mass transit. Most people are not using their 'net' connection during their commute. Most people on the street are going to attempt to use a cell phone or payphone to call, not VOIP.
      • Most of the people I know in London start work at 9am at the latest, so were either at work or walking between public transport and where they work. Using email was quicker and more reliable.

        Of course if it had all happened an hour earlier it would have been a much different situation.

  • I like this one better. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by master_meio ( 834537 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:31PM (#13017379)
    Submitter picked a sparse article with little substance, and now it's slashdotted. This one actually has content.

    from http://eweek.com/ [eweek.com]

    header: Infrastructure

    Internet Chatroom Helps Keep City of London Open By Jane Merriman, Reuters and Alistair MacDonald, Reuters

    July 8, 2005

    Be the first to comment on this article

    LONDON, July 8 (Reuters)--A secret Internet chatroom run by Britain's financial regulators helped keep London's financial markets open after Thursday's bomb blasts, while financial firms activated security measures in case of further attacks. ADVERTISEMENT

    The Bank of England, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority switched on a secure section of their Financial Sector Continuity Web site to talk to major banks in the City of London's financial hub about how they were coping.

    A Bank of England spokeswoman said this was the first time the secure site had been used in an actual crisis situation since its creation in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

    "In the light of yesterday's events, the tripartite authorities (Treasury, Bank of England and FSA) have activated the contingency part of the Web site," they said on Friday.

    The Web site has a secure section in which the authorities can communicate directly with big banks that are key to the stability of the international financial system.

    The City of London's financial markets, where currencies, stocks, bonds and commodities worth trillions of dollars are traded daily, kept going despite disruption from Thursday's bombings on a London bus and underground trains, which killed more than 50 people and injured hundreds.

    "Contingency planning by banks has increased considerably in last three years, post Sept. 11, and what yesterday shows is that the planning has worked," said David Key, crises management practice leader at Control Risks Group, which advises many banks on crisis and security management.

    PLANS IN PLACE

    Swiss financial services group UBS, for example, briefly evacuated its building on Liverpool Street, which houses bond and currency desks, but contingency plans ensured trading was not affected.

    Japanese bank Nomura did not have to evacuate staff to any of its three disaster recovery sites in London, but a well-rehearsed plan was put into effect, coordinated by an emergency response team, which held meetings every hour.

    Nomura security staff were alerted to the bombs by text, pager and e-mail messages sent by London's police service. A complete roll call of staff was taken, and a helpline for family and friends set up. On Friday, the bank was operating with about half its usual staff, with people being told they need not come in if they did not feel comfortable doing so.

    The Corporation of London, the body that runs the City, and City of London police also have an Internet communication system that was used on Thursday to pass on advice to banks and other firms in the "Square Mile", the European hub for some of the world's biggest financial services firms.

    Banks have long had plans for such attacks and routinely monitor code levels put out by intelligence services and the police. Chairmen of several big banks, for example, plus their security chiefs, had a briefing with intelligence services about four months ago, one bank source familiar with the matter said.

    "Banks' internal security teams have got better and more sophisticated as they have invested in best practise," Key said.

    "There has also been a move away from the traditional focus on security towards risk management, or understanding the threat and developing resilience," he said.

    CONTINGENCY

    The City of London is no stranger to bomb attacks.

    In 1992 many firms suffered devastation from a huge car bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army outside the Baltic Exchange in the heart of the area. A year later, an

  • Resilience (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:41PM (#13017445)
    "You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war."
    - Napoleon Bonaparte

    I was working at a online gaming company that was acquired by Cantor Fitzgerald the Summer before the 9/11 attacks. It was a big learning experience to witness (from afar) the very personal devastation as well as the tireless recovery in the aftermath.

    Although CF's ability to recover from the attack was made possible by the sheer willpower of the surviving team members in NYC and other offices around the world, equally crucial was a backup computing facility that was completed during the Summer of 2001. A factor which also helped was the greater community of financial institutions that were helping our parent company in so many different ways.

    From this article, and other articles I've read, it is clear that there is a lot more resilience in the systems that keep our society going. We all learned the hard way, and we keep on learning. Even something as simple as a secure bulletin board can make a huge difference, saving lives, and speeding up the recovery.

    Unless attacks reach new levels of devastation, our organizational preparedness, "process routing" capability, and improved security measures will continue to reduce the ability for terrorism to disrupt the ongoing process of globalization.

    - JP
  • Someone on-air (as in local official) in London said (real-time) they were considering flipping the switch and killing all civilian cell activity.

    Don't shoot the messenger - I can't attest to the veracity of that.

    What I've found interesting is all of the information they've discussed which has been captured on all of the public cameras. From what they said today during the various press conferences, any repairs they make will include "that many more" cameras to watch for anyone trying to do this again.
    • The UK police now have special sim cards to enable them to continue talking even if civilian mobile networks are switched off.

      The Madrid bombs were triggered remotely by mobile phones. I think this system is a direct reaction to that threat (and it makes good sense IMHO).

      In this case the decision seems to have been taken not ot use the capability (or to use it in a limited way). You can't get a signal on most London underground lines - so that ruled out the possibility that these bombs were triggered by m
      • they don't knock the civilian networks off (the police have civilian phones) they make the cells in the effected area stop accepting calls from phones not set up with the ACCOLC [wikipedia.org] system. The idea being that the police, fire birgade, paramedics, doctors etc have these phones, so that the system will let them through.
      • It's not about special sim cards, it's special numbers.

        You can switch the mobile number into 'emergency calls only' which means basically everyone not on the approved list gets kicked off.

        This effectively happened anyway.. the network hit capacity, so the only thing that could get through was emergency numbers (since they have priority always and can supercede existing non-emergency calls when congestion is a problem).
    • Well, as long as we have many many less gun deaths per capita as the US, I think we're doing something right :)

      The cameras are IN PUBLIC, not IN PRIVATE, so there is no loss of public. You can't walk down the street screaming at people to not look at you. That's not what "public" means. :)

  • please stop (Score:4, Insightful)

    by koogydelbbog ( 451219 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @06:59PM (#13017559)
    can we drop the funny comments (and, for that matter, anything about people worrying about money). people died. it was only yesterday.

    thanks.

    andy
    london
    • Sorry.... Um...Nope. Not the teensiest particle of respect or solemnity. We will be the same asshats 5 minutes after the bombings that we were 5 minutes before. Otherwise the terrorists win.

    • Re:please stop (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      David Ickes view http://www.davidicke.com/icke/headlines.php [davidicke.com]. Includes yet more 9/11 numbers? from the above web site:

      "I hear on the BBC that the first Bomb went off in London at 11 mins to 9. Familiar numbers eh? I have just seen [police] Commissioner Ian Blair on TV with a picture of Big Ben behind him. He was being interviewed in the studio and not outside with [a live] Big Ben in the picture"

      "Guess what time it said on the clock face of Big Ben? Nine minutes past 11. Familiar numbers? Already there

    • Re:please stop (Score:3, Insightful)

      by krbvroc1 ( 725200 )
      For some laughter is the best medicine. For others humor is a coping mechanism. There was even humor after 9/11.
    • Sorry Andy,

      money is far more important than people in this world today.... :(

      Just look at the insurance industry:

      1) They reap far more money in premiums than they pay out to cover claims made against them. I have heard that most of the (prime?) real estate in the USA is owned in whole or part by insurance companies.

      2) Their unwilingness to cover any and all forms of 'nuclear devastation' -- it would surely bankrupt them (if not already utterly destroyed by said devastation). I have heard 'horror stori

  • FAST market called (Score:5, Interesting)

    by firestarter ( 35059 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @07:49PM (#13017853)
    The London Stock Exchange called a Fast market, in reaction to the initial high volatility and volume caused by the situation (possibly over this secure channel).

    As a result of the Fast Market call, banks are requested to turn off programmed trading systems. This removes the danger that computer trading triggers will be tripped and cause catastrophic selling - leading to a crash.

    Seems like everything was handled pretty well. The London equity market stabilised quickly, and actually returned to peaks of 2 weeks before within the same day. I'm sure that the reason behind this was a feeling that the attack - although bad - could have been a whole lot worse.
  • It seems that the chief value of such a system is that after a disaster, they can put out a press release letting people know they have it, so everything is under control, no need to panic.

    They might as well get a box, put some flashing lights on it, and broadcast a press release about their TerrorDetect advanced terrorist early warning system (tm). Stops terror in its tracks!

  • Doh! (Score:1)

    by mkop ( 714476 ) *
    You mean the people that have the money actualy talk to each other securely?

  • Excellent! (Score:3, Informative)

    by crovira ( 10242 ) on Friday July 08, 2005 @10:29PM (#13018555) Homepage
    That means that LIBOR (London Inter Bank Offering Rates) could still get through. This is essential for the world economy.

    In case you didn't know, that means that mortgage rates in the 'States could be set.

    In addition to the deals that banks can work out between themselves, the LIBOR rates, apart from eliciting comments on Rense.com about America being nothing more than a branch plant economy to our British overlords, are a fundamental component of the banking rates in the states. (Why do you think that London is so imporant? Its not the food or the beer [Smithwicks excepted]. :-)

    The rates for the mortgage on a shot-gun shack in "Scrote, Arkansas" are set in London.

    That is the beauty of market rates. But the "market" is in London.
  • There's a company in Wisconsin called Standard Networks (http://www.standardnetworks.com/ [standardnetworks.com]) that makes a neat little web-based message system that looks like email to end users, but really stores each message in an AES-encrypted file.

    Check it out here: http://www.standardnetworks.com/uploads/media/MOVE it-DMZ-Secure-Messaging.PDF/ [standardnetworks.com]

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