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Thread: USAF Cyber Command (catch all)

  1. #21
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Default General Lord on Cyberspace and the Future of Warfare

    The Capital Interview -
    Greg Bruno, Staff Writer, April 1, 2008

    ...If you could, start out by talking about the Air Force’s Cyber Command structure, the mission of cyber command, and where we are today in terms of its capabilities.

    Right now we’re in the nascent phase. We have a hundred and sixty folks who are assigned across about four different bases who are doing this work for me. As a provisional command, I have no forces. I’m not authorized to have any forces. So until this capability goes initial operational capability on the first of October, this really is a virtual command.

    Have we been attacked?

    Depends on what you call an attack. We certainly have had penetrations and we’ve been attacked by ourselves, if you will. If you define an attack as something that degrades your ability, yes we’ve been attacked. Sometimes we’re attacked by ourselves from our own acts of omission versus commission.

    ...How good are we? What can we do, what can’t we do, and are we the best out there?

    Well, in this business, there are lots of peers because the price of admission is relatively low. With some technologically smart kids you can do a lot of damage. And the difference is this technology only requires you to have a connection and a laptop computer. So as the nature of warfare changes and the price of admission to the fight goes way down, you can have lots more players.
    Much more at the link...
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  2. #22
    i pwnd ur ooda loop selil's Avatar
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    The Air Force is pushing this hard. I support our new cyber-over-lords but I'm concerned about several implementations and failures at basic understanding of capability and reasonign I see occuring. When I met for a few minutes with Maj. Gen Elders of AF Cyber Command he was pretty impressive on his depth of understanding. Still having talked to the former project officer for related DARPA projects most everybody is worried about nuts and bolts and few know how to build a car.
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  3. #23
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Default Cyber risk 'equals 9/11 impact'

    Michael Chertoff, homeland security chief has made a heartfelt plea to Silicon Valley workers to stand up and be counted in the fight to secure the cyber highway. He invoked the attacks of 9/11 as he sought to galvanise IT professionals and security experts.

    'Desire to serve'

    ... "the best thing you can do for your country"

    Mr Chertoff pointed out that securing the nation's internet highways and byways was a job the federal government could not do alone.

    Appealing to the private sector, the homeland security boss reached out and simply said: "Please send some of your brightest and best to do service in the government."
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  4. #24
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Default digital mushroom cloud scenario

    From Wired's blog... "Chertoff's talk shed precious little light on the details of the Bush administration's cyber security plans...Its contents are classified, but the U.S. Director of National Intelligence has said he wants the NSA to monitor America's internet traffic and Google searches for signs of cyber attack."

    -- The federal government has launched a cyber security "Manhattan Project"... because online attacks can be a form of "devastating warfare", and equivalent in damage to "physical destruction of the worst kind." Chertoff cited last year's denial-of-service attacks against Estonia, and hypothetical hack attacks on financial networks and air traffic control systems, as proof that a federal strategy was needed.

    "Imagine, if you will, a sophisticated attack on our financial systems that caused them to be paralyzed," Chertoff said. "It would shake the foundation of trust on which our financial system works."
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  5. #25
    i pwnd ur ooda loop selil's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stan View Post
    From Wired's blog... "Chertoff's talk shed precious little light on the details of the Bush administration's cyber security plans...Its contents are classified, but the U.S. Director of National Intelligence has said he wants the NSA to monitor America's internet traffic and Google searches for signs of cyber attack."
    His comments were like scragly finger nails on a chalkboard. It showed a complete non-understanding of the issues of cyber-warfare. He's using the hyped up term of "cyber-warfare" to suggest more domestic surveillance when the aren't necessarily related. Google searches have nothing to do with availability and integrity attacks against systems.
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  6. #26
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Default Army urged to develop process to wage war in cyberspace

    Sorry Sam, looks like the Army is moving in on USAF territory

    The battle for a population's state of mind demands a sophisticated information operations campaign that responds more rapidly than terrorists and insurgent groups to exploit the virtual battlefield. "There was a day when we were operating at foot speed," said Army Col. Wayne Parks, who directs the service's Computer Network Operations and Electronic Warfare at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. "Now we're moving at cyber speed."

    Recent surveys conducted by the Center for Army Lessons Learned at Fort Leavenworth on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan found that the service's training and officers' past combat experience left them "ill-prepared" for the "interactive complexity" of information operations.

    The service now must find a way to "maneuver around" a potential enemy's information campaign..., the military also hacks into jihadi Web sites to try to stop the spread of enemy propaganda.
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  7. #27
    i pwnd ur ooda loop selil's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stan View Post
    Sorry Sam, looks like the Army is moving in on USAF territory
    I think they are all moving into the space that NSA should be holding down, but that is my pathetic opinion. The Internet contrary to popular belief has always been owned by civilians, operated by civilians, and managed maintained by civilians. None of the services (including DHS) has the longevity of service to really train a cadre when 25 percent turn over at the 4 year mark is a miracle, and 20 years and out is an expectation for life long.

    I'm ranting sorry.
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  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by selil View Post
    I think they are all moving into the space that NSA should be holding down, but that is my pathetic opinion. The Internet contrary to popular belief has always been owned by civilians, operated by civilians, and managed maintained by civilians. None of the services (including DHS) has the longevity of service to really train a cadre when 25 percent turn over at the 4 year mark is a miracle, and 20 years and out is an expectation for life long.

    I'm ranting sorry.
    Gotta agree with you here, Sam. It worries me that the AF has gone stampeding in (right down to reusing the SAC insignia) with its cybercommand. Their internal networking is just this side of horrific, and it shows signs of getting much worse before it gets better. NSA seems a more logical choice to me, too.
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  9. #29
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    "There was a day when we were operating at foot speed," said Army Col. Wayne Parks, who directs the service's Computer Network Operations and Electronic Warfare at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. "Now we're moving at cyber speed."
    Excuse me if I snicker here. Steve's comment about the USAF's internal networking capabilities and some of the pithier comments I've heard from Army folks makes me feel just ducky (as in sitting ).
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  10. #30
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Hey Marc !

    Quote Originally Posted by marct View Post
    Excuse me if I snicker here. Steve's comment about the USAF's internal networking capabilities and some of the pithier comments I've heard from Army folks makes me feel just ducky (as in sitting ).
    And to think I was gonna get a rise outta of Sam this evening

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  11. #31
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    Default Cyber Defence Management Authority

    The Cyber Defence Management Authority (CDMA) will co-ordinate cyber-defence among Nato allies after its formation was backed by members at a Nato summit in Bucharest last week.

    Nato creates cyber-defence command


    Nato allies have pledged to help each other deal with major attacks similar to the distributed denial-of-service attack that took down key banking and state systems in Estonia in 2007.

    It is a shift away from Nato's policy of mainly focusing on the defence of its own internal systems, using the Nato Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) unit.

    The Brussels-based CDMA will strengthen nation states' cyber-defences by reinforcing the best ways to protect national systems and forging new policies to deal with future threats.

    A centre of excellence set up in Estonia will train Nato's extensive civilian and military staff in cyber-defence.
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  12. #32
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    Default The New E-spionage Threat

    The April 21st 2008 Issue of Business Week carries the following article:

    The e-mail message addressed to a Booz Allen Hamilton executive was mundane—a shopping list sent over by the Pentagon of weaponry India wanted to buy. But the missive turned out to be a brilliant fake. Lurking beneath the description of aircraft, engines, and radar equipment was an insidious piece of computer code known as "Poison Ivy" designed to suck sensitive data out of the $4 billion consulting firm's computer network.
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  13. #33
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Default Bush's Cyber Secrets Dilemma

    Forbes - SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. -There's a problem facing the Bush administration: It has $30 billion to spend over the next five to seven years to keep the U.S. safe from hackers and cyberspies.

    The Bush administration's cyber initiative, signed by the president in early January, aims to increase surveillance of government networks, which have suffered multiple major intrusions in recent years. But the vulnerability of critical infrastructure systems, mostly owned by the private sector, has slowly emerged as a real threat to national security. Over the past two years, cybercriminals extorted hundreds of millions of dollars from critical infrastructure companies, according to Alan Paller, director of the SANS Institute, an organization that hosts a crisis center for hacked companies. (See: America's Hackable Backbone). In January, a CIA official told a conference of cybersecurity professionals that power outages affecting multiple non-U.S. cities had been the work of hackers. (See: Hackers Cut Cities' Power).

    Laura Sweeney, a DHS spokesperson, countered that it's still too early to judge how the cyber initiative deals with the private sector--the project is still focused on securing government networks, she argued. But she pointed to NIPP as evidence that the government can successfully work with private industry, even when trading in classified data. "For now we're focused on getting our own house in order," she said. "But we've realized that the private sector will be an incredibly important partner moving forward."

    But the disconnect between the private sector and government is a familiar problem, says Howard Schmidt, a former Air Force and DHS official who has also held jobs at eBay and Microsoft. "When I was working with a corporation, I would hear from the government about a new attack pattern, and because it was classified, I wouldn't be able to share it with my IT people," he says. "It's a very real problem."

    Despite Chertoff's comments about private sector partnership and Project 12's initial attempt to open communication, that old problem of overclassification still afflicts the cyber initiative, says Schmidt. "When I think about what I would do to secure government networks--things like intrusion protection, strong authentication, event correlation and data analysis--none of it would be classified," he says. "This decision about what to classify is a very big deal, and it's something that the government has got to fix."
    See also

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  14. #34
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Default Cyberwarfare 101: Case Study of a Textbook Attack

    One of the most mature instances of a cyberwarfare attack was an assault on Internet networks in Estonia in late April and early May of 2007. The Russian government was suspected of participating in -- if not instigating -- the attack, which featured some of the key characteristics of cyberwarfare, including decentralization and anonymity. Part of a series on cyberspace as battlespace.

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  15. #35
    i pwnd ur ooda loop selil's Avatar
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    Who ever is writing for STATFOR really doesn't get it. I don't know what their credentials are but saying "One of the most mature instances of a cyberwarfare attack was an assault on Internet networks in Estonia in late April and early May of 2007." doesn't do much for their credibility. They're going to look at simplistic denial of service as a "mature" example? When you consider Titan Rain, and a host of other more insidious attacks the Estonia example is really a drop in a much larger bucket. Slammer, I love you, and others were not "hostile" and did not meet the requirements for war, but they were more pervasive and much larger than Estonia.
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  16. #36
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Default Web Site Unites Pirated Databases

    Radarix.com, a self-styled private detective web site registered in the United States, claims to carry three terabytes of personal data on citizens of Russia and former Soviet republics.

    Time was when getting your hands on an individual's income, property and telephone numbers required a trip to a nearby kiosk to buy pirated discs containing illegal databases.

    But now one web site is offering a one-stop, online database providing extensive confidential information about Russian citizens to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection.

    Radarix.com, a self-styled private detective web site registered in the United States, claims to carry three terabytes of personal data on citizens of Russia and former Soviet republics.

    "Our area of activity is extensive. It does not stop with helping people search for their relatives and close friends, which by itself is invaluable," reads an e-mail sent to users who register with the site. "Only our system can help many people avoid the fate of victims of deception and criminal machinations."

    The e-mail is signed by Serzh Kovalenko, identified as the development director for Radarix Group.

    The site, which as recently as last week was providing individuals' home and cell phone numbers, license plate numbers and tax numbers, among other data, has sparked outrage among senior lawmakers and highlights the government's tenuous ability to keep citizens' private data from seeping into the public domain.

    But at least two individuals were off-limits for web surfers: President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Dmitry Medvedev.
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  17. #37
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    Post Thats OK

    Quote Originally Posted by Stan View Post
    Radarix.com, a self-styled private detective web site registered in the United States, claims to carry three terabytes of personal data on citizens of Russia and former Soviet republics.
    Anyone with half a reason could get the info on those with whom those two deal with the most and backtrack to identify most of the same info so I guess their really not off limits either.

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  18. #38
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Default Hackers warn high street chains

    "That's the beauty of asymmetric warfare. You don't need a lot of money, or an army of people. You can do it from the comfort of your living room, with a beer in your hand."

    The experts were members of the infamous "Hackers Panel" which convened in London this week at the Info Security Europe conference.

    "If someone wants to have a pop at the UK, they are unlikely to go for the government web servers. They will go for the lower hanging fruit - companies which are seen as good representatives of the country.

    Later, he told the BBC that the rise in cyber attacks originating in China was a convenient cloak for western countries to disguise their own cyber espionage activities.

    "It's too easy to blame China," he said. "In fact, legitimate countries are bouncing their attacks through China. It's very easy to do, so why not?

    "My evil opinion is that some western governments are already doing this."
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    Default Couldn't agree more...

    I think they are all moving into the space that NSA should be holding down, but that is my pathetic opinion.

    This just does not seem like a core competency of an Air Force. What is even more worrying to me is that the USAF is putting electronic warfare under Cyber Command as well. EW in the USAF has been ignored ever since they decided it was part of "information operations" and not simply a part of the overall offensive counter-air campaign. Now we can't even figure out how to field a stand-off jammer, and legacy EW suites languish. I can't believe that this is going to help matters at all.

    George

  20. #40
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    Default Cyber Warfare: Strategy & Tactics

    Written by Kenneth Geers, U.S. Rep to the Cyber Center of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia

    National security leadership must dramatically improve its understanding of the technology, law, and ethics of cyber attack and defense, so that it can competently factor cyber warfare into all stages of national security planning.

    Strategy

    1. The Internet is vulnerable
    2. High return on investment
    3. The Inadequacy of cyber defense
    4. Plausible deniability
    5. Participation of non-state actors

    Tactics

    1. Espionage
    2. Propaganda
    3. Denial-of-service
    4. Data modification
    5. Infrastructure manipulation

    National critical infrastructures, most of which are in private hands, are increasingly connected to the Internet. However, because instant response is often required, and associated hardware may have insufficient computing resources, security may not be robust. The management of electricity may be especially important for national security planners to evaluate, because electricity has no substitute, and all other infrastructures depend on it.

    All political and military conflicts now have a cyber dimension, whose size and impact are difficult to predict. The amplifying power of the Internet means that future victories in cyberspace could translate into victories on the ground, creating new, critical questions for national security planners to answer.
    Much more at the links...
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