[iwar] [fc:War.2001:.hacking.the.enemy.to.pieces]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-05 19:36:42


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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 19:36:42 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:War.2001:.hacking.the.enemy.to.pieces]
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War 2001: hacking the enemy to pieces 
In the information age, the battleground is cyberspace and troops are computer-savvy

By Krista Foss, Security News Portal, 10/5/2001
<a href="http://www.securitynewsportal.com/article.php?sid=1832&mode=thread&order=0">http://www.securitynewsportal.com/article.php?sid=1832&mode=thread&order=0>

"This is the new face of warfare," said Marcus Rogers, a Winnipeg-based
researcher and author on terrorism, cyber terrorism and information
warfare and the director of secure e-business for the accounting firm
Deloitte &amp; Touche.  "We need to play on an even battleground in this
new era of network-centric warfare -- other nations are certainly
developing the capacity."

He says information warfare specialists are being used defensively,
offensively and to enhance traditional military operations.  The
National Defense University's school of information warfare and
strategy, based in Washington, is one of many institutions that trains
this new generation of soldier in computer sciences, engineering and
systems operations. 

The school's official definition of information warfare is "actions
taken to preserve the integrity of one's own information systems from
exploitation, corruption or destruction while at the same time
exploiting, corrupting or destroying an adversary's information systems
and in the process achieving an information advantage in the application
of force."

In the Sept.  11 attacks, four hijacked passenger jets were crashed in
New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, killing more than 5,000 people. 
Islamic militant Osama bin Laden and his organization, al-Qaeda (The
Base), are the prime suspects. 

The U.S.  information warfare specialists, employed in the armed forces
and working jointly with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, would have
been the first to spring into action, Mr.  Rogers said. 

"Information warfare specialists would be scanning microwave and radio
frequencies, intercepting cellphones and satellite transmissions,
monitoring the Internet and scouring cyberspace for any information as
to the whereabouts of bin Laden and al-Qaeda," he said. 

"They would be looking for signs of the defensive posture of al-Qaeda
and any supporting nations and for evidence of counterstrike capability. 
"They would also be tracking down bank accounts, and possibly wiping
them out electronically, if they are used to fund the terrorists."
Canada's military has been criticized for its lack of sophistication and
resources in traditional military hardware: jet fighters, tanks and
smart bombs.  But its lack of information-warfare capability is also a
concern. 

"There are signs we are doing well and signs that we are not doing
well," said Robert Garigue, a former military officer who until 1998
worked for the Department of Defence developing ways to protect Canadian
military systems from cyber terrorism and who is now vice-president,
security, for the Bank of Montreal in Toronto. 

"One of the things the military doesn't do right now is have an
information career path for officers.  Is there enough people? Well, no. 
Because we are becoming more and more dependent on computers." The
foundations of daily life in Western society -- banking, stock
exchanges, transportation controls, utility grids and nuclear power
stations -- depend on a vast, networked information infrastructure.  The
potential for destabilizing a society through cyber attacks against
banking or telecommunications systems becomes huge, Mr.  Rogers said. 

Two years ago, two professional soldiers in China's People's Liberation
Army proposed a new way of waging war.  Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang
Xangsui published a new military strategy calling for "unrestricted war"
and advocated using terrorist and cyber attacks on critical
infrastructure as a way to keep a superpower adversary reeling.  Still,
Roger Molander, a senior researcher with Rand's National Defense
Research Institute in Santa Monica, Calif., isn't ready to get into a
lather about a potential cyber-terrorist attack from bin Laden
supporters.  He questions whether they have the sophistication.  "It's
still down the road.  Or at least we still think it's down the road."

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