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U.S. not ready for cyber attack
By Randall Mikkelsen
Fri Dec 19, 5:03 am ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) The United States is unprepared for a major hostile attack against vital computer networks, government and industry officials said on Thursday after participating in a two-day "cyberwar" simulation.
The game involved 230 representatives of government defense and security agencies, private companies and civil groups. It revealed flaws in leadership, planning, communications and other issues, participants said.
The exercise comes almost a year after President George W. Bush launched a cybersecurity initiative which officials said has helped shore up U.S. computer defenses but still falls short.
"There isn't a response or a game plan," said senior vice president Mark Gerencser of the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting service, which ran the simulation. "There isn't really anybody in charge," he told reporters afterward.
Democratic U.S. Rep. James Langevin of Rhode Island, who chairs the homeland security subcommittee on cybersecurity, said: "We're way behind where we need to be now."
Dire consequences of a successful attack could include failure of banking or national electrical systems, he said.
"This is equivalent in my mind to before September 11 ... we were awakened to the threat on the morning after September 11."
...
How to Prevent a Digital 9/11
Posted By Charlie Martin On December 19, 2008 @ 12:00 am In . Column1 01, . Positioning, Computers, Homeland Security, Internet, Science & Technology, US News | 9 Comments
It starts on a cold November night. You went to sleep, comfortably warm, after listening to the late news: a noreaster coming through, the worst storm in several years. You go to bed, quietly excited at the thought of the fairly certain snow day build a snowman with the kids, maybe work through the email that has piled up, and do a little online shopping; after all Christmas is coming.
Thats not the way it works out, though about 3 a.m., you awaken, cold. The house is too cold. You get out of bed the hardwood floor icy against your feet and when you flip the hall light switch, nothing happens. Odd, the power is out. Automatically, you look out the window and realize the whole neighborhood is dark; in fact, there is no sky glow usually, you can see the red shimmer of New York City on a cloudy night. Its darker than youve ever seen it.
Sounds like a Tom Clancy novel, doesnt it? Its all too realistic, though. This is based on a scenario that was war-gamed by the U.S. Professionals for Cyber Defense in the months after 9/11. I talked it over with Dr. John McHugh, Canada Research Chair in Privacy and Security of the faculty of computer science at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, one of the members of the committee. They investigated whether or not there was a credible threat from a first-strike cyberattack. Their answer was frightening.
Railroads are largely controlled by computers; change a switch while a train is passing over it and you have an instant derail. Gas pipelines are also computer controlled; to my surprise, you can blow them up entirely by computer control reverse the pumps on the ends, pressure builds up in the middle, and something, somewhere, will eventually give way.
Traffic flow, the electrical system, all much the same. To give the most effect, attack during a major storm the noreaster and apply a few kinetic attacks (read bombs) at critical points. Dr. McHugh says they found the most credible attacks combined large-scale cyberattacks with a few small conventional acts of terrorism at vulnerable points, in order to surgically cause the most damage. The attacks were low effort, but high skill, and they could cripple the U.S. economy for years.
You have to fumble in the dark to find the phone; its dead. You try your cell phone; no service. And the house is getting colder.
You were better prepared than a lot of people:
...
Panetta made his remarks under questioning by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) during a Department of Defense (DOD) budget hearing held by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. Referring to a potential cyberattack against the United States, Graham asked, You said something that just kind of went over everybodys head, I think, that theres a Pearl Harbor in the making here. Youre talking about shutting down financial systems, releasing chemicals from chemical plants, releasing water from dams, shutting down power systems that can affect the very survival of the nation. Whats the likelihood in the next five years that one of these major events will occur?
Panetta answered, All I can tell you is that technologically the capability to paralyze this country is there now. When Graham asked whether a growing will existed among enemies of the United States to engage in cyberattack, Panetta said, I think that the more this technology develops, the more the will to potentially use it is going to take place. Graham, who also serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, then followed up and asked, Would you say theres a high probability? I think theres a high risk, said Panetta.
Earlier in the hearing, Panetta fielded questions on a potential cyberattack against the United States from Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who asked him to elaborate on what he meant by a digital Pearl Harbor, whether the Defense Department has enough resources to deal with such a problem, and whether a sense of urgency was necessary. I think there has to be a greater sense of urgency with regards to the cyber potential not only now, but in the future, said Panetta. I think this is a, obviously its a rapidly developing area. The reality is we are the target of literally hundreds of thousands of attacks every day. Its not only aimed at government, its aimed at the private sector. There are a lot of capabilities that are being developed in this area, said Panetta, who served as CIA director in the past.
Im very concerned that the potential in cyber to be able to cripple our power grid, to be able to cripple our government systems, to be able to cripple our financial system would virtually paralyze this country. And, as far as Im concerned, that represents the potential for another Pearl Harbor as far as the kind of attack that we could be the target of using cyber. For that reason, its very important that we do everything that we can, obviously, to defend against that potential, said Panetta. I feel very good about our capabilities in terms of defending our systems with the help of NSA [National Security Agency] and their great technological capabilities. I do think that authorities and the ability to try to not only -- is not only in the defense sector, he said, its in the civilian sector that we have to improve this and I think thats the area where we have to deal with the additional authorities.
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Ha! We have rdean to counter any attack in cyberspace. He can paralyze any system in moments.
Who wants to tell him he has been drafted?
Looks like more than possible:
U.S. not ready for cyber attack - Yahoo! News
U.S. not ready for cyber attack
By Randall Mikkelsen
Fri Dec 19, 5:03 am ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) The United States is unprepared for a major hostile attack against vital computer networks, government and industry officials said on Thursday after participating in a two-day "cyberwar" simulation.
The game involved 230 representatives of government defense and security agencies, private companies and civil groups. It revealed flaws in leadership, planning, communications and other issues, participants said.
The exercise comes almost a year after President George W. Bush launched a cybersecurity initiative which officials said has helped shore up U.S. computer defenses but still falls short.
"There isn't a response or a game plan," said senior vice president Mark Gerencser of the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting service, which ran the simulation. "There isn't really anybody in charge," he told reporters afterward.
Democratic U.S. Rep. James Langevin of Rhode Island, who chairs the homeland security subcommittee on cybersecurity, said: "We're way behind where we need to be now."
Dire consequences of a successful attack could include failure of banking or national electrical systems, he said.
"This is equivalent in my mind to before September 11 ... we were awakened to the threat on the morning after September 11."
...
What it might look like:
Pajamas Media » How to Prevent a Digital 9/11
How to Prevent a Digital 9/11
Posted By Charlie Martin On December 19, 2008 @ 12:00 am In . Column1 01, . Positioning, Computers, Homeland Security, Internet, Science & Technology, US News | 9 Comments
It starts on a cold November night. You went to sleep, comfortably warm, after listening to the late news: a noreaster coming through, the worst storm in several years. You go to bed, quietly excited at the thought of the fairly certain snow day build a snowman with the kids, maybe work through the email that has piled up, and do a little online shopping; after all Christmas is coming.
Thats not the way it works out, though about 3 a.m., you awaken, cold. The house is too cold. You get out of bed the hardwood floor icy against your feet and when you flip the hall light switch, nothing happens. Odd, the power is out. Automatically, you look out the window and realize the whole neighborhood is dark; in fact, there is no sky glow usually, you can see the red shimmer of New York City on a cloudy night. Its darker than youve ever seen it.
Sounds like a Tom Clancy novel, doesnt it? Its all too realistic, though. This is based on a scenario that was war-gamed by the U.S. Professionals for Cyber Defense in the months after 9/11. I talked it over with Dr. John McHugh, Canada Research Chair in Privacy and Security of the faculty of computer science at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, one of the members of the committee. They investigated whether or not there was a credible threat from a first-strike cyberattack. Their answer was frightening.
Railroads are largely controlled by computers; change a switch while a train is passing over it and you have an instant derail. Gas pipelines are also computer controlled; to my surprise, you can blow them up entirely by computer control reverse the pumps on the ends, pressure builds up in the middle, and something, somewhere, will eventually give way.
Traffic flow, the electrical system, all much the same. To give the most effect, attack during a major storm the noreaster and apply a few kinetic attacks (read bombs) at critical points. Dr. McHugh says they found the most credible attacks combined large-scale cyberattacks with a few small conventional acts of terrorism at vulnerable points, in order to surgically cause the most damage. The attacks were low effort, but high skill, and they could cripple the U.S. economy for years.
You have to fumble in the dark to find the phone; its dead. You try your cell phone; no service. And the house is getting colder.
You were better prepared than a lot of people:
...
Rep. Mike Rogers says 95 percent of private sector networks are vulnerable and most have already been hit. What's being stolen? Personal identities, Social Security numbers, money from banks, blueprints for next-generation jobs. At risk are private companies and public agencies. Some estimates put the value of information hacked at up to $400 billion a year. But many companies are reluctant to admit they've been attacked to keep a competitive edge and avoid reactions from shareholders.
The Michigan Republican says hackers have stepped up attacks since the fall, and he points to China and Iran. "They're taking blueprints back, not just military documents, but civilian innovation that companies are gonna use to create production lines to build things," Rogers said. "They're stealing that, repurposing it back in nations like China and competing in the international market." Rogers tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that the U.S. government has, essentially "set up lawn chairs, told the burglars where the silver is ... and opened the case of beer and watched them do it."
A bipartisan bill to shore up the nation's cyberdefenses passed the House, but died in the Senate in the last Congress. Similar legislation could be introduced again as early as this week. For Rogers, the fix is "very simple." "Share information about threats online," he said. "The senior leadership in the intelligence community said that they think that we can stop 90 percent of our problems by just sharing classified cyber threat information."
Source
-- Keep your phones plugged in so that they're fully charged if the power goes out. There are various products available that can recharge a cellphone from a larger rechargeable battery or AA batteries.
-- Even if your cellphone is charged when the power goes out, the wireless network may not work. Some cell towers are equipped with backup batteries and some have generators, but not all.
-- If your power goes out, you could use your car to recharge your phones. Of course, don't run the car in an enclosed space, or you risk carbon monoxide poisoning.
-- Ideally, you should have a corded landline phone as well. They get all the power they need from the line itself. Cordless phones stop working when the power goes out.
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