The Iran - Israel Cyberwar Now Spreading To Civilian Targets

New York Times: Israel and Iran Broaden Cyberwar to Attack Civilian Targets 

Millions of ordinary people in Iran and Israel recently found themselves caught in the crossfire of a cyberwar between their countries.

In Tehran, a dentist drove around for hours in search of gasoline, waiting in long lines at four gas stations only to come away empty. 

In Tel Aviv, a well-known broadcaster panicked as the intimate details of his sex life, and those of hundreds of thousands of others stolen from an L.G.B.T.Q. dating site, were uploaded on social media.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: The US has already told Israel that its cyber attacks are counter-productive .... US warns Israel its attacks on Iran nuclear program are counterproductive — NYT (Times of Israel). But I doubt both sides are going to stop. The Israel - Iran conflict is now in the open, and cyber warfare is just another platform that both sides are eager to engage in.

Iran And The U.S. Are Now Waging A Cyberwar

Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero/The Daily Beast/Getty

Business Insider: US Cyber Command reportedly launched a cyberattack against Iran as Trump nixed his military strikes

* US Cyber Command on Thursday launched an operation against an Iranian spy group, despite President Donald Trump's last-minute scrapping of a direct military strike, former intelligence officials said in a Yahoo News report.
* The Iranian group is believed to have supported the limpet mine attacks against two tanker ships earlier last week, which resulted in the US increasing its military posture against the country.
* The group reportedly tracked and targeted both military and civilian vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
* Trump has given significant autonomy to CYBERCOM, the US military's command for cyber-related operations, and authorized it to conduct offensive attacks against foreign adversaries during his presidency

United States Cyber Command on Thursday reportedly launched an operation against an Iranian spy group with ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, despite President Donald Trump's last-minute scrapping of a direct military strike, former intelligence officials said in a Yahoo News report.

The Iranian group is believed to have supported the limpet mine attacks against two tanker ships earlier last week, which resulted in the US increasing its military posture against the country. The group reportedly tracked and targeted both military and civilian vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Read more ....

Update #1: Pentagon secretly struck back against Iranian cyberspies targeting U.S. ships (Yahoo News)
Update #2: Pentagon launched secret digital strike on Iranian spy group: report (The Hill)
Update #3: Iran’s Cyber Army Is Under Attack From All Sides (Daily Beast)

WNU Editor: The Iranians are also launching their attacks .... Iranian hackers wage cyber campaign against U.S. amid ongoing tension (Global News/AP). More here .... Security firms see spike in Iranian cyberattacks (Politico).

Update #4: Iranian hackers wage cyber campaign amid tensions with US (AP)

Inside A Russian Troll Factory

Charles Maynes, PRI's The World/Business Insider: A Russian 'troll slayer' went undercover at a troll factory and found that hundreds of Russians were working as paid trolls in rotating shifts

* "Troll slayer" and journalist Lyudmila Savchuk when undercover at a troll factory for two and a half months to see how it works.
* Savchuk found that the organization was broken up into departments: "news division," the "social media seeders", and a group dedicated to producing visual memes known as " demotivators."
* The operation was run by a local restaurateur who was placed under US sanctions for attempting to interfere with US elections.
* Savchuk believed her work would help Facebook understand how its platform could be gamed, but no longer believes the fight against trolls is winnable.

When a journalist heard a bot organization was hiring writers, she went for it.

Slaying online trolls can be a lonely business. Just ask Russia's Lyudmila Savchuk, who first exposed the story of Russia's disinformation campaign back in 2014.

The journalist and 33-year-old mother of two, Savchuk started noticing websites and social media accounts attacking local opposition activists in her hometown of Saint Petersburg with a frequency she hadn't seen before.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is old news. CNN covered it last year .... How the Russians did it (CNN).

NATO Prepares For Cyberwar

NATO says cyber attacks are becoming more "frequent, complex, destructive and coercive"

AFP: NATO exercises cyber defences as threat grows

In a nondescript brick building on the snowy edge of Estonia's second city Tartu, soldiers in camouflage tap silently at computers. They are troops manning the 21st century's front line.

With its harsh lighting and partitioned desks, the room could be any soulless office. But this is NATO's "cyber range" and these men and women are running the alliance's biggest cyber warfare exercise, an electronic defensive drill dubbed Cyber Coalition 2018.

The activity is taking place just 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border with Russia, seen by the West as the biggest cyber threat after a string of attacks blamed on the Kremlin. Targets have included world sports bodies, the US Democratic Party and the world chemical weapons watchdog in the Netherlands.

NATO says such assaults are becoming more "frequent, complex, destructive and coercive", and are launched not just by state actors like Russia, China and North Korea but also by criminal gangs intent on extortion and "hacktivists" looking to embarrass big organisations.

Read more ....

Update: NATO Readies for Cyber Threats on Russian Doorstep (Blooomnerg)

WNU Editor: 700 participants are involved .... NATO cyber exercise with 700 participants held in Tartu (BNN).

White House Has Approved A Cyber Strategy That Permits Going On The Offensive Against Those Who Threaten U.S. Security

Reuters: White House pledges to step up cyber offense on hackers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House warned foreign hackers on Thursday it will increase offensive measures as part of a new national cyber security strategy.

The move comes as U.S. intelligence officials expect a flurry of digital attacks ahead of the Nov. 6 congressional elections.

The strategy provides federal agencies with new guidance for how to protect themselves and the private data of Americans, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton told reporters.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The National Cyber Strategy presidential directive is here .... NATIONAL CYBER STRATEGY (White House).

More News On The White House Approving A Cyber Strategy That Will Go On The Offensive Against Those Who Threaten U.S. Security

White House wants ‘swift, transparent consequences’ for malicious cyber acts, new National Cyber Strategy says -- ABC News
US takes off the gloves in global cyber wars: top officials -- AFP
US to prioritize attacks against foreign adversaries under new cyber strategy -- The Hill
Bolton: U.S. Will Go on Cyber Offensive -- Multichannel
White House: We're Going to Cyber Harder -- Gizmodo
‘Our hands are not tied’ anymore: White House approves offensive US cyber strategy -- RT

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Warns Of Devastating Cyber Threats To U.S. Infrastructure From Russia, North Korea, Iran, And China

Reuters: U.S. intel chief warns of devastating cyber threat to U.S. infrastructure

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. intelligence chief warned on Friday that the threat was growing for a devastating cyber assault on critical U.S. infrastructure, saying the “warning lights are blinking red again” nearly two decades after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are launching daily cyber strikes on the computer networks of federal, state and local government agencies, U.S. corporations, and academic institutions, said Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.

Of the four, “Russia has been the most aggressive foreign actor, no question,” he said.

Coats spoke at the Hudson Institute think tank shortly after the Department of Justice announced the indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers on charges of hacking into the computers of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and Democratic Party organizations.

Read more ....

More News On The U.S. Director of National Intelligence Warning Of Devastating Cyber Threats To U.S. Infrastructure From Russia, North Korea, Iran, And China

Intelligence chief invokes 9/11 in warning of potentially crippling cyberattacks -- Washington Times
Cyberthreat warnings ‘blinking red,’ says top U.S. intelligence official -- AP
Intel chief Dan Coats says of cyberattacks, "We are at a critical point" -- CBS
US cyberthreat at 'critical point': US intelligence chief -- AFP
US intelligence chief: 'The warning lights are blinking red again' on cyberattacks -- CNN

Are We On The Verge Of A Covert Cyberwar?

US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo arrives at a Senate Select Intelligence Committee closed hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 15, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Lee Ferran, RCL: CIA Chief Hints at Covert Retaliation for Cyberattacks

Senator invokes "Dr. Strangelove" in criticism of secret responses to hacks.

In all fairness, Sen. Angus King warned them out front he was steaming mad.

“The first statement I want to make is more in sorrow than in anger. I’ll get to the anger part in a minute,” the independent senator from Maine said.

King was addressing some of the most powerful men in the country, from the Director of National Intelligence to the chiefs of the CIA, NSA, FBI, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency at Tuesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Worldwide Threats – an annual face-to-face discussion about what keeps the top U.S. national security officials up at night.

The row of stern-faced men waited patiently as King made a brief aside about Russian influence operations and the denials thereof by President Donald Trump, and then King got to “the anger part” – the part that “involves cyberattacks.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This type of warfare has actually been going on for a very long time .... The History of Cyber Warfare (Lewis University).

The Pentagon Wants Cyber-Weapons That Are The Equivalent To A WMD

L.A. Times: Pentagon seeks cyber-weapons strong enough to deter attacks

The folks who brought the world the mushroom cloud are hard at work at a new project – coming up with cyber-weapons so strong that their very existence would deter foreign governments from attacking U.S. databases and critical computer systems.

The idea is to try to adapt a military concept that helped keep the world safe from nuclear bombings during the Cold War to the digital battlefield of the 21st century.

For four decades, the U.S. and the Soviet Union built up massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons but never used them. Part of the reason was the belief on both sides that any attack would be met with an equally devastating counterstrike. Military planners called the idea mutually assured destruction.

Today, plans for “cyber deterrence” aim to develop something analogous for the digital era.

Update: Military still dealing with cyberattack 'mess' -- CNN

WNU Editor: The ultimate cyber-WMD will be a cyber weapon that will completely fry the computer networks of  another country .... while leaving everyone else untouched. Is such a capability possible? My guess is that this is exactly what the Pentagon is looking at right now. Of course the question arises .... if it is possible to develop such a cyber-WMD .... how will you test it?

US Secretary of Defense Hagel Discusses Cyber Warfare

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a retirement ceremony at the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland on Friday. Brendan Smialowski/Reuters

U.S. Cyberwarfare Force To Grow Significantly, Defense Secretary Says -- Washington Post

The Pentagon is significantly growing the ranks of its cyberwarfare unit in an effort to deter and defend against foreign attacks on crucial U.S. networks, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday.

In his first major speech on cyber policy, Hagel sought to project strength but also to tame perceptions of the United States as an aggressor in computer warfare, stressing that the government “does not seek to militarize cyberspace.”

His remarks, delivered at the retirement ceremony of Gen. Keith Alexander, the outgoing director of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command, come in advance of Hagel’s trip to China next week, his first as defense secretary. The issues of cyberwarfare and cyber-espionage have been persistent sources of tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Read more ....

More News On US Secretary of Defense Hagel Discussing Cyber Warfare

Defense Secretary Says U.S. Not Seeking to 'Militarize' Cyberspace -- Wall Street Journal
Pentagon to triple cybersecurity staff to thwart Internet attacks -- FOX News/AP
Cyber-security: Hagel, at NSA headquarters, promises more transparency -- Christian Science Monitor
Hagel encourages 'restraint' in cyber warfare -- USA Today
Hagel Says U.S. Isn’t Turning Computer Networks Into a War Zone -- Bloomberg Businessweek
U.S. Cyber Defense Force to Hit 6,000 by 2016, Hagel says -- NBC
Hagel Seeks Peace Pact for Digital Realm -- New York Times

The Russian - Ukraine Cyberwar -- News Updates

Cyber Battle Apparently Under Way In Russia-Ukraine Conflict -- The Register

Kiev security chief says 'IP-telephonic' attack is targeting Parliament

Ukraine's mobile phone infrastructure is under attack: with equipment installed in Russian-controlled Crimea interfering with the phones of members of parliament, a senior Ukrainian government official alleges.

The head of Ukraine's SBU security service told a press conference on Tuesday that the attack has been running for at least two days.

"I confirm that an IP-telephonic attack is under way on mobile phones of members of Ukrainian parliament for the second day in row," Valentyn Nalivaichenko told the new conference, Reuters reports.

Read more ....

More News On Reports Of Cyber Attacks In Ukraine

Ukraine says communications hit, MPs phones blocked -- Reuters
Ukraine hit by cyberattacks: head of Ukraine security service -- Reuters
Equipment Installed in Crimea to Tap Lawmakers' Phones: Ukraine Security Services Chief -- IBTimes
Ukraine Crisis: Cyber War with Russia Heating up -- IBTimes
The Continuing Low-Grade Cyber Conflict Between Ukraine and Russia -- Lawfare
Hack Attack -- Foreign Policy
The Ukraine-Russia Cyberwar Has Already Begun -- Motherboard
Has Russia Begun Offensive Cyberspace Operations in Crimea? -- Georgetown Securities Review
Hacktivists, Cyber-Spies at War in Ukraine, Russia Conflict -- PC Mag
The Russian-Ukrainian Cyber Conflict -- Lawfare
Russia, the Ukraine invasion, and U.S. cybersecurity implications -- ZDNet
Security Service Of Ukraine Claims Politicians’ Phones Are Under Attack -- Tech Week Europe
Russia Today’s website defaced in ‘Nazi’ hack attack -- Graham Cluley
Why 'Beating' a Russian Cyber Assault on Ukraine Is Trickier Than You Might Think -- Heather Roff, Huffington Post
Russia’s cyberwar against Ukraine is every bit as strategic as its ground offensive -- Quartz
Where are the cyberattacks? Russia's curious forbearance in Ukraine. -- Mark Clayton, Christian Science Monitor

U.S. Government Is Silent On Iran's Cyber Attacks Against U.S. Banks

U.S. Response To Bank Cyberattacks Reflects Diplomatic Caution, Vexes Bank Industry -- Washington Post

The United States, concerned that Iran is behind a string of cyberattacks against U.S. banking sites, has considered delivering a formal warning through diplomatic channels but has not pursued the idea out of fears that doing so could escalate hostilities, according to American officials.

At the same time, the officials said, the disruptive activity against the Web sites has not yet reached a level of harm that would justify a retaliatory strike.

The internal discussion reflects the complex nature of deciding when and how the United States should respond to hostile cyber-actions from other countries. It also reflects the pressure the administration is under from banking industry officials, who want to know what amount of pain or damage will justify a government response.

“We don’t have a clear view of what are the triggers — and we’ve asked,” said one industry official who has been involved in discussions with the administration and who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They’ve just been very coy about it.”

Read more ....

My Comment: This policy of appeasement .... and it is appeasement .... is not going to end well. My prediction .... the Iranians are not going to back down because they regard these cyber attacks as pay-back for U.S. sanctions. In short .... this cyberwar is going to escalate.

The U.S. Is Now Engaged In A ‘Cyber Cold War’ Against China And Iran

West Point cadets work in shifts around the clock to check incoming and outgoing network traffic for suspicious activity. Courtesy West Point Public Affairs

U.S. Engaged in ‘Cyber Cold War’ with China, Iran -- Yasmin Tadjdeh, National Defense

The United States is fighting a secretive “cyber cold war” with Iran and China, a former Department of Homeland Security official said.

While the United States may have a military advantage against countries such as China and Iran, the nations may be more evenly matched in the cyberspace, Paul Rosenzweig, author of the book Cyber Warfare, said at the Heritage Foundation.

“The one thing that is most salient about cyberspace today is it’s the most distributed, dynamic, non-linear environment we’ve ever experienced. It changes every day. It spans the globe in ways we can hardly imagine,” said Rosenzweig, a visiting fellow at Heritage and the former DHS deputy assistant secretary for policy.

Read more ....

My Comment: I concur that most people are totally unaware of what is happening .... and more to the point, they do not care. But I do predict that on the day that a Cyber Pearl Harbor happens .... such as ATMs not working/energy grids breaking down/flight reservations all screwed up/cell networks down .... that is the day that everyone will notice.

U.S. House Intelligence Chairman: America Is Losing The Global Cyber War To China

House Intel Chair Mike Rogers Calls Chinese Cyber Attacks ‘Unprecedented’ -- ABC News

House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said it was “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that the Chinese government and military is behind growing cyber attacks against the United States, saying “we are losing” the war to prevent the attacks.

“They use their military and intelligence structure to steal intellectual property from American businesses, and European businesses, and Asian businesses, re-purpose it and then compete in the international market against the United States,” Rogers said this morning on “This Week.”

“It is unprecedented,” Rogers added. “This has never happened in the history of the world, where one nation steals the intellectual property to re-purpose it – to illegally compete against the country…and I’ll tell you, It is as bad as I’ve ever seen it and exponentially getting worse. Why? There’s no consequence for it.”

Read more ....

More News On House Intel Chair Mike Rogers Calling China's Cyber Attacks ‘Unprecedented’

Lawmakers Dismiss China’s Denials Over Cyberattacks -- New York Times
House Intelligence Chairman: U.S. ‘Losing’ Cyber War -- Wall Street Journal
US losing global cyber war to China - House Intelligence chairman -- RT
Calls mount for US action against Chinese hack attacks -- Phys.org

Another Cyber Attack On The U.S. Government

Department Of Energy Hit By 'Sophisticated' Cyber-Attack - And Authorities Believe Chinese Hackers Could Be Behind It -- Daily Mail

* U.S. Department of Energy was hacked in 'sophisticated' attack two weeks ago, Washington-based paper reports
* Thousands of personal files stolen, and authorities believe hackers could have been after classified documents
* Comes on the heels of New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post hackings

The U.S. Department of Energy suffered a major security breach after a large cyber-attack that targeted computer networks, it was revealed today.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that an unknown group targeted the government organization two weeks ago and harvested the personal information of several hundred of its employees.

While the agency says that no confidential data was compromised, experts said that attackers could have been targeting that data.

Read more ....

More News On Another Cyber Attack Directed At The U.S. Government

Energy Department Hit In The Most Dangerous Cyber Attack Yet -- Business Insider
Sophisticated cyber-attack hits Energy Department, China possible suspect -- FOX News
Energy Department hacked, says no classified data was compromised -- Reuters
Cyber Breach: Energy Department networks hit by sophisticated cyber attack -- Washington Free Beacon
Energy Department Confirms January Hack -- PCMag
US Department of Energy hack disclosed employee information -- Computer World
Add the Department of Energy to the List of Agencies Nailed by Hackers -- Gizmodo
Trade group wants U.S.-China action on cyber security threats -- FOX News/Reuters
China mouthpiece rejects hacking allegations -- Sydney Morning Herald
What To Do About Chinese Cyber Espionage? -- Adam Segal, Council On Foreign Relations

Report: President Obama Has The Authority To Order A Pre-Emptive Cyber Attack

Responding to a Digital Attack: The Times’s David E. Sanger discusses a secret legal review concerning President Obama’s powers in the face of a major cyberattack on the United States.

Broad Powers Seen for Obama in Cyberstrikes -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — A secret legal review on the use of America’s growing arsenal of cyberweapons has concluded that President Obama has the broad power to order a pre-emptive strike if the United States detects credible evidence of a major digital attack looming from abroad, according to officials involved in the review.

That decision is among several reached in recent months as the administration moves, in the next few weeks, to approve the nation’s first rules for how the military can defend, or retaliate, against a major cyberattack. New policies will also govern how the intelligence agencies can carry out searches of faraway computer networks for signs of potential attacks on the United States and, if the president approves, attack adversaries by injecting them with destructive code — even if there is no declared war.

Read more ....

More News On Reports That President Obama Now Has The Authority To Order A Pre-Emptive Cyber Attack

US law permits pre-emptive cyber strikes -- Sydney Morning Herald
Obama Has The Keys To America's Malware Arsenal -- Business Insider/The Atlantic
President Obama Now Authorized To Order Pre-emptive Cyber Attack -- Red Orbit
Pre-emption, Cyberstrikes and Presidential Authority -- Technorati
US military review backs pre-emptive cyber strikes -- Global Post/AFP
President given “broad authority” to order cyber attacks -- Ars Technica
Obama can 'order pre-emptive cyber-attack' if U.S. faces threat -- ZDNet
Report: Obama Can Authorize Pre-emptive Cyber Attack -- PCMag
Today’s NYT and WaPo Pieces on Cyber-Attacks -- Matthew Waxman, Lawfare
Cyberwar, out of the shadows -- Washington Post editorial
Cyber strikes would require Obama's approval under policy being developed -- Defense Systems

China’s Campaign Of Cyber Attacks Is Reaching Epidemic Proportions

The People's Republic of Hacking -- Adam Segal, Foreign Policy

China’s campaign of cyber attacks has reached epidemic proportions. Can anything be done to stop it?

In an extraordinary story that has become depressingly ordinary, the New York Times reports that Chinese hackers "persistently" attacked the newspaper, "infiltrating its computer systems and getting passwords for its reporters and other employees." The attacks began around the time journalists were preparing a story on the massive wealth the family of China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has allegedly accumulated, but the methods, identification, and apparent objectives of the hackers have been seen before in previous attacks on defense contractors, technology companies, journalists, academics, think tanks, and NGOs. Bloomberg, which published a story on the wealth of the family of Xi Jinping, China's top leader, has also been reportedly attacked. While just one case in a sweeping cyber espionage campaign that appears endemic, the attack on the Times does highlight both the willingness of Beijing lean out and shape the narrative about China as well as the vulnerability the top leadership feels about how they are portrayed.

Read more ....

My Comment: It is only a matter of time before internet providers start blocking traffic from Chinese IP addresses, and governments start blacklisting known Chinese companies and individuals who are involved in this trade.

Syria's Brutal Cyberwar

Members of Free Syrian Army, who defected from the regular army, are seen in Kafranbel, near Idlib Syria July 28, 2012. REUTERS/Shaam News Network/Handout

In Syria, The Cyberwar Intensifies -- Defense News

The front pages have been dominated for more than a year by photos of young Syrian rebel fighters, armed and proud, battling an increasingly isolated Syrian military.

But amid the shooting, the atrocities and the bombings, there is a parallel war — a sophisticated cyber insurgency battling a shadowy team working on behalf of the Assad regime. The Syrians’ online conflict may be the most active cyberwar in recent memory, with extraordinary efforts by both sides to sabotage, disrupt and destroy. It may even foreshadow the way cyber battles will play out in future conflicts.

Read more ....

My Comment: If one wants to know what cyberwarfare will look like in the future .... what is happening in Syria right now is a good illustration of what to expect in future conflicts. The fact that many Syrian activists (who use YouTube and social media and who I have been following since the uprising began) are now either dead or have simply disappeared tells me how concerned and serious the Syrian regime is in combating and winning this part of the war. As for the rebels .... cyberspace has become a vital tool for them to coordinate and to win the propaganda war .... and a tool to launch cyberattacks against the Syrian government's own websites and networks.

Why Is The White House Silent On Iran's Cyberwar Against U.S. Banks?

John Bumgarner, a cyberwarfare expert on the Stuxnet computer attacks, works on his laptop computer in Charlotte, N.C., Dec. 1, 2011. (photo by REUTERS/John Adkisson)

US Withholds Evidence For Iran Cyberattacks -- Al-Monitor

Iran is a logical suspect in a barrage of cyberattacks that have hit major U.S. and international banks in recent months.

The so-called distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) – which make it hard to access websites that are being bombarded with requests from hacker-run computers – seem understandable for two reasons: They could be revenge for the computer viruses such as Stuxnet that destroyed more than 1,000 Iranian centrifuges in 2010 and other covert assaults on Iran’s nuclear program. They could also be a response to draconian U.S.-led sanctions on Iranian banks that are making it difficult for Iran to conduct normal trade and especially to repatriate money from oil exports.

Read more ....

My Comment: This White House's silence is understandable (from their point of view) .... if the U.S. government publicly announces that Iran is attempting to bring down the U.S. banking system, the reaction among the American public would be .... to put it bluntly .... filled with concern and possibly panic.

The U.S. banking system is built on trust and reliability .... if a number of U.S. banks do become cyber-damaged to the point that their networks have become compromised and unreliable .... what would you think the response would be .... especially among those who have their financial assets in these banks. Think worse case scenario .... and then think of what a financial run on a bank would look like.

Are British Military Forces At Risk Of A 'Fatal' Cyber-Attack

UK Armed Forces At Risk Of 'Fatal' Cyber-Attack, MPs Warn -- The Guardian

Defence select committee says there are worrying gaps in MoD's cyber-strategy and calls for urgent ministerial intervention.

Britain's armed forces are at risk of being "fatally compromised" by a sustained cyber-attack because the military is dependent on technology that has no proven back-up, MPs have warned .

The potential vulnerability must be addressed urgently, according to the Commons defence select committee, as part of a broader effort across government to face up to the threats posed from cyberspace.

In a withering critique of the government's cyber-strategy, the committee concludes: "The government needs to put in place – as it has not yet done – mechanisms, people, education, skills, thinking and policies which take into account both the opportunities and the vulnerabilities that cyber presents. It is time the government approached this subject with vigour."

Read more ....

More News On British MPs Being Warned That The UK Armed Forces Are At Risk Of A 'Fatal' Cyber-Attack

British military at risk from cyber attack - watchdog -- Reuters
Reliance on computers could see Armed Forces 'fatally compromised' by terrorists mounting cyber attack -- Daily Mail
U.K. Must Focus on Defense Cyber Security, Lawmakers Say -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Cyber attack could defeat UK armed forces, MPs warned -- Scotsman
Cyber Attack Threat: UK Armed Forces Warned -- SKY News

Pentagon Lays The Groundwork For Future Cyberwars

Hatching Cyberwar: Pentagon Incubator Will Manage Weapons -- NextGov

The Pentagon’s research wing is setting up a technology incubator for Defense-funded developers to stitch together computer code to automate offensive cyber operations.

The Arlington, Va.-based experimental lab, called the Collaborative Research Space, will function as the test grounds for Plan X, a four-year funding drive to build a system to “control a cyber battlespace in real-time,” a newly-released contract document on the initiative reveals. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency wants onsite developers to build algorithms and combine code that could make it easier for planners to implement more proactive security measures and launch malware campaigns against adversaries. According to the document, DARPA seeks to build "an end-to-end system that enables the military to understand, plan, and manage cyberwarfare in real-time" and an "open platform architecture for integration with government and industry technologies."

Read more ....

Update: DARPA's Plan X program to define enabling technologies for U.S. cyber warfare strategy -- Military & Aerospace

My Comment: The Pentagon is finally getting it's act together on this emerging battlefield.