The sharing of knowledge among security professionals is vital to helping everyone stay ahead of developing threats.
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Cyber Warfare: Don't Inflate It, Don't Underestimate It
"Inside Cyber Warfare" author Jeffrey Carr on China, Russia, and the one target that worries him most. Interviewed by Mac Slocum.
The public rift between Google and China may have elevated cyber security and cyber warfare into the public's consciousness, but truth is, network attacks and Internet-based espionage are nothing new.
In the following interview, Jeffrey Carr, author of "Inside Cyber Warfare," takes a measured look at cyber attacks -- the major players, the hot spots, the huge problems, and the realistic solutions. He also reveals the one cyber warfare target that keeps him up at night.
Cyber Security Through Public-Private Partnership
by Ellen McCarthy, President, Intelligence and National Security Alliance
This article proposes that the best path to protecting the country from cyber threats lies in partnerships between government and the private sector.
The Global Illicit Economy
A video narrated by Nils Gilman, Monitor Group, Global Business Network
This video explores the nature of illicit commerce throughout the world, whether it involves drugs, weapons, organs or illicit software and cyber crime, drawing parallels and identifying basic rules that define the global illicit economy.
War From Cyberspace
Richard Clarke - Dec. 22, 2009
On October 1, just beyond the Beltway inside Fort Meade, a four-star general became the first head of America’s new Cyber Command. Subordinate to General Keith Alexander are the Tenth Fleet and the Twenty-Fourth Air Force. The fleet has no ships, and the air-force unit has neither aircraft nor missiles. Their weapons are ones and zeroes. Their battlefield is cyberspace.
Security Metrics: Measurements to Support the Continued Development of Information Security Technology
ITL Bulletin, January 2010, Shirley Radack, Editor
More than 100 years ago, Lord Kelvin (William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin), the distinguished British mathematical physicist and engineer, observed that measurement is vital to knowledge and to continued progress in physical science. Lord Kevin stated that: "To measure is to know," and "If you can not measure it, you can not improve it."
A Brief History of Cybercrime
Randy James
President Obama is searching for yet another White House czar to tackle a pressing public concern — and this time it's personal. On May 29 Obama announced a high-level initiative to address the growing problem of computer attacks — against the government, corporations and individuals — by coordinating the various efforts to fight hackers and other computer criminals under the direction of a coordinator already dubbed the "cyber czar."
Cyber Security Alliance Urges Elevated Security Research & Development
(Source: KSBI-TV)
Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the only public policy and advocacy group dedicated exclusively to cyber security, released a report urging the Administration and Congress to work together to take immediate action in the area of cyber security research and development (R&D).
CSIA calls on the federal government to prepare a long-term cyber security R&D plan and increase federal funding to strengthen the resiliency of the information infrastructure and ensure the U.S. maintains its competitive edge in information technology.
The 7 Dirty Secrets of the Security Industry
By Joshua Corman, Network World
Do you ever get the feeling your security providers are failing to tell you the whole truth? We entrust the industry to protect us from unacceptable risk. But we must confront the underlying truth: The goal of the security market is to make money.
Here are the seven dirty secrets of the security industry and practical ways to command honesty from your trusted security providers.
Securing the Corporation - The Alpha and Omega of Risk Management
By Jon Collins, Freeform Dynamics
In the past couple of articles we have considered why security is important and what are the threats faced, both internal and external. Most, if not all organisations will be doing something about IT security, so it isn’t going to be awfully useful to launch into a treatise on how everybody should be implementing IT security. It is perhaps worth revisiting some of the key elements of ‘security done right’, however, so we can consider what’s getting in the way.
If They Can, Why Haven't They?
By Walt Boyes, Editor in Chief, ControlGlobal.com
It’s the time between when the vulnerability is found and when it is fixed by the vendor and the fix is installed by the end user that is scary.
Our critical infrastructure is very fragile. Our power plants, natural gas pipelines, chemical plants and refineries need to be better protected from the threats we know are aimed at them. This was the point made by U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) in his keynote speech at the ACS Control System Cyber Security Conference in August.
Fact Sheet: Protecting Our Federal Networks Against Cyber Attacks
April 8, 2008
Information technology has grown to provide both government and the private sector with an efficient and timely means of delivering essential services around the world. As a result, these critical systems remain at risk from potential attacks via the Internet. It is the policy of the United States to prevent or minimize disruptions to our critical information infrastructure in order to protect the public, the economy, government services, and the national security of the United States.
Cyber Security Threat Assessment
Oct. 22, 2007
Given the constantly evolving nature of cyber threats, the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee hosted a broad educational briefing to provide a Cyber Security Threat Assessment. The threat assessment was designed to show the nature of the cyber security threat; how it has matured, how the capabilities of attackers have evolved, what our vulnerabilities are and how cyber attacks are organized. The Threat Assessment covered a broad array of sectors and break down the nuances in threats to each sector.
Solar Sunrise
In February 1998, a series of attacks on the computer networks of various government and defense agencies, including the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, was launched by exploiting known vulnerabilities in the system. The attacks, which appeared to come from sites in Israel and UAE, targeted key parts of the networks and obtained hundreds of non-classified network passwords. The incidents highlighted the need for improved cyber security measures that, ten years later, have not effectively mitigated the threat. The culprit turned out to be a notorious hacker from Israel and two teenagers from Cloverdale, California.
Here are some links to articles about Solar Sunrise and the Israeli hacker:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/solar-sunrise.htm
http://jya.com/dod-cyberwar.htm
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/video-solar-sun.html
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/the-analyzer-su.html#previouspost
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/11/21/solar_sunrise_hacker_joins_mideast/
Mitnick vs Shimomura
In 1995, one of the most notorious hackers in history, Kevin Mitnick, broke into dozens of corporate, university and personal computers via the internet. His undoing was to break into the computers of one of the world's most renowned cyber-sleuths, Tsutomu Shimomura, who made it his personal mission to track down the intruder. The cat-and-mouse game that ensued played out over weeks and was later turned into a book, "Takedown," by Shimomura and New York Times tech writer John Markoff, and a movie of the same name.
Here are some links with more information:
http://www.gulker.com/ra/hack/
http://tjscott.net/firewall/kevin1.htm
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/mitnick.background/
http://www.salon.com/30dec1995/features/mitnick1.html
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.02/catching.html
Wikipedia also has articles on Mitnick, Shimomura and Markoff.
The Greek Cell Phone Tapping Case of 2004-05
The Greek telephone tapping case of 2004-2005, involved the illegal tapping of more than 100 mobile phones on the Vodafone Greece network belonging mostly to members of the Greek government and top-ranking civil servants. The taps began sometime near the beginning of August 2004 and were removed in March 2005 without discovering the identity of the perpetrators.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_telephone_tapping_case_2004-2005
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jul07/5280
Titan Rain - How Chinese Hackers Targeted Whitehall - Richard Norton-Taylor,
Sept. 5, 2007
Chinese hackers, some believed to be from the People's Liberation Army, have been attacking the computer networks of British government departments, the Guardian has learned.
The attackers have hit the network at the Foreign Office as well as those in other key departments, according to Whitehall officials.
Over-Confidence Is Pervasive Amongst Security Professionals - Framingham, MA - Sept. 11, 2007
CSO Magazine has released the results of the 2007 E-Crime Watch Survey. This year's study revealed that while security events and electronic crimes were staeady against last year's findings, there are real concerns that security executives may be becoming over confident.
Conducted with the U.S Secret Service, Carnegie Mellon Universlty Software Engineering Institute's CERT® Program and Microsoft Corporation, the fourth annual survey polled 671 security executives and law enforcement officials.
The 12th Annual Computer Crime and Security Survey - by Robert Richardson, Director, Computer Security Institute
For the past five years, this survey – perhaps the most widely quoted set of statistics in the industry – has shown a drop in average extimated losses due to cybercrime. This year, however, the tide has turned and respondents have reported a significant upswing.
The Evolution of Cyber Warfare - by Greg Bruno, February 27, 2008
In the spring of 2007, when Estonian authorities removed a monument to the Red Army from its capital city, Tallinn, a diplomatic row erupted with neighboring Russia. Days later, the computerized infrastructure of Estonia’s high-tech government began to fray, victimized by what experts in cybersecurity termed a coordinated “denial of service” attack. A flood of bogus requests for information from computers around the world conspired to cripple the websites of Estonian banks, media outlets, and ministries for days. Estonia denounced the attacks as an unprovoked act of aggression from a regional foe (though experts still disagree on who perpetrated it—Moscow has denied any knowledge). Experts in cybersecurity went one step further: They called it the future of warfare.
The Dogs of Web War - by Rebecca Grant, Air Force Magazine Online, January 2008
US armed forces face “peer” adversaries in only one area—military cyberspace.
After years of claims and counterclaims concerning the severity of national security threats in cyberspace, the picture is at last starting to become clear. Recent jousting within cyberspace has provided clues about what to expect from combat in this new domain.
AETC Provides Path For Cyber Warrior Development Feb. 29, 2008 - The credibility of the Air Force's cyberspace capabilities is founded in the skill of its combat and support crews. In-depth training, high standards for technical competence, strong analytical skills, and personal reliability are key elements that shape its force - the importance of high-quality training cannot be overstated.
IBM Security Report 2007 - This white paper shows how the IBM Internet Security Systems™ X-Force® research and development team discovered, analyzed and recorded new vulnerabilities and the status of varying threats throughout the first six months of this year. pdf
The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publishes ITL bulletins on topics of significant interest to the information systems community.
Forensics Techniques: Helping Organizations Improve Their Responses to Information Security Incidents - pdf
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems - pdf
CRS Report to Congress:
The Economic Impact of Cyber-Attacks - pdf
Cisco Issues Inaugural Report on Global Security Landscape
2007 Edition Provides Threat Intelligence in Seven Risk Categories, Predictions for Next Year, and Guidance from Company's Top Security Experts - pdf
The link below provides a library of White Papers on forensics from WindowSecurity.com:
http://www.windowsecurity.com/whitepapers/forensics/
Mike Andrews of Foundstone has written a timely article on the state of internet security that begins:
"Today’s Internet is a rapidly evolving place. What were once the hot technologies (gopher, FTP, telnet) are quickly being replaced by others (RSS, AJAX, SOAP). Such is the same with security; whereas in the ’90s most attacks targeted networks, today most target the applications that run on top of them.
(Read Article)
This prescient paper from 2001 should be viewed as a clear warning to policymakers and security professionals. Just as the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 defied what many thought possible, cyber attacks could escalate in response to United States and allied retaliatory measures against the terrorists responsible for the attack. This paper examines case studies of political conflicts that have led to attacks on international cyber systems.
Cyber Attacks During the War on Terrorism: A Predictive Analysis - pdf
(More articles and White Papers)