A suspected member of the Al Qaeda terrorist
network claimed that Islamic militants infiltrated Microsoft and
sabotaged the company's Windows XP operating system, according to a
source close to Indian police.
Mohammad Afroze Abdul Razzak, arrested by Mumbai (Bombay) police Oct.
2, has admitted to helping plot terrorist attacks in India, Britain
and Australia, India's Hindustan Times newspaper reported Saturday.
During interrogation, Afroze, 25, also claimed that a member or
members of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, posing as computer
programmers, were able to gain employment at Microsoft and attempted
to plant "trojans, trapdoors, and bugs in Windows XP," according to
Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad, a New Delhi information systems and
telecommunication consultant.
Prasad, moderator of an Internet mailing list on south Asia security
and information warfare, told Newsbytes that Afroze made the claims
in a police confession.
Officials in the Mumbai police commissioner's office were not
immediately available for comment.
Afroze has told Indian authorities that he was part of a team of Al
Qaeda terrorists that planned to hijack an aircraft in London on
Sept. 11 and crash it into the British House of Commons or into
London's Tower Bridge, according to the Hindustan Times, which
obtained parts of Afroze's confession.
British intelligence officials have dismissed the claims, according
to a report last week in the Guardian, a British newspaper.
A defense attorney hired by Afroze's father, a tailor by profession,
reportedly asked the court to allow Afroze to receive a psychiatric
examination but was rejected.
Afroze, who is scheduled to provide a formal confession before a
Mumbai court on Tuesday, told the magistrate Friday that he does not
wish legal representation and is mentally sound, according to the
Times of India.
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said Afroze's claims about the company
were "bizarre and unsubstantiated and should be treated skeptically."
According to Desler, Microsoft has rigorous processes in place during
the development of Windows to ensure the security and integrity of
source code.
Microsoft launched Windows XP in late October. While the company has
already issued security patches for the software, no evidence of
malicious code in the operating system has been reported.
Under interrogation, Afroze also warned Mumbai police that Al Qaeda
was planning an attack on India's parliament complex in New Delhi,
the Hindustan Times reported.
On Thursday, terrorists stormed the Indian Parliament with grenades
and guns, killing seven people and injuring at least 20. The five
attackers were killed in the ensuing battle with security forces,
according to The Washington Post.
Afroze also told investigators that the team planned a similar
attack on Rialto Towers, the tallest building in Australia,
according to Australia's Herald Sun newspaper.
Afroze, who hails from a poor section of Mumbai, reportedly received
training as a pilot in Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. No
information on his technical education was immediately available.
The Times of India reported last week that "official sources"
believe Afroze is "very close" to Al Qaeda but that authorities find
some of his claims inconsistent and "too theatrical to believe."
The Mumbai Police Cyber Crime Investigation Cell is at
http://www.ccicmumbai.com .
Prasad's South Asia Security and Info War list is archived at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/c4i .
Reported by Newsbytes, http://www.newsbytes.com .
14:08 CST
Reposted 17:20 CST
(20011217/WIRES TOP, ONLINE, LEGAL, PC, ASIA/WTCRESPONSE/PHOTO)
