'fight the net': pentagon unveils 'defensive' cyberwar strategy

from time: The Pentagon rolled out its new cyber-defense strategy Thursday, hyping it with the news that foreign hackers (from an unidentified country) invaded the computers of one of its (unidentified) contractors in March and pilfered 24,000 sensitive documents in one fell swoop. Cyber-security is a Pentagon growth area, make no mistake about. Lord knows, I've contributed to the deluge. But it's one of those arcane areas where progress is hard to measure. Is the threat as dire as sometimes portrayed? It's important to realize that the Pentagon doesn't store real secrets on networks linked to the Internet. Nonetheless, the press can't resist stories about offensive cyber warfare. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, who unveiled the new cyber strategy, told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington that "crucial" files -- not "secret" or "top secret" -- have been stolen in recent years. Much taken was of little value, he said: "But a great deal of it concerns our most sensitive systems, including aircraft avionics, surveillance technologies, satellite communications systems and network security protocols." Over breakfast Thursday, Marine General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said the Pentagon's current emphasis on cyber defense needs to change. It's currently 90% defensive and 10% offensive; he said those numbers need to be swapped. "This strategy talks more about how we are going to defend the networks," he said. "The next iteration will have to start to talk about here's a strategy that says to the attacker, ‘If you do this, the price to you is going to go up.'" Safe bet the price to us is going to go up, too.

related updates: former cia head keith alexander says we should 'build a new internet to improve cybersecurity'*
pentagon perception manager knows how to manipulate search engine algorithm*

6/23 defcon: strategies, taxes & trident tribunal

executive orders give pentagon new cyberwar guidelines*
officials 'expected to announce the entire strategy soon'*
ex-dhs chief warns of cyberwar with hackers*
cyber attacks grow more severe, frequent, say it practitioners*
bitcoin prices plummet on hacked exchange*
malware bitcoin theft a false flag on revolutionary currency?*
states look to internet taxes to close budget gaps*
righthaven loss: judge rules reposting entire article is fair use*
fbi seizes web servers, knocking sites offline*
$74m scareware ring raided in 'operation trident tribunal'*
winklevoss twins end appeal of facebook settlement*
google breaks billion-visitor barrier*
video: at new nyc hotel, a robot handles the luggage*

defense firms see opportunity in cyber attacks

from baltimore sun: A spate of high-profile online break-ins has given defense firms at the Paris Air Show a new sales pitch: cyber security. Targeted by hackers looking to steal source codes, R&D information and trade secrets, aerospace and defense firms are turning the tables on the pirates and are making security a key sales argument. "We see huge potential to do deals this week because interest in cyber security has soared given recent events," Paul MacGregor, general manager of Finmeccanica's UK security arm, Vega Consulting Services, told Reuters. He added that cyber security was now an "arms race," with defense firms battling to stay one step ahead of the hackers. "Information is now used as a weapon and companies need to defend it at all costs or they themselves could lose out on contracts if they are seen as having weak defenses," he said.

US preparing a 'world' for cyber war games

from inewp.com: With the help of several organizations including Lockheed Martin Corporation, the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency and nearly 500 million U.S. dollars, the United States government is currently constructing a virtual platform in which the government can simulate cyber wars and its own offensive capabilities in the cyber world without touching the actual Internet. The progress of the project, called the National Cyber Range, will be mainly overseen by the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the United States Department of Defense which had a hand in the creation of the Internet. True to its mission statement, DARPA intends to “prevent technological surprise to the U.S., but also to create technological surprise for its enemies” with the construction of the National Cyber Range. The Pentagon has put forth proposals to label cyber-attacks on the government to be acts of war. In recent years, cyber scares such as Stuxnet, Agent.Btz, Anonymous and the hack into the International Monetary Fund has prompted the Obama administration to reconsider policies regarding cyber space. A Cyber Pilot system is also being developed to classify and monitor cyber threats ranging from “destructive” to “government cyberwarfare”.

5/12 defcon: secret service, globalhell, expendables

cyberwarfare rules included in defense bill*
white house to unveil cyber security proposal*
US secret service takes to twitter*
after approving nbc buyout, fcc commish becomes comcast lobbyist;
fcc chairman applauds colleague departing to become fcc lobbyist*
obama meets with giffords, husband (and his identical astro-twin) in florida*
giffords aims to return for shuttle launch*
veteran of 90’s cyber gang 'globalhell' charged in swatting conspiracy*
find out if you're a target in biggest US bittorrent lawsuit ever*
comcast says they're not blocking pirate bay -
problem appears to be impacting several isp's*
broadband leads to drug abuse, say US boffins*
under look and key: pc iris scanner security device set to go on the market in months*

updates: google's blogger finally limps back into action after over 20+hrs of downtime (the media monarchy kingdom has recovered, but others are apparently not so lucky...)*
playstation network hack launched from amazon ec2*
dropbox lied to users about data security, complaint to ftc alleges*
netflix: metered broadband a pure cash grab -
company not pulling punches in per byte debate*
mo mercy for gary mckinnon: as obama prepares for uk visit, holder insists US will not bend on extradition*
vigilant guard '11: responders train for cyber attack on madison power grid*
video: california students jam out with musical robots*

1/20 defcon: firms, foes & ipo's

goldman sachs won't let americans buy facebook shares*
google's eric schmidt passes ceo reins to larry page*
apple's jobs takes another medical leave,
raising questions about firm's future*
ellsberg: with wikileaks, google & facebook must take a stand*
trapster.com warns 10m users of password theft*
q&a: threat of cyberwar is 'over-hyped'*
dancho danchev, bulgarian security researcher & cybercrime foe, goes missing*

internet routing structure most vulnerable

Cybersecurity expert Peter Sommer of the London School of Economics warns nations against following Pentagon's lead of developing a military division to defend against cyber threats in recent article at NewScientist website. "The military can only defend its own networks not the private-sector critical networks we all depend on for gas, water, electricity and banking, making such military efforts a waste of taxpayers' money." Sommer, co-author of a very readable new report, "Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk", advises governments should quit panicking and take a disciplined approach. It's, possibly, time to sit up and take notice when advice is coming from the author of "The Hacker's Handbook," first published in 1985.

The report casts doubt whether cyberwarfare will ever have global significance on a scale, of say, a pandemic or a bank run. Sommer feels it's more likely attacks on the internet's routing structure will cause pockets of misery at the local level. PricewaterhouseCoopers security manager Jay Abbott, also, believes the routing structure is vulnerable. "Short of physically cutting the wires, it's the best way to take down a country from the internet." It makes an interesting read to take in opinions of cybersecurity experts.

bank computer glitch really a hack?

Chris Groothoff, an IT professional, believes somebody hacked the National Australia Bank computer system, as reported at Canberra Times. ''We know that there are all sorts of requirements for special systems like banking systems that have very many precautions and safeguards built into those systems and the ability to recover from a failure within minutes, basically,'' he said. Grothoff is clearly annoyed. ''I think they are pulling the wool over our eyes by saying it's just a computer glitch.'' Is this cyberwarfare?

stuxnet damaged centrifuges at natanz?

A frontpagemag.com post by Rich Trzupek may provide the best description of havoc wreaked by computer worm. Stuxnet, introduced most likely by flash drive, hopped computers at Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz until it reached its target. The computer worm then went to work by targeting the programmable logic controller (PLC) that controls thousands of centrifuges at the facility.

The PLC fooled centrifuges into changing speeds, and at the same time, not reporting the change or triggering alarms. "Operators were surely puzzled, for their control panels told them everything was running normally, but centrifuge after centrifuge was being wrecked by the severe changes in rotation speed. The result, many experts believe, is that thousands of the centrifuges were damaged over the course of the year..." It's widely believed only a rich nation could provide the resources for a computer worm of Stuxnet's sophistication. Ralph Langner, a computer security expert,compares it to the "arrival of a F-35 into a WWI battlefield". The scary thought is: now that the code is public, where will it turn up next?