A busy weekend opened on a busy week. It looks like the rhetoric continues to heat up between China and the United States as regards cyber warfare. The thread of the latest Google hacks has appeared to center around White House staffers and experts on China being targeted. This would if true appear to be a series of espionage attempts. I would be very surprised if it was a China only act, but I’m also kind of surprised they keep getting caught. I’ve been troubled by the appearance of a double standard between the United States openly admitting to certain assertions of policy through things like the PATRIOT Act, and other laws and then when other countries do the same thing people being shocked. This isn’t to say that China hacking MY White House makes me happy. If there espionage activities aren’t countered significantly I’ll be quite disappointed in US cyber supremacy. The work by the United Kingdom in operation cupcake is a great example of low-brow efforts significantly curtailing cyber threats.
It is interesting that on Tuesday Al Jazeera started covering cyber warfare. Some of the hysteria in the news is likely the continuing pending defense department cyber warfare policy document. I’m not sure that it will be the big splash that everybody thinks it will be. There is just to little that will be in a document like that to be surprised about. A declaratory policy placing cyber warfare in a continuum that considers perfidy is just common sense. You kill our citizens, regardless of the methods, we’re going to make you hurt no matter who you are. That is what it means to be a nation state.
As the week progressed by Thursday more saber rattling was seen in evidence as the weekend news cycle started to warm up. Cyber conflict stories started to change towards war mongering type talk with China. This has been true the last few weeks and is starting to look like a pattern of behavior. It might simply be the editors flushing low impact stories before the end of the week, but it is appearing to be a pattern. Might be something to analyze in the future empirically.
One note about these weekly blog entries. These are basically my research notes or clippings I keep from crafting google alerts. There are three other crafted alerts I don’t post, but I use them as touchstones. They also give me a place to send students or collaborators in writing for current events.
The week closed out with Leon Panetta (my future boss) invoking Pearl Harbor type armageddon discussion in regards to cyber warfare. Whereas, I’m absolutely certain a mass casualty event could be created by cyber means it won’t look like anything we’ve seen in the last few years.
The second article of note was one talking about how the Certified Ethical Hacker curriculum and certification has left people wanting more. I really, really, really wish somebody would turn me loose to create an undergraduate and graduate curriculum for nothing but cyber warfare (5 year program). I really wish upon a lucky star. And if you wish in one hand, and … in the other which gets full first? Why should anybody let me, a hapless professor, with 20 years experience to write a curriculum? Have you read my blog!?
Monday June 6th
| China gets angry about cyberwar allegations msnbc.com This storyline took a sudden, dramatic turn just days ago after the Wall Street Journal reported on the Pentagon’s first formal cyber warfare strategy plan. Though not yet officially released to the public, the document allegedly argues for … See all stories on this topic » |
||
|
||
| The Cable: Cable guy presses Gates on Chinese cyber warfare Foreign Policy Your humble Cable guy had the opportunity to ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates a question at the opening plenary session of the 10 th annual IISS Shangri-La Security Dialogue here in Singapore. We pressed Gates to explain how the Pentagon’s new cyber … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| How Serious is North Korea’s Hacking Activities? International Business Times “North Korea last year raised the status of its cyber warfare unit under the Reconnaissance General Bureau and increased the number of troops in the unit from 500 to about 3000,” defector Kim Heung-kwang said at a cyber terrorism seminar in Seoul. … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| China Blames US For Cyber War ITProPortal China’s People’s Liberation Army has pointed its fingers at the US as the main culprit of waging a world-wide cyber-war against the Arab countries and other so called “hostile” governments. These allegations came from PLA scholars on Friday, … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| US builds a bulwark against cyberwarfare Statesman Journal The military and intelligence communities have known for at least two decades that “cyberwar” is war. Everyday experience has confirmed that the digital fight is very real, as cyber-attackers probe and occasionally crack the digital communications and … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Cyber Attacks May Be ‘Acts Of War’ NPR Ira Flatow and guests discuss cyber attacks and the challenges in defining and fighting cyber warfare. You’re listening to SCIENCE FRIDAY. I’m Ira Flatow. Up next, cyber-warfare. Computer sabotage can now be considered an act of war, the Pentagon says, … See all stories on this topic » |
|
||
| Government files hacked in cyber attack from China The Province Classified information was stolen from two federal government departments during an elaboratecyber attack earlier this year, CBC reported Friday. The attacks, which originated from computer servers in China, hit the Treasury Board and Department of … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Opinion: Establishing the rules for future cyberwars NorthJersey.com Still, because the document has yet to be released, it’s not clear yet whether it will have the president’s stamp and the force that entails, or whether it will have only the limited force that other defense documents laying out cyberwar policy have … See all stories on this topic » |
||
|
||
| Inquirer Editorial: Declaring war on hackers | Philadelphia Inquirer | 2011-06-05 Philadelphia Inquirer The Pentagon still doesn’t know who was responsible for a 2008 cyber attack on one of its computer systems. Some pointed fingers at Russia, but Russia denied involvement. Similarly, the hackers who used a Stuxnet computer virus to cripple Iran’s … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Will Cyber World War I be outsourced? BetaNews The most famous cases of alleged “cyberwar” have some common characteristics that are at the heart of the problem. It’s never clearly the governments conducting the attacks and it’s plausible that outside actors are responsible. … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Gmail rivals Yahoo, Hotmail also targeted in cyber-attack Montreal Gazette Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail were targeted by cyber-attacks believed to have originated in China, Internet security firm Trend Micro warned on Friday. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Internet security firm Trend Micro warned on Friday that cyber-attackers … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Operation Cupcake: British Spies Hack Al-Qaeda’s Magazine to Replace Bombs … TIME In a cyber-warfare operation, British spies successfully hacked al-Qaeda’s English language magazine, Inspire, and replaced bombmaking instructions with a list of cupcakes. Victory has never tasted so sweet. The magazine is published quarterly and … See all stories on this topic » |
|
||
|
||
|
||
| Big questions about cyberwar Network World By John Dix, Network World The Pentagon is expected to announce a cyberstrategy this month that concludes a cyberattack on the US can be an act of war, and while the damage from such an assault may warrant that position, hopefully this just amounts to … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| EDITORIAL: Winning cyber war TMC Net Jun 05, 2011 (Boston Herald – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — The Pentagon, according to reports from Washington, has concluded that attacks on US computer networks from other countries could be acts of war. … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| British Armed Forces Minister Comments on Response to Cyber War defpro The National Security Strategy identifies cyber attack in the top tier of risks to the UK over the next five years. An extra £650m has been allocated to create a National Cyber Security Programme to fund work across government in partnership with … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Boeing Target of ‘Continuous’ Cyber Attack IndustryWeek Agence France-Presse Boeing is under “continuous” cyber attack but there has been no breach of its databases, a senior executive said Friday. The admission by Dennis Muilenburg, the chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, … See all stories on this topic » |
||
|
||
| A military option for US in case of cyber-attack Manila Bulletin The Pentagon announced last week that all options — including military action — would be on the table if the United States were to be at the receiving end of a cyber-attack. This means the world’s lone superpower sees an Internet attack against its … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Organized Cyber War is the trend in security landscape Siliconindia.com At a national level, countries are having organized cyber war. With every nation relying heavily on IT systems, cyber war is a reality that can instantly cripple any country’s economy. The recent advent of Stuxnet is an example of this. … See all stories on this topic » |
Tuesday June 7th
| RSA Renews Alert After Cyber Attack on Lockheed Martin Credit Union Times By Marc Rapport RSA said information taken from it in a security breach in March has been used to attack defense contractor Lockheed Martin. That attack was thwarted, RSA said, but the company has now offered to replace millions of its SecurID tokens … See all stories on this topic » |
| Latest Hacks Could Set The Stage For Cyberwar NPR Even more worrisome, such actions could have set the stage for cyberwar. The perpetrators may have gained the capability to identify targets, assess vulnerabilities and position themselves for future attacks. “I think what we’re seeing today are the … See all stories on this topic » |
| Cyberwar, Stuxnet and people in glass houses Aljazeera.net People tracking stories on hacking or cyberwar have had a busy few months. Headlines this week were provided courtesy of the Pentagon’s first formal cyber strategy document which concluded “that computer sabotage coming from another country can … See all stories on this topic » |
| US Readies Cyberwar Strategy PCWorld The pending publication of a cyber war strategy from the Pentagon next month was reported by the Wall Street Journal, and drew interest because it promises to justify bombs and troops as appropriate responses to data theft and worms. … See all stories on this topic » |
| Cyberwar May be Coming to a Computer Near You defpro 15:23 GMT, June 6, 2011 The Pentagon is about to publish its long awaited strategy for cyber warfare, the unclassified portions of which are likely to be made public sometime next month. In so doing, the Department of Defense (DoD) is acknowledging … See all stories on this topic » |
| Estonian Defence Minister: A cyber-attack is no… defpro At the meeting, Minister of Defence Mr Mart Laar emphasised the need to understand that potential damage caused by a cyber-attack is comparable with damage caused by ordinary attacks. “Estonia is also a proponent of the principle that there should be … See all stories on this topic » |
| Why there may be no escaping the cyber war CITY A.M. The cyber war has begun. Sony has been repeatedly punched in the face by hackers and now President Barack Obama says any more attempts to pry into the emails of his staff will be treated as an act of military aggression. (At this stage it’s probably … See all stories on this topic » |
| Hackers winning cyber war after finding list of believable names NewsBiscuit (satire) The US Military has warned that cyber phishing scams are becoming ever-more sophisticated with some attackers even sending emails from people with believable, western names. ‘Our software can normally filter out fake names,’ said Lt. Major Brad … See all stories on this topic » |
| Global Insights: The Pentagon’s Strategy for Cyberwar World Politics Review By Richard Weitz | 07 Jun 2011 According to a coordinated series of leaks to the media last week, the Pentagon is in the process of finalizing its first formal cybersecurity strategy. Several unnamed Defense Department officials have confirmed that the … See all stories on this topic » |
| Hokey Advertising Undermines China Hacking Threat Wall Street Journal (blog) Few Chinese believe Google Inc. was the victim of a cyber attack originating from a technical college in the country’s northeast that is suspected by at least some US investigators as having a role in rattling the Internet behemoth’s security systems. … See all stories on this topic » |
Wednesday June 8th
|
||
|
||
| RSA to Replace SecurID Tokens After Lockheed Cyber Attack PC Magazine By Chloe Albanesius RSA, the security division of EMC, on Monday confirmed that data obtained via a March hack was used to attack the systems of defense contractor Lockheed Martin. To assuage fears about the breach, RSA said it will offer customers the … See all stories on this topic » |
||
|
||
| Deterrence won’t stop cyber attacks The Guardian And Stuxnet is hardly the first disruptive cyber attack. When the highly cyber-wired nation of Estonia had its networks disrupted by “distributed denial of service attacks” in 2007, Nato had to make a decision – did this attack constitute an “attack”, … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Nations recognize dangers posed by cyber-attacks Deutsche Welle The Baltic state sustained a cyber-attack in May 2007, which Estonian government officials pin on having come with at least implicit support from the Russian government – a charge Russian officials deny. Kenneth Geers, an American computer security … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| US judge backs bank against customer who sued over hack. Finextra A US judge magistrate has ruled that a bank is not responsible for the loss of around $345000 from a business customer account following a cyber-attack. Magistrate judge John Rich has recommended that a US District Court in Maine grant Ocean Bank’s … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| ‘WikiWars: The Mission of Julian Assange’ – CNN’s Kaj Larsen Reports CNN (blog) He has launched a cyber war over the control of sensitive information, inciting a debate over the power of secrecy and who has the ‘right’ to release confidential information. Exposing everything from secret war logs, to diplomatic cables, to explosive … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Under SiegeTM for Playstation®3 available for download in over 50 countries Media Newswire (press release) Under Siege is finally available for download after its launch was postponed due to a cyber attack on the Playstation Network. PSN Store users in over 50 countries will now have the opportunity to fully enjoy the first portuguese first made especially … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Cyber defender Richard Clarke advises weapons protection tech firm Nextgov Visible Assets, Inc., manufacturer of RuBee wireless-tracking networks, announced on Tuesday that the author of “Cyber War: The Next Threat To National Security And What To Do About It” has joined its board of directors. The firm currently helps … See all stories on this topic » |
Thursday June 9th
| Turkey prepares for pre-election Anonymous cyber attack Reuters It attacked them with denial-of-service attacks that overwhelmed their servers for blocking payments to WikiLeaks. Last month it denied responsibility for a cyber-attack on Sony Corp’s networks that exposed the personal data of more than 100 million … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Netanyahu: Israel needs to be at forefront of cyber warfare Jerusalem Post Israel should be a global cyber-power, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday during a conference on cyber warfare at Tel Aviv University. The premier said Israel must be a significant player in the new cyber warfare arena, adding that “we … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Divisions Seen In Administration Over Cyberthreats NPR At issue is whether the nation faces the prospect of cyberwar and needs to prepare for it. The Pentagon says yes. Howard Schmidt, the White House coordinator for cybersecurity, sees such talk as “hype” and rejects the “cyberwar” term. … See all stories on this topic » |
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
| Mahnken: Cyber warfare favors the strong FierceGovernmentIT Cyber warfare cannot compensate for weaknesses in other instruments of power, says a new paper from a Naval War College professor. Cyber attacks have a reputation of aiding weak states in possible conflicts against strong ones, but strong countries … See all stories on this topic » |
||
| Cyber Warfare & Security: IDGA Prepares for the New Domain of Warfare Business Wire (press release) “It’s time to prepare for tomorrow’s fight, today,” says Nicole Bacani, Program Director for IDGA’sCyber Warfare & Security Summit, in Washington, DC, June 27-29, 2011. “Defending against and defeating cyber attacks requires combined efforts by both … See all stories on this topic » |
||
|
||
| Why Does Sony Keep Getting Hacked? Huffington Post Sony has apologized repeatedly and said that the original attack was a highly professional, criminalcyber attack aimed at stealing credit card numbers. Other experts have said that Sony simply didn’t have its security act together and that the attack … See all stories on this topic » |
Friday June 10th
Washington Post
June 10 (Bloomberg) — Leon Panetta, US defense secretary nominee, testified at his confirmation hearing yesterday that the next ‘Pearl Harbor’ could be a cyber attack. Megan Hughes, on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop,” reports the US financial …
See all stories on this topic »
ITProPortal
UK games developer Codemasters has had its servers hacked, with hackers stealing personal information on thousands of people. According to the company, the attack which took place on June 3, targeted personal user information like names, addresses, …
See all stories on this topic »
IBTimes Hong Kong
Friday, Spain police reportedly arrested three alleged members of the “hacktivist” group Anonymous, a high-profile hacker group, for allegedly taking part in online attacks against Sony’s PlayStation Network, as well as other infiltrations of banks, …
See all stories on this topic »
| RADIO BUZZ: CITIGROUP – LATEST CYBER ATTACK VICTIM; ALABAMA’S TOUGH IMIGRATION LAW FOX News Radio “A: Change your card out. B: Monitor your emails and when you start seeing suspicious emails coming from your banks asking for more information – just delete them… the banks will notify you via snail mail – so just delete those things… but also, … See all stories on this topic » |
 FOX News Radio |
IT Business Edge (blog)
A lot of business and IT folks go home at night wondering why the US government isn’t more aggressive about cyber criminals specifically and cyber warfare in general. After all, it is US businesses that are the digital frontlines of these attacks and …
See all stories on this topic »
eSecurity Planet
By eSecurityPlanet Staff Thieves recently stole at least $139000 from the online bank account of the Town of Pittsford. “The theft is the latest reminder of the widening gap between the sophistication of organized cyber thieves and the increasingly …
See all stories on this topic »
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Its software can automate a cyber attack — a powerful proposition for companies that want to learn their own vulnerabilities, but potentially very dangerous in the wrong hands. Customers, which range from companies like Citigroup Inc. and Microsoft …
See all stories on this topic »
Online PR News (press release)
Popular courses for such training include the ECSA/LPT, Cyber War, and Mobile Hacking courses. Online PR News – 10-June-2011 –The leading training company for Certified Ethical Hacker, or CEH certification, Advanced Security by the Academy of Computer …
See all stories on this topic »
| Citigroup soaring on high-profile Data breach victim Industry Leaders Magazine The fact that this cyber attack took place, despite the multiple security measures already put in place by Citigroup’s database departments, caused Sheila C. Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, to urge banks to strengthen their … See all stories on this topic » |
 Industry Leaders Magazine
|
2 comments for “This week in cyber conflict: June 6th to June 10th”