A lot of interesting things happening in cyber conflict this week. Early in the week nation state conflict in cyber space was the primary area of news coverage. It appears that government and media are very interested in the activities of certain entities. The primary focus appears to be the area of espionage. In my opinion espionage is an activity that leads to open conflict and does not stand the test for war. Espionage is low intensity conflict and persistent threat that occurs over time and is to be expected between nation states. Midweek there were some interesting stories being promoted as cyber warfare but they appear to be more about security of communications than really conflict oriented. Just because the entities involved are in conflict does not make every electronic communication cyber warfare. That is a slippery slope we should stay away from.
Another interesting midweek story suggested that the rapidly evolving scope of cyber warfare was in need of discussion. I would suggest this shows a complete lack of understanding within the domain of cyber conflict. Since the scope of the conflict capabilities are relatively unchanged between today and the 1970s, and in contrast the introduction of armor and the auto-firing small arms were integrated in months rather than decades. In other words the entire discussion smacks of pandering to the fears of the populace instead of being reasoned discourse. A new report was released by McCaffee and CSIS building upon previous work they had done. The Whitehouse is looking to release a new cyber strategy document. In the real world these documents will effect only a small part of the entirety of the cyber domain since they are focused on industry specifics or government networks. Once again we see cyber security being mixed with cyber warfare. Until we examine and stop doing that mixing the entirety of both domains will be negatively impacted.
April 17th
| INFORMATION WARFARE: The Mighty 1st Technical Reconnaissance Bureau Strategy Page April 17, 2011: Chinese Cyber War units have been plundering foreign government and military online data for over five years now. But thanks to Wikileaks, and several other sources, the identity and location of the main Chinese Cyber War operation is … See all stories on this topic » |
| REP. DANA ROHRABACHER HOLDS A HEARING ON CHINESE CYBER-ATTACKS Military & Aerospace Electronics In my testimony, I — one of my major points that I make is to highlight the cost of China’s cyber-warfare against this country. I’ve provided some figures in a — in a PowerPoint slide and to — that looks at at least open source estimates of annual … See all stories on this topic » |
| China’s Silent Cyber Takeover? The Diplomat (blog) Yet almost no one outside of the US national security community appears ready to offer a counter-strategy. Jeffrey Carr is an IT security analyst and the author of ‘Inside Cyber Warfare: Mapping the Cyber Underworld’ (O’Reilly Media, 2009). … See all stories on this topic » |
April 18th
| What a cyberwar with China might look like Computerworld That’s a hypothetical scenario of how a full-scale cyberwar launched against the US by China might play out, and it’s very different from conventional wisdom. The scenario is described in a report by Christopher Bronk, a former US diplomat and an IT … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Rapidly Evolving Cyber Warfare Threats to be discussed at Defence IQ’s Cyber … PRLog.Org (press release) PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 18, 2011 – In an interview with Defence IQ at Cyber Warfare Europe 2011, Lieutenant Colonel William Hagestead, USMC, contends that cyber vector threats will ‘change so rapidly that we won’t even know they’re there. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Rapidly Evolving Cyber Warfare Threats to be discussed at Defence IQ’s Cyber … SYS-CON Media (press release) In an interview with Defence IQ at Cyber Warfare Europe 2011, Lieutenant Colonel William Hagestead, USMC, contends that cyber vector threats will ‘change so rapidly that we won’t even know they’re there.’ From STUXNET to Wikileaks, recent attacks on … See all stories on this topic » |
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| YEARS OF THE MODERN Nolan Chart LLC Armies, naval ships, and massed confrontation will be made obsolete by cyber warfare. Computer hackers will be able to do more damage to a country in minutes than armies could do in years of traditional warfare. The trillions the US spends on aircraft … See all stories on this topic » |
April 19th
| Dissident warns of ‘silent cyber war‘ Ottawa Citizen She decided to go public to warn Canadians about what she calls China’s “silent cyber war.” “The Canadian public is just sleeping while, as we Chinese say, a tiger’s sleeping next to you. People should wake up. This country is slipping into danger,” … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Air Force cyber warfare unit gaining new commander Bizjournals.com The 24th Air Force, also known as the Air Force Cyber Command, said Monday that Maj. Gen. Richard E. Webber is relinquishing command to Maj. Gen. Suzanne M. “Zan” Vautrinot. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will hold a retirement ceremony … See all stories on this topic » |
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| China may be winning cyber war FCW.com By Kevin McCaney The pace of cyber-espionage between China and the United States has picked up in recent years and security experts say China may have taken the upper hand, according to a report by Reuters. Brian Grow and Mark Hosenball write that … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Simulated Cyber Attack Reveals EU Flaws in Coordination PCWorld The US has been running cyberwar security exercises for some years, and the EU hopes to learn from this experience. Follow Jennifer on Twitter at @BrusselsGeek or email tips and comments tojennifer_baker@idg.com. See all stories on this topic » |
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| ISO announce new ICT security standard to improve Business Continuity resilience Continuity Forum The announcement of this ISO standard comes following numerous warnings that have been made by intelligence services in a number of countries concerning what has been termed as cyber warfare. Commenting on the standard, committee member Prof. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| INTEL : McAfee and CSIS Report Reveals Dramatic Increase in Cyberattacks and … 4-traders (press release) The report is a follow-up to a report released in 2010 called “In the Crossfire: Critical Infrastructure in the Age of Cyberwar,” that found that many of the world’s critical infrastructures lacked protection of their computer networks, and revealed … See all stories on this topic » |
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| April 20th |
| Researchers propose cyberwar framework iT News Arash Barfar from the University of South Florida and collaborators from Tehran suggested acyberwar framework in the journal of Internet Technology and Secured Transactions this month. “Considering that the consequences of the acts of terror can be … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Military to Strengthen Cyber Warfare Unit The Chosun Ilbo The Defense Ministry plans to bolster a cyber warfare unit that is responsible for combating North Korean hackers so that it can handle offensive operations in cyberspace as well. “We have decided to split off the cyber warfare unit within the ministry … See all stories on this topic » |
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| In the Dark: Crucial Industries Confront Cyberattacks Information Warfare Monitor By Editor Published: April 19, 2011 Tags: critical infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Cyberwar Fast forward to 2011, as McAfee releases “In the Dark: Crucial Industries Confront Cyberattacks,” the frightening news is the mistake is being repeated. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Will DoD’s new cyber-strategy be enough? DoD Buzz A main point, Carroll writes, is that the strategy will codify the view that cyber-warfare is as important a venue as your traditional air, sea, land or space, and there are some other points that have already bubbled up. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Mitigative Counterstriking: Self-Defense and Deterrence in Cyperspace Information Warfare Monitor By Editor Published: April 18, 2011 Tags: Cyberwar, International Law, Iran, US In short, the current situation with cyberattacks is ominous, and more effective methods must be provided to potential victims to permit them to protect themselves. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Simulated Cyber Attack Reveals EU Flaws in Coordination Information Warfare Monitor By Editor Published: April 18, 2011 Tags: Cybersecurity, Cyberwar, EU Some 55 percent of national information technology agencies would not know who to contact in the event of a European Union cyber attack, according to EU cybersecurity agency ENISA. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Botnet takedown sets legal, not technical, precedent CSO In 2009, researchers at the Conference on Cyber Warfare in Estonia called for more aggressive countermeasures against dangerous worms and botnets, such as Conficker. In 2010, the Dutch police pushed “good” software to computers infected by the Bredolab … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Media War: Alternative Theater of Operations Cuba News Half a century ago, there paper newspapers and radio stations reporting on events in the Bay of Pigs, today the large information web is the technology infrastructure that carries out the media orcyber war currently the alternative theater of … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Verizon: Advanced Persistant Threat is Overblown Information Warfare Monitor By Editor Published: April 18, 2011 Tags: China, Cyberwar, Malware, Verizon IDG News Service — When Google (GOOG) admitted last year that it had been targeted by sophisticated hackers, possibly from China, it introduced a new term into the high … See all stories on this topic » |
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| FEATURE-Govts struggle to recruit, keep “cyber warriors” Reuters In both Western countries and emerging powers such as China and Russia — seen as viewing cyber warfare as a key area of interest — governments have been recruiting hard through competitions, universities and sometimes social media sites. … See all stories on this topic » |
April 21st
| Is China winning the cyber war? FCW.com By Michael Hardy The Cold War took its name from the relative lack of shooting that characterized it. The United States and Soviet Union fought one another politically, diplomatically and economically but rarely with guns or tanks. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Cyberstrategy for US Military Expected to Be Unveiled Soon The Epoch Times “The US isn’t just entering the cyberwar arena, they’re just announcing their intentions publicly.” Bumgarner said in a phone interview. Fundamental problems arise when discussing cyberwar, however, as it is far different from traditional warfare. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| IAF officers to get management training from Shillong IIM Zee News … planning management, facilities management and HRD, sports and hospitality management, communication and system management, physical security and low intensity conflict management, cyber security and cyber warfare will be a part of the course. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Insecure Mail Server Offers Chinese Government Accounts To The Masses Threatpost (blog) … hole is just one example of what Beresford said is a public sector Web infrastructure that is rife with vulnerable and insecure applications, despite China’s popular reputation as an aggressor in the arena of cyber espionage and cyber warfare. … See all stories on this topic » |
April 22nd
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| Who’s ahead in cyber espionage war between US, China? Defense Systems By Kevin McCaney That China and the United States are engaged in cyber espionage isn’t exactly a secret, even if the details of the game aren’t usually public. But the pace has picked up in recent years and security experts say China may have taken the … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Japan’s Kitazawa: Stronger U.S. Defense Ties Needed Wall Street Journal One area included beefing up Japan’s defense capability against cyber warfare, Mr. Kitazawa said, adding that Japan has held discussions with the US, South Korea and Australia to increase cooperation there. “We aren’t necessarily doing this with China … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Security Flaw Found in Chinese Government Mail Server eSecurity Planet … Beresford said is a public sector Web infrastructure that is rife with vulnerable and insecure applications, despite China’s popular reputation as an aggressor in the arena of cyber espionage andcyber warfare,” writes threatpost’s Paul Roberts. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Today’s e-Reads: Apple Keeps Raking It In; Games As Ads? National Journal Reuters examines the struggles governments around the world are facing in recruiting and keeping skilled workers who can engage in cyber warfare. Apple reported a huge bump in profits in the first quarter on strong sales of its popular iPhones and … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Wanted: high-tech weapon operators Global Times … introducing overseas intelligence and high-quality talent education, training in new combat weapons, cyber warfare and non-traditional security missions, such as the humanitarian missions being carried out domestically and overseas by 2020, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Why do governments have trouble retaining cyber warriors? Help Net Security Cyber warfare demands much more that simple analytic skills so prized by intelligence agencies. A “cyber warrior” must also have a deep knowledge of the technology used and the capability of reacting fast to short-lived opportunities. … See all stories on this topic » |
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