Entries Tagged as 'Cyber attacks'

For first time, US military says it would use offensive cyberweapons

Ars Technica
by Dan Goodin
March 13 2013

The military is assembling 13 teams of programmers dedicated to offensive attacks

For the first time ever, the Obama administration has publicly admitted to developing offensive cyberweapons that could be aimed at foreign nations during wartime.

According to an article published Tuesday night by The New York Times, that admission came from General Keith Alexander, the chief of the military’s newly created Cyber Command. He said officials are establishing 13 teams of programmers and computer experts who would focus on offensive capabilities. Previously, Alexander publicly emphasized defensive strategies in electronic warfare to the almost complete exclusion of offense.

“I would like to be clear that this team, this defend-the-nation team, is not a defensive team,” Alexander, who runs both the National Security Agency and the new Cyber Command, told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. “This is an offensive team that the Defense Department would use to defend the nation if it were attacked in cyberspace. Thirteen of the teams that we’re creating are for that mission alone.” …

Read on: http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/03/for-first-time-us-military-says-it-would-use-offensive-cyberweapons/

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U.S. Defense Chief Warns of Digital 9/11

Wall Street Journal (blog)
By Rachel King
October 11, 2012

The scale and speed of cyber attacks is escalating and companies face more risk than ever before. Armed with technology that can help attribute attacks, the United States now has the capacity to locate attackers and hold them responsible, said U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Thursday night, in his first policy speech on cybersecurity. The Department of Defense is also updating its rules of engagement and procedures that guide a potential military response to a cyber attack.

Senior defense officials say a sophisticated virus attack against Saudi Arabian state oil company ARAMCO in August is an example of this escalation. “All told, the Shamoon virus was probably the most destructive attack that the private sector has seen to date,” said Leon Panetta, U.S. Secretary of Defense in his first policy speech on cybersecurity. Secretary Panetta spoke Thursday night at a Business Executives for National Security dinner.

The Shamoon virus attacked 30,000 Saudi ARAMCO workstations and replaced crucial system files with an image of a burning U.S. flag. That virus added false information that overwrote all of the real data on those machines. The government declassified information to help the public understand the magnitude of the threat. …

Read on: http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2012/10/11/u-s-defense-chief-warns-of-digital-911/

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China cyber capability puts U.S. forces at risk: report

Reuters
By Jim Wolf
March 8, 2012

Chinese cyberwarfare would pose a “genuine risk” to the U.S. military in a conflict, for instance over Taiwan or disputes in the South China Sea, according to a report prepared for the U.S. Congress.

Operations against computer networks have become fundamental to Beijing’s military and national development strategies over the past decade, said the 136-page analysis by Northrop Grumman Corp released on Thursday by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Chinese commercial firms, bolstered by foreign partners, are giving the military access to cutting-edge research and technology, the analysis said.

The Chinese military’s close ties to large Chinese telecommunications firms create a path for state-sponsored penetrations of supply networks for electronics used by the U.S. military, government and private industry, it added.

That has the potential to cause a “catastrophic failure of systems and networks supporting critical infrastructure for national security or public safety,” according to the report.

On the military side, “Chinese capabilities in computer network operations have advanced sufficiently to pose genuine risk to U.S. military operations in the event of a conflict,” the report said. …

Read on: www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/08/us-china-usa-cyberwar-idUSBRE8270AF20120308

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