So they had all these computers in the Usama mansion but no network?

[undeterred]

My computer was down a couple of days so maybe I've missed part of the story but I'm wondering how they could send information back and forth if they weren't connecting to the internet? Thumb drives and other media by courier?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Thumb drives and other media by courier. Exactly.

[femmocrat]

9. What is a thumb drive?

Probably a stupid question.

[Ohio Joe]

10. Also called a USB drive

or a flash drive. A small device that plugs into a USB port on a computer and can be accessed like any drive.

[femmocrat]

12. Thank you... that is what I always called them.

Something about the term "thumb drive" makes me uncomfortable! Especially in this context.

[doublethink]

11. Flash drive ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive

[femmocrat]

13. Thank you.

I just never heard them called "thumb" drives before this past week.

[RC]

16. Computer illiterates call them thumb drives.

The more common name for those of us that use them are flash drives. Most people recognize what that is. Thumb drives, not so much.

[undeterred]

18. Thanks.

:hi:

Hopefully it won't be on my CCNA exam.

[octothorpe]

19. When's your exam?

Good luck. Taking the two test or one test route?
Be sure know how to configure NAT/PAT for sure.

Oh yeah, yaaar Osama Bin Laden yaar yaar yarr. Yaaaaaaaaaa! (Had to stay on topic)

[undeterred]

21. 2 weeks

subnetting all day today

[octothorpe]

22. Do you have routers and switches to play with?

Have you checked out dynamips or even GNS3 (nice front end to it)? If not, do a search for it on google. :D

[undeterred]

46. Thanks for the suggestions- I will look those up.

I have a router simulator and a lot of study tools and practice exams. Am taking the 2 test approach although I expect to do both in the same week. There is just SO MUCH on these exams.

[demwing]

23. Illiterates?

nice...

[RC]

28. I worked for 15 years helping people with their computer problems..

Most are nice and appreciative, some not so nice.

BTY, I stand by what I said. Calling them Thumb drives is like putting periods in phone numbers 123.555.5555 In reality it shows ignorance.
They used periods because IP addresses us periods and they think it makes people think they know what they are doing if they use periods too. Not really so.

It can cause confusion. Use dashes 123-555-5555, then you don have to stop and figure out what they are trying to say.
The proper way is (123) 555-555, but nobody does it any more. There are still reasons for protocols.

[WhollyHeretic]

43. That comparison makes no sense. Thumb drive is just a term some people use.

I work in IT and sometimes call them thumb drives. My boss has worked in IT for over 30 years and sometimes calls them thumb drives. Making ridiculous statements like you did shows ignorance.

[demwing]

45. 15 years? That's very nice

How long have you been trying to make people feel inferior by calling them illiterate and ignorant?

[Duer 157099]

47. Actually I think using periods (or dots) in phone numbers is less confusing

Parenthesis and hyphens can sometimes make the adjacent numbers difficult to read, espcially when it is written by a sloppy hand. Using dots really removes the ambiguity, imho.

And structurally, phone numbers and IP addresses are so similar as to warrant the same dividing digit.

[mcollins]

56. Not in Europe. nt

[Crabby Appleton]

24. Like these computer illiterates at PC World in an '05 article

http://www.pcworld.com/article/123793/23_things_to_do_with_a_thumb_drive.html


or these computer illiterate sources:

site:www.pcworld.com "thumb drive"

site:www.pcmag.com "thumb drive"

site:www.networkworld.com "thumb drive"

site:www.infoworld.com "thumb drive"

site:www.computerworld.com "thumb drive"

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. Flash drive or USB drive.

I'm not sure, but I think they are sometimes called thumb drives because they are about the size of a thumb. I've always called them flash drives, same thing.

[Crabby Appleton]

37. They are sometimes refereed to as thumb drives because

the first company to make them (Trek Technologies in 2000) marketed them under that name.

http://thumbdrive.com/cart/index.php

[WhollyHeretic]

44. That company was obviously just ignorant

:sarcasm:

[wizstars]

29. you know---a geekstick..

:D

[pokerfan]

32. picture helps

[Pab Sungenis]

2. Smart.

This decentralized their traffic, and prevented tracing the traffic back to one IP or block of IP's.

You have to admire the thought that went into their organization.

[undeterred]

6. I'm just thinking how frustrating it would be

for those of us who are used to using the internet. I had a computer problem for a couple days last week and it made me crazy.

But yeah, as a security issue, they did it right.

[backscatter712]

15. They were so paranoid that they kept the batteries out of their cell phones.

Bin Laden's couriers would only make calls after they traveled 90 minutes away from the Bin Laden compound, and when they weren't making calls, they removed the batteries from their phones.

They were not stupid.

[karnac]

3. It's called a SNEAKERnet

In the old days one used large reels of magnetic tape to transfer data around on foot.

The concept is still used to transfer data/in out of classified computers which should NEVER be attached to the internet.

[Edweird]

4. 'Sneaker net'.

[lamp_shade]

5. Who's "Usama"?

[undeterred]

7. He is less easily confused with Obama than Osama is.

[chrisa]

39. I've seen it spelled that way before.

[Hutzpa]

40. On Fox News that is

they spell his name like that or should I say republicans spell his name that way.

[tammywammy]

55. And you know, the FBI and the rest of the government referred to him as Usama

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten


:eyes:

[JohnnyRingo]

8. I wonder how many times a courier had to hand deliver an email....

of an LOL Kitty or a funny captioned GW Buxh picture. I can see the weary and road worn courier standing behind Osama as he howled at "I can haz cheezburger" and hoping he doesn't want to forward to all.

[lpbk2713]

14. OBL may have had a fortune waiting for him in Nigeria

But he was stuck in his hidey hole and couldn't get away.


:rofl:

[L. Coyote]

49. I already received an e-mail about that ...

My mother, one of the wives of a dead terrorist, need your help extracting 40 million dollars from a bank in Nigeria, so p[lease send all your bank codes and passwords AASAP. We'll send you 4 million later.

[undeterred]

50. Too bad they were all sewn into his clothing...

and buried at sea.

[undeterred]

17. I'm sure he wanted to see the DU Lounge posts at least once a week.

Not to mention the September 11 forum...

[Lucinda]

30. :)

I sooo got the visual image of that! :rofl:

[octothorpe]

20. MuleNet...

Ever try to teach a mule to subnet? It's a mess.
It was even worse before PETA got them switch from distant vector to link-state protocols. Apparently they had some issues with the whole poison reverse thing.

[undeterred]

35. ...

:rofl:

[HopeHoops]

25. I didn't see anywhere that they didn't have them networked - just no Internet connection.

Yeah, that would suck, but still.

[undeterred]

34. Well, probably no wireless that you could see from

the neighborhood. So a bunch of ethernet cables and a hub?

[HopeHoops]

52. Nothing wrong with that - I did that for many years before going wireless.

But I still keep the machines that are in close proximity hardwired to the hub.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. delete

[Akoto]

31. He was apparently very wary of being tracked electronically.

I believe I heard/read that he insisted on no internet, no cellphones, no wireless devices in his presence. Nothing that could be tracked. This means he was quite disconnected in his fort, of course, which is why he used couriers.

Sort of ironic that resorting to more primitive means enabled us to capture him.

[riderinthestorm]

33. I've got a Verizon wi fi unit. Could he have been connected with something like that? nt

[Swede]

36. Maybe he was stealing his neighbours wifi?

:shrug:

[undeterred]

41. If the other home's network was close enough and unsecured

and if Usama had a wireless card on his computer- it might go unnoticed if he did it occasionally. But it seems like they were being extremely careful, and most people secure their networks when they set them up. So it doesn't seem like he was doing that.

[undeterred]

42. dupe

[chrisa]

38. They likely stored data and battle plans on them, intelligence, etc.

You can easily use a computer and not the internet.

[Duer 157099]

48. Those couriers must have hated Sunday LOL Cats days n/t

[applegrove]

51. They said in the initial reports that one thing that intrigued the CIA was that

the million dollar mansion had no telephone or internet even though all of their neighbours did.

[undeterred]

54. Some of us have parents whose homes would have stood out.

Well, except for the phone.

[Shagbark Hickory]

53. Bluetooth could work pretty well too. Someone from just outside the compound could

send and receive files to someone inside the compound.