Cyber attacks on the USA (catch all)

[Strickland]

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is the difference between cyber warfare, cyber terrorism, cyber espionage, and cyber crime? When a sovereign state attacked the Iranian nuclear facilities with a computer virus/worm - was this an act or war, terrorism, covert ops? When the Russian, Chinese, or North Korean governments hack into USG websites and databases, is this a criminal act, act of subversion, or act of war?

[Bob's World]

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is the difference between cyber warfare, cyber terrorism, cyber espionage, and cyber crime? When a sovereign state attacked the Iranian nuclear facilities with a computer virus/worm - was this an act or war, terrorism, covert ops? When the Russian, Chinese, or North Korean governments hack into USG websites and databases, is this a criminal act, act of subversion, or act of war?

Exactly.

My take on this is that the closer it comes to being an individual conducting the action, regardless of the character of the act, it is a criminal act if outside the law.

The closer it comes to being a state, or a state-like organization with political purpose, the closer it comes to being an act of war.

It is the character of the actor and purpose of the act much more so than the character of the act itself that matters.

If it is determined that an act of war has been perpetrated against the US thorugh the Cyber domain, then we respond just as we would to any act of war in any of the other domains (land, sea, air, space, etc). If it is a criminal act we should treat as we do any other criminal act.

The cyber domain is very democratic, in that criminal individuals can wreck havoc to the same degree as war waging states and organizations. That scares the heck out of states. It should.

But that does not make this of necessity a military function.


For the majority of the military I believe there are two broad missions that must be covered:
1. Be able to maximize the cyber domain to conduct one's core operations and activities.

2. Be able to continue to conduct one's core operations and activities even if the cyber domain is severely degraded or denied.

DOD has it's own cyber vulnerablities to address, and similarly has not fully explored how this domain can be maximized. We need to focus on that first. Let Bank of America, Florida Power and Light, thousands of other important institutions figure out, fund and address their own vulnerabilities. What works to stop acts of crime and vandalism will stop acts of war as well.

[AdamG]

The Pentagon official at the top of the US Defense Department’s cyber program says that an attack on the United States’ computer systems is not just on the way but that America is now more vulnerable than ever.

National Security Agency Director Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who also heads the Pentagon’s Cyber Command unit, tells reporters this week that the US is coming close to being hit with a computer attack that could devastate the country. Speaking before a crowd this week, Alexander warns, "The conflict is growing [and] the probability for crisis is mounting.”

The US Congress is currently tasking itself with finding a way to fight cyberterrorism, but the inability to fully find a way to balance security with civil liberties has raised objections across the country. Alexander dismissed these concerns during this week’s address, however, insisting that the NSA does not "hold data on American citizens” and equated the US government’s association with major Internet entities as one that is relatively hands-off.

*

http://rt.com/usa/news/cyber-nsa-way-alexander-858/

* References this :

National Security Agency whistle blowers Thomas Drake, former senior official; Kirk Wiebe, former senior analyst; and William Binney, former technical director, return to “Viewpoint” to talk about their allegations that the NSA has conducted illegal domestic surveillance. All three men are providing evidence in a lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against the NSA.

Drake says the spying affects “the entire country,” citing a “key decision made shortly after 9/11 which began to rapidly turn the United States of America into the equivalent of a foreign nation for dragnet blanket electronic surveillance.”

http://current.com/shows/viewpoint/v...nto-your-life/

[AdamG]

In a blunt admission designed to prod action, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Thursday night told business executives there has been a sudden escalation of cyber terrorism and that attackers have managed to gain access to control systems for critical infrastructure.

In a speech in New York City, Panetta said the recent activities have raised concerns inside the U.S. intelligence community that cyber terrorism might be combined with other attacks to create massive panic and destruction on par with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

http://www.washingtonguardian.com/pa...-cyber-stunner

[AdamG]

When is a cyberattack an act of war?
By Ellen Nakashima, Published: October 26

On the night of Oct. 11, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stood inside the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, housed in a former aircraft carrier moored at a New York City pier, and let an audience of business executives in on one of the most important conversations inside the U.S. government.

Welcome to the new world of “drip, drip cyber attacks,” in the words of Tufts University law professor Michael J. Glennon. The nature of cyberspace, he says, creates the potential for “a mysterious airliner accident here, a strange power blackout there, incidents extending over months or years,” generally “with no traceable sponsorship.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...8_story_1.html

[AdamG]

(Reuters) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned on Thursday that a major cyber attack is a looming threat and could have the same sort of impact as last year's Superstorm Sandy, which knocked out electricity in a large swathe of the Northeast.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90N1A320130124

A jihadist website posted a new threat by al Qaeda this week that promises to conduct “shocking” attacks on the United States and the West.

The posting appeared on the Ansar al Mujahidin network Sunday and carried the headline, “Map of al Qaeda and its future strikes.”

The message, in Arabic, asks: “Where will the next strike by al Qaeda be?” A translation was obtained by Inside the Ring.

“The answer for it, in short: The coming strikes by al Qaeda, with God’s Might, will be in the heart of the land of nonbelief, America, and in France, Denmark, other countries in Europe, in the countries that helped and are helping France, and in other places that shall be named by al Qaeda at other times,” the threat states.

The attacks will be “strong, serious, alarming, earth-shattering, shocking and terrifying.”

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...#ixzz2Jg8CH8dt

[AdamG]

The Energy Department has been hit by a major cyber-attack, which resulted in the personal information of several hundred employees being compromised and could have been aimed at obtaining other sensitive information, The Washington Free Beacon reports.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2JxTT3nw8