The fact China has a cyber warfare unit really splashed heavily Monday in the news media. I am kind of surprised that we make such a big deal about this since we have an entire military organization called “cyber command”. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t be interested in what they are doing, but I’m kind of at a loss as to why it is a big deal.
The other big news is the use of the RSA breach to then attack Lockheed Martin. I have not seen any actual “factual” reporting that this is the case, and only speculation to support it. Cringley broke the case and we’ll see if the facts later on support the assertions. At the time of this writing at least three other defense contractors have been attacked using reportedly the same exploit. This is going to be a big deal. I’m not sure what will happen to RSA. I left one article that is a spoof of the attack in the stream. Enjoy.
The assertion about the Presidents International Cyberspace policy document and the “DOD says cyber attack is act of war” is one of the stupider threads I’ve seen in the media. Several friends and pundits have been getting much airplay from this debacle. Basically I’m thinking either the media is a bunch of idiots or the media is a bunch of idiots. First: There is no “act” that is an act of war. An act is what congress signs “declaring” war. You can bomb the shinola out of a country and it isn’t an act of war, but you can snub the queen and be in a war for 100 years. There is no specific element or item that is a pushbutton to hostilities. The mere assertion is pretty much assuring you will get that button pushed.
There is currently no doctrine for fighting a cyber war. Think about that. THERE IS NO SET OF RULES PROCEDURES OR TACTICS FOR FIGHTING A CYBER WAR. Why would you have one? I promise that when I get a chance I’ll write the “On Cyberwar” to go along with Clausewitz “On War” and Kahn “On Thermonuclear War”. I already started outlining the chapters here on the blog. See the Clausewitz roundtable posts for some more on that along with the communities of cyber warfare posts.
The week ended with a bang. Sony appears to have been taken down by Lulz again. This is rapidly turning into a great case study in disaster recovery “how not to do”. I’m picking up a sniff of something I and a few others have been talking about. That whif of something is the backlash on western democracies attempting to control the Internet. I see hints in discussion board, in the news over the last few weeks. See the “system” article from friday about Anonymous.
Monday May 30th
| China Admits Cyber Warfare Unit Information Warfare Monitor By Editor Published: May 27, 2011 Tags: China The elite unit – part of China’s People’s Liberation Army – is called the “cyber blue team” and will supposedly protect Chinese networks from externalcyber attack. But many fear that it could also go on … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Renowned security experts talk CNI and cyber war at upcoming Virtual Conference Infosecurity Magazine With all the hype in the media these days surrounding the concept of cyber war, Infosecurity has put together a panel of experts to discuss this topic and more during our upcoming Global Virtual Conference. The session for the highly anticipated June 2 … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Getting Online in Cuba Remains a Risky Endeavor for Most All Things Digital A recent article in the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde described the “cyber-warfare“being used by the United States to subvert Cuba. A stylishly-dressed man in his late 20s hawked pirated DVDs and computer games from the doorway of his apartment in … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Honda apologizes for data breach at Canada unit 13WHAM-TV Honda said in an online statement the cyber attack exposed names, addresses and vehicle identification numbers. But the breach did not involve data that “would typically be used for identity theft or fraud” such as birth dates or credit card … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Hackers protesting Nigeria’s budget, inauguration spending shut down gov’t website AHN | All Headline News The Nigerian hacker group, NaijaCyberHactivists commenced the cyber attack on an agency set up to develop the region in response to the government’s plan to spend N1 billion or $6.6. million on President Goodluck Jonathan’s May 29th inauguration. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Minister Urges Stronger Cyber Security Measures in Iranian Organizations Fars News Agency That was the second cyber attack waged by enemies of Iran to undermine the country’s nuclear as well as economic and industrial activities. In January, Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Hamid Khadem Qaemi stated that certain … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Joplin wrestles with tornado death toll…Defense contractor undergoes cyber … 9&10 News UNDATED (AP) — A major defense contractor says it sustained a “significant and tenacious” cyber attack but kept its secrets safe. Lockheed Martin says its security team detected the threat quickly and no customer, program or employee personal data was … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Luckheed Martian in cyber attack The Spoof (satire) WASHINGTON (Rooters) – Luckheed Martian Corp has been hit by a cyberspace attack, confidential sources said on Sunday. Sources said the Defense Department had offered to help gauge the scope of the “cyberspace attack.” It became clear what kind of data … See all stories on this topic » |
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| ‘Digital ants’ army may soon protect computers against virus Economic Times HOUSTON: As the chances of cyber attack increases, programmers have been finding foolproof protection for computers against virus , but it still find ways to attack and jeorpardise the system. However, a few of the programmers have been inspired by … See all stories on this topic » |
Tuesday May 31st
| DoD: Cyber attack is act of war DoD Buzz By Philip Ewing Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 9:23 am The United States could respond to a cyber-attack with real-life military retaliation, DoD will say in its pending cyber-strategy, the Wall Street Journal’s Siobhan Gorman and Julian Barnes report. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| US, UK see cyberwar as facet of regular war CNET by Stephen Shankland Reports from the United States and United Kingdom military this week indicate those organizations are more comfortable voicing an idea I find blindingly obvious: cyberwaris war. First came news yesterday in the Guardian that the … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Article:Sony and the Cyber War. Buypoe.com (blog) This is actually counted as a cyber war. Why? Because its Sony vs Anonymous vs (small hacking groups). It is now obvious that the Sony network is vulnerable and way too much incidents happen to it. “The evidence we’ve seen so far speaks to a lack of a … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Retired general questions UK’s cyberwar tactics PC Pro By Stewart Mitchell A retired UK general has warned the UK is still applying old-fashioned military thinking to the cyber warfare landscape despite the very different dynamics of the threat. According to General Graeme Lamb, a former adviser to the US … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Kellermann Says Lockheed Hackers Likely State Sponsored: Video Bloomberg May 31 (Bloomberg) — Tom Kellermann, chief technology officer at AirPatrol Corp. and a member of US President Barack Obama’s commission on cyber security, discusses the cyber attack reported by Lockheed Martin Corp. Lockheed, based in Bethesda, … See all stories on this topic » |
Wednesday June 1st
| Governments Ratchet Up Cyberwar Talk Wall Street Journal (blog) By Ben Rooney There has been a spate of cyberwar revelations in the past few days suggesting that governments are taking this threat very seriously indeed. First off was the revelation a that China has a cyberwarfare team. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Cyber warfare can be stronger than military efforts, says BT chairman SC Magazine UK A nation can now be brought to its knees via a cyber attack, according to the chairman of the BT Group. Speaking at the East West institute cyber security summit in London, Sir Michael Rake said that it was no exaggeration to say that sort of attack … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Lockheed Martin Discloses ‘Significant And Tenacious’ Cyber Attack CRN By Stefanie Hoffman, CRN Lockheed Martin publicly acknowledged Saturday that it had been the victim of a “significant and tenacious” cyber attack on its computer systems, most likely related to a security flaw in RSA SecureID tokens, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Cyber Attack on US Electric Grid ‘Gravest Short Term Threat’ to National … ABC News (blog) ABC News’ Huma Khan reports: The United States is ill-prepared to deal with a cyber attack on the nation’s electric grid, one of the biggest national security threats facing the country today, lawmakers warned. “The sobering reality is this … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Bootup: Cyber warfare threat grows Financial Post For in the modern and evolving world of cyber warfare, a few keystrokes is all it can take to bring an entire industry to its knees. And other countries have a major head start in training this new breed of eSoldier. On Wednesday, it was revealed that … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Now Cyber Attack is War against the US Strategy Page The newspaper said the Pentagon plans to unveil its first-ever strategy regarding cyber warfare next month, in part as a warning to foes that may try to sabotage the country’s electricity grid, subways or pipelines. See all stories on this topic » |
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| US, UK Recognize Cyberland As A Legitimate Battlefield CrunchGear Both the United States and United Kingdom armed forces are realizing the vulnerability within this particular patch of battlefield, and have finally declared that cyberwar is, in fact, an act of war. Over the Memorial Day weekend, the Guardian reported … See all stories on this topic » |
Thursday June 2nd
| China blamed for Gmail hack attack; cyber warfare in focus International Business Times By IB Times Staff Reporter | June 1, 2011 10:42 PM EDT A cyber attack that originated from the Chinese city of Jinan that selectively targeted key government officials in the US and its allies has focused uneasy limelight on China, even as the western … See all stories on this topic » |
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| US may deem cyber attack an act of war FierceCIO The possibility of using force in retaliation for a cyber attack is outlined in the Department of Defense’s first formal cyber strategy, portions of which are slated for publication next month, the newspaper reported. The strategy does not address how … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Cyber attack shows constant threat to key intel CBS News The attempted hacking of defense contractor Lockheed Martin once again shined the spotlight on the security of the high-tech infrastructure guarding the United States’ most closely held secrets. The threat of attacks by enemies of the United States on … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Pentagon may fight cyberwar with rockets New Scientist But in the US, a far more aggressive approach is expected to be outlined in a cyberwar strategy document due for publication next month – doubtless fuelled by the online attacks on major US businesses like Mastercard and PayPal in 2010 and on aerospace … See all stories on this topic » |
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| S. Korea Boosts Defense System Against N. Korea’s Cyber-Attack Arirang News The South Korean military said Thursday it has detected several attempts by North Korea to hack into the emails of South Korean soldiers. Seoul’s National Defense Ministry said the military is strengthening its defense system against cyber attacks by … See all stories on this topic » |
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| North Korea Training Cyberwarriors At Foreign Colleges CIO North Korea is trying to boost its cyberwar capability by its best sending programmers abroad for training in the latest hacking techniques, a defector from the country has told a security conference in Seoul. By John E Dunn Techworld — North Korea is … See all stories on this topic » |
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Friday June 3rd
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| China urged to make cyber-warfare a military priority International Business Times Two Chinese military officers from the Academy of Military Science, Beijing, have announced that the country must make mastering cyber-warfare a military priority to protect the country from a US-led “Internet war.” The announcement follows the … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Lockheed Cyber Attack Probe Led by FBI, Pentagon Official Says San Francisco Chronicle June 2 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation of a cyber attack on Lockheed Martin Corp.’s computers, a Pentagon official said today. “The FBI has the lead because it’s a criminal activity,” Robert Butler, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Route1 Comments: Cyber Attack on Canadian Government the Most Recent in a … American Chronicle The hacking and theft of confidential Canadian government data reported yesterday is the latest in a growing number of serious data security breaches. “The increasing pace of these incidents shows the need for all enterprises to rethink their approach … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Anonymous Declares Cyberwar Against ‘the System’ OpEdNews By Timothy Karr (about the author) Page 1 of 1 page(s) On Tuesday, someone claiming to speak for the underground group Anonymous released a video declaration of war against “the system.” The YouTube manifesto is a call to everyone in the online world … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Prepare for Cyber-War Tonkin Gulf False-Flag Attacks From the US Lew Rockwell I The US has been working furiously to develop Cyber-War technologies, both offensive and defensive. The US apparently worked with Israel to launch an extremely complex and dangerousCyber-War Attack on Iran’s nuclear energy facilities in total secrecy … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Cyberwar: When We Do It, It’s OK; If They Do It, It’s War The Nation. (blog) I’d say that Israel and the US aren’t the only ones playing cyber war-games. Eric Alterman still has powerful friends at the NYT and it looks like they’re on-board the propaganda machine, too. Under a little known amendment to the National Security Act … See all stories on this topic » |
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