Slashdot Mirror
Operation 'Cyber Storm' Starts Tomorrow
cyberbian writes "Federal Computing Week reports that the Department of Homeland Security have moved up their rescheduled cyber security exercise, designed to test enterprise and private sector alike. The tests are expected to run from February 6-10, and are intended to gauge the state of readiness for a cyber attack on critical infrastructure. FCW also reports that the scope of the fake attacks will be global, and they are coordinating with partners in Australia, Canada and the UK."
How much damage they'll end up doing?
I'm glad that they are doing something like this, in the UK people have been estimating that "in the city" only around 50% of companies are anything like prepaired for an attack of this nature, hopefully this will show people what needs to be done...
I hope no real attacks take place during this time though...
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
And then they discover they accidently broke the internet.
Then go home for a couple days!
WooHoo!
So all you need to do is find one unlucky zombie on a government IP, and use it to break in to random computers, and people will assume you're a good guy?
Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say on behalf of the internet community: Thank Ford for the Department of Homeland Security.
Exactly what can be expected in regard to online use just after the Superbowl? Will there be more or fewer people online during that time? I expect there'll be more. People will want to celebrate and complain about whomever won or lost. If we were under a cyberattack, then certainly that would be the best time to do these tests.
"IT-ISAC has eight members participating in the exercise, the center's Web site states. The participants are Cisco Systems, Citadel Security Software, CA (formerly Computer Associates), Computer Sciences Corp., Intel, Microsoft, Symantec and VeriSign."
In other words, little, if any.
The bits on the bus go on and off... on and off... on and off...
Last time i saw something like this, our 'organizataion' was tested.
They caused more damage to us with childhood tactics ( like locking out system accounts ) than doing 'real' tests. We were screwed for a week trying to undo damage, and trying to figure out how it was happening again and again.
Posting anonymously for obvious reasons.
http://www.rense.com/general69/redsynth.htm
Call For A Red Synthetic Terror Alert
By Webster Griffin Tarpley
2-5-6
The intense international intelligence warfare pattern mandates a move to red alert -- the highest vigilance -- for the upcoming superbowl Sunday in the USA and the Turin winter Olympics, and perhaps all the way to the March 20 opening of the Iranian oil bourse, which spells the beginning of the end for six decades of world dollar hegemony.
The Iranian oil bourse opens March 20 -- this is the strategic key. The Cheneyacs want war to stop the bourse from deflating the sick US dollar. The crumbling of European resistance has given new strength to Condi's nuclear lynch mob against Iran, with that country about to be hauled before the UN Security Council. At that point, a wider Middle East war will be immediately in sight.
The Mohammed cartoons are a transparent provocation by NATO intelligence through a Danish right wing newspaper of limited circulation. This classic US-UK provocation has had an enormous effect. Islamic circles need to realize that this is a cynical ploy designed to lead to an attack on Iran and thence to general war, and treat it that way.
We had the latest British terror bombing in Achwaz, Iran last week (Jan. 24), killing several people. The trial of British-backed terrorists in Iran starts in about 2 weeks. The situation of the British invaders in southern Iraq is becoming critical. Afghanistan is about to boil over. The US and North Korea are trading nuclear war threats across the 38th parallel. Russia has accused the British of flagrant spying, and there is every reason to believe this charge. Venezuela has expelled a US military attache as an obvious agent provocateur; now the US expels top Venezuelan diplomat. Now the fake provocation of an alleged IED bomb near a school in Gaiithersburg, Maryland in the Washington DC suburbs, impacting the personnel of the Bush administration and the federal government in general; many top officials live within a few miles of this school.
There was real hysteria in the corridors of the US government this afternoon. A new Sudden Response terror drill is taking place at Charleston. South Carolina. Will this drill go live in the way other drills went live in London last July 7? The latest leaked Downing Street memorandum reveals Bush as proposing to send US U-2 spy planes disguised in UN colors to be shot down over Iraq to secure a pretext for the illegal aggression there. This reveals Bush in the Operation Northwoods tradition, ready to commit acts of war in the form of impeachable offenses.
Detroit is a burned-out auto city, expendable in the eyes of the finance oligarchs. Turin, Italy, home of FIAT, is another expendable burned out ex-industrial city. An action in Turin would push the Europeans to join the US in the attack on Iran. The sinking of the Egptian ferry in the Red Sea may well fit into this pattern, but this is not clear. The Patriot Act has not been renewed. Top neocons face indictment and jail sentences.This is the classic moment when the neocons and their rogue network backers go back to Leo Strauss's nihilist revolution, capable of throwing humanity back into the Stone Age.
Webster Griffin Tarpley Washington DC
February 4, 2006
I'm a lot more worried about the damage caused by the "Tiered Internet" proposals currently being bandied about. All network admins know that the damage caused by attackers is insignificant compared to the damage caused by upper management and government meddling.
This is like Microsoft checking its own code for security holes. If there is a weakness then resources could be better used by trying to eliminate the weakness instead of finding theoretical ways it could be exploited - because there's always the way you didn't think of and THAT's the one that's going to get you.
Homeland security is going to turn around and tell everyone that we're NOT ready for a "terrorist cyber attack"? No, it makes much more political sense to say "see? Our networks can survive millions of nerf-ball hits; more funding please."
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Aren't "enterprise sector" and "private sector" the same thing (as opposed to "government sector")? When did we install Communism? Did I miss something?
Do you Gentoo?
Hrm, wonder how this will affect companies planning stress tests of their systems during that time period. Like for example the DDO stress test that starts on the 7th. It's wonderfully nice of the government to move the schedule at the last minute like this. I'm sure they won't be specifically targeting a small internet games company like Turbine... but I'd feel for any company who's planned tests will get nice and invalidated because the government decided that'd be a nice day to DDOS them.
I can see it now...
FROM: cyberstorm@dohs.gov
TO: unlucky.recipient@yourcompany.com
SUBJECT: Participation in Cyber Storm exercise
Your company has been identified by the Department of Homeland Security as potentially vulnerable to cyber attack. During the week of February 6th - February 10th, the DoHS will be testing cyber infrastructure as part of our Cyber Storm security exercise. In order to participate, you will need to supply us with [insert favorite hacking data here]...
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
The headline made me think of an old sierra game set in the the Earthsiege (WOO GIANT ROBOTS) universe: Misson Force: Cyberstorm (its abadonware, download here). I picked it up from a bargin bin about 2 years after it came out, one of the only turn-based games I've ever enjoyed. Probably not related, but then again the flunkie that came up with the name could well be a gamer.
I thought for a minute there they were talking about IRC back in the late 90's. Now THERE was a storm of cybering for you. Not that I would..ummm...have any personal knowledge or anything.
Now that Cyberdyne has been established, I wonder how much longer it will be until SkyNet is initialized?
Ryan - http://www.thecosmotron.com/
The likes of Osama bin Laden will use crude methods to inflict maximum harm to us, just like they are doing in Iraq with 5 of our GIs already dead in this month alone. They are using a very well known tactic: The IED. And so far nothing in our technologically superior army has an answer to it. Sad indeed. When wil these politicians learn?
Anyone know If it's possible to sign up for such a thing? I guess not but without special clearence; but would be fun.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire
http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/conspiracy_theory/the _paranoid_mentality/The_paranoid_style.html
Pshhh, big deal. This has already done before by Alan Greenspan, my hero. The only difference is he didn't have some big PR campaign. He's old school, and just slapped those bitches up the side of the head without any warning at all.
What, you don't believe me? See this historical proof and prove it to yourself. Alan Greenspan is a l33t h4xor, that fact is undeniable!
Hero of Allacrost, a FOSS RPG for *NIX/*BSD/OS X/Win
...the government didn't really do any testing at all, and just used this as a trap to find real hackers. Just stay extra-vigilant for a few days, and find the people attempting to go under the radar...
As a precautionary measure, should I set fire to all my machines running XP???
remember what happened last time the govt. had a "security" exercise on 9.1.1.?
Since when where enterprise and the private sector anything other than the same thing?.... and more importantly, which one did the OP think refered to government?
FCW also reports that the scope of the fake attacks will be global, and they are coordinating with partners in Australia, Canada and the UK."
I didn't know that computers only speak English.
Hmmm... learn sumthin new evry day.
While I think this article is talking about a table top or paper drill, it does hint at a bigger question. How do you do realistic pen testing on a system that must be 100% configuration controlled? I think you have to assume that the Pen Testing will take the system into an unknown state though you should know the range of that unknown state, (it may not effect the entire system.) From that you can conclude you need to have a plan to take the system or parts of the system from an unknown configuration state back to the current baselined configuration state. But is this possible? How long does it take? What methods do you use? Does anyone on slashdot have any experience with such a plan? Has anyone had to write one or even enact one?
I do security
I doubt the Department of Homeland Security has anything like a globally distributed botnet, or permission to run DDoS like a real attacker might. The virus attack on the Russian stock market is not something goverments can replicate.
The only winners will be the companies who sell the extra bandwidth!
Zen tips: Pay attention. Don't take it personally. Believe nothing.
So, they're just going to submit a bunch of web sites to Digg and Slashdot. Big Deal! :-)
If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
"Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks."
Proof by very large bribes. QED.
"I expect there'll be more. People will want to celebrate and complain about whomever won or lost."
Wow, spoken like a true geek. Yes I can see it now... the jocks watching the last seconds of the game, guzzling down beer, pizza, and chicken wings... game over! Let's run to our computers and discuss the big game over an electronic forum 0_o
Was the massive blog outtage yesterday part of this, and someone just jumped the gun a little? What's to stop the feds from shutting down huge pieces of the net, or replacing pages with look-a-likes that have information they want you to believe, as opposed to real information? Phed Phishers in other words, geek goose stepping order followers.
This crap is weird. I fully expect them to pull off another false-flag terrorist attack and use that as an excuse to do real damage to the freedom parts of our society, they have already shown that is their primary agenda and that is exactly what they have been doing. Controlling the web could be part of it.
Suppose their attacks allow them to get into various machines and networks, what will they do with the data that is accesible in those machines?
Is this just another end run around warrantless search and seizures of data?
What kind of oversite is there on this process and how can we be sure the information is not used, stored, or otherwise desiminated among the various US spook agencies and their foreign lackeys.
And how much do you want to bet Google will be a very well excercised target since they have been fighting the governments abuse of power already.
My next Slashdot post will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
They should invite crackers around the world to participate, and not have some "carefully controlled environment" if they really want to test their system.
.. especially since I'll be travelling that week. This will likely play bloody havoc with the airlines.
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
...what could possibly go wrong?
If their simulated attacks actually expose any problems, I wonder if the rest of us will experience any disruptions of the net in general that week. Sure would suck if they found some hidden flaw in whatever the backbone is running on, and crashes it somehow (although I guess that's the point, is to find these flaws or problems).
Stasis is death. Embrace change.
http://www.april-fools.us/internet-cleaning.htm
Original Message - 1996
DO NOT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET FROM 12:01 AM GMT ON FEB. 29 TO 12:01 AM GMT, MARCH 1 !!
*** *** Attention ***
It's that time again!
As many of you know, each leap year the Internet must be shut down for 24 hours in order to allow us to clean it. The cleaning process, which
eliminates dead email and inactive ftp, www and gopher sites, allows for a better-working and faster Internet.
This year, the cleaning process will take place from 12:01 a.m. GMT on
Feb. 29 until 12:01 a.m. GMT on March 1. During that 24-hour period, five powerful Internet-crawling robots situated around the world will search the Internet and delete any data that they find.
In order to protect your valuable data from deletion we ask that you do the following:
1. Disconnect all terminals and local area networks from their Internet
connections.
2. Shut down all Internet servers, or disconnect them from the Internet.
3. Disconnect all disks and hardrives from any connections to the Internet.
4. Refrain from connecting any computer to the Internet in any way.
We understand the inconvenience that this may cause some Internet
users, and we apologize. However, we are certain that any
inconveniences will be more than made up for by the increased speed and efficiency of the Internet, once it has been cleared of electronic flotsam and jetsam. We thank you for your cooperation.
Kim Dereksen
Interconnected Network Maintenance staff
Main branch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sysops and others: Since the last Internet cleaning, the number of
Internet users has grown dramatically. Please assist us in alerting
the public of the upcoming Internet cleaning by posting this message
where your users will be able to read it. Please pass this message on to
other sysops and Internet users as well. Thank you.
What if it is just a cover up of the major sniffers being installed at all major routes. Oh wait they would never do that. Maybe google just pissed them off for not giving the data and they are going to dos them and say oops it was just a test gone bad.
SO, Yeah, Who pays for the damage if this "fake attack" Does damage.
and since the intent of all attacks are to do damage...
also, this had better be a volentary program.
They'll conduct the exercise, discover that there are serious problems--just as every other evaluation of our cybersecurity has discovered. They'll make a report, the report will note that to fix things it would be necessary to spend money. And involve uncomfortable decisions like reducing our dependence on a monoculture of Microsoft Windows.
The decision-makers will decide (as they have so far about everything involving actual defensive measures involving the homeland that they would prefer to spend the money in some other way. They'll appoint yet another cyber defense "czar" as evidence of action, he will start with the clear understanding that the one thing he can't do is get the funding to implement the measures recommended in the report.
And when the actual attack happens and is devastating, they'll say nobody could have anticipated it.
See also Hurricane Pam
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
I have a great many fond memories of that game.
And while they plan all these, our southern border with Mexico remains wide open to even more dangerous folks from all over the world.
So you're saying that because there is one hole in our defenses, we should not attempt to plug other holes? Are you saying it's a zero-sum game, and that while the DHS is attempting to thwart cyber-attacks, suddenly all of their other efforts have come to a standstill?
When wil these politicians learn?
You mean, when will government cyber-security experts learn. It seems they're trying to do what they can to keep their area of responsibility protected. If they didn't, certainly there would be plenty of people ready to give them a hard time for "not learning" that protection was necessary.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
And people wonder about the existence of crazed fundamentalists in the middle east? We have the exact same kind of mentally unbalanced (or damaged) people in the west as presented on behalf of Webster Griffin Tarpley by the Anonymous Coward parent poster.
2 20.stm). By the logic of the extremist pseudo-muslims any picture or photograph should be equally protested but instead they actually break the intentions of Islam in their idolatry of the prophet Mohammed and sadly as such (in my personal opinon) showing how Islam is falling into the same trap as those "christians" who idolate Jesus Christ as a replacement of God.
"The Mohammed cartoons are a transparent provocation by NATO intelligence through a Danish right wing newspaper of limited circulation."
I'm sure that makes much more sense to the conspiracists than the issue as put forward by both the original publisher (making a point against self-censorship by the media on muslim issues) as well as the outbursts of support by other newspapers and magazines all over europe (and even in Jordan and Egypt!) and international press organisations correctly coming to the defence of freedom of speech.
If people like Webster Griffin Tarpley had a few more firing synapses they would instead speculate about the following peculiarities:
- the original publishing happened last year in september, there was zero international outcry at that point in time (only local danish discussion on the topic between civilized muslims and the rest)
- yesterdays burning of embassies in Syria is extremely unlikely to have happened without the approval of the brutal Syrian Baath-party dictatorship. Violent destruction of embassies would normally be regarded as a declaration of war as it's the sovereign domain of whatever country the embassy belongs to
- todays attacks on embassies in Beirut, Lebanon was in all likelihood initiated by people who ideologically are extremely closely related to Syria, if not also directly related to them (Hamas-supporters)
- the Beirut attacks very quickly shifted focus onto attacks on Lebanese christians and christian churches, so quickly as to make it likely that the inital attacks were a cover for trying to reinflame the unrest in Lebanon
- Norwegian imams as well as other western islamic representatives are urging for calm, non-violence, as well as against the hijacking of the issue by islamic extremists (most muslims are intelligent rational people and have nothing in common with the extremist rabble)
- there has been next to none, or at least extremely small levels, of muslim outcry on the issue in Norway (I'm a norwegian btw). In general I would say norwegian muslims are better integrated into society (through no small effort of the muslims themselves as should be expected) than danish ones although we of course have issues in Norway too. I live next door to the oldest mosque in Norway (and a very pretty one imo) and have had enough muslim friends and aquaintances both in Norway and South East Asia to feel confident in saying this
- respect for the prophet Mohammed is one thing, the prohibition against depiction in Islam actually isn't specifically about the prophet Mohammed but about all living things and intended to discourage idolatory! (might want to read http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4678
But no, instead of all the above Webster Griffin Tarpley concocts paranoid delusions based on ignorance of how NATO even works and is structured (all NATO decisions are made by unanimous approval of all members). The level of idiocy required to hold the opinions of the AC is the same as that which is required to claim Denmark and other scandinavian countries are ruled by "Zionists" as some middle east government representators have said... lol
--
this additional sig includes a portrait of Mohammed in support of freedom of expression, feel free to reproduce it
this comment is provided "as is" and without any express or implied legibility or congruity [...]
Suppose their attacks allow them to get into various machines and networks, what will they do with the data that is accesible in those machines?
Well, according to TFA, "IT-ISAC has eight members participating in the exercise, the center's Web site states. The participants are Cisco Systems, Citadel Security Software, CA (formerly Computer Associates), Computer Sciences Corp., Intel, Microsoft, Symantec and VeriSign." So those companies seem to have signed up and are ready to have their networks accessed as part of the excercise. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, your supposition is groundless.
Is this just another end run around warrantless search and seizures of data?
If you were going to attempt to grab all sorts of data, would you publicize it and bring in several nongovernment participants? It seems that bringing in so many actors and making it all public would violate several of the tenets of Black Helicopter Ops 101.
What kind of oversite is there on this process and how can we be sure the information is not used, stored, or otherwise desiminated among the various US spook agencies and their foreign lackeys.
In the House of Representantives, the House Committee on Homeland Security provides oversight. In the Senate, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs provides oversight.
And how much do you want to bet Google will be a very well excercised target since they have been fighting the governments abuse of power already.
Google is fighting a subpoena from the Department of Justice. If you think that the Department of Homeland Security automagically does the bidding of the DOJ, you've obviously never worked in government. The people at DHS aren't morons, and though the structure of the organization almost guarantees incompetence, I doubt they would be so stupid as to "target" Google in this exercise.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
real 'terrorist' attacks usually occur during simulations:
1) New York
2) London
3) Internet?
4) Profit
Post the IP's of the attackers here, and we'll have a run at them while they carry out their attacks. Let's see just how ready they are for a response to the attacks. It seems only fair to me, and would be an appropriate part of the test as well.
...spout political nonsense. In the real world, the best defense is a great offense. It is amazing your mod points are so high. I guess there are a lot of people like you.
The result of this is very unlikely to be validation where they pass with flying colors. The more likely result is that some number of areas will fail and be improved in response.
There's no perfect system. Initiatives like this are simply aimed at making existing systems better. It's quite possible that the initiative itself could be better as well. However, rather than waiting for the perfect initiative, it's better to go with what one has now and repeat (better) later.
"Cyber" this and "Cyber" that. I'm just about as sick and tired of that term as I am "rampant piracy". Somehow, I think certain portions of the United States Federal Government, specifically those involving national security, have been taken over by either small, odious children or full-grown chimpanzees. At this point I can't really tell which.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Then go home for a couple days!
But what if you're not running Windows?
OK, the government's going to play tiger team tomorrow. I guess I'll oblige by creating a 'honey-pot'. I know! I'll make a directory called "stolen_mp3s" and softlink it to /dev/random ! That ought to slow 'em down...
The Government is going to attack company websites? What if they knock one off line can the company sue them for damages. Ok the company should be in a position that it can survive the attack but last I heard it wasn't illegal to run servers that can be compromised. This sounds like a really bad idea even for the Government.
I used to have a better sig but it broke.
The type of test I participated in wasn't invalidated by this lack of surprise because it was deliberately designed to expose procedural flaws and systematic gaps that fell between different areas of responsibility. The lack of surprise was a nuscience in the design of the test, but it was planned for and accounted from the very beginning. Having an announced testing window was a necessary security feature and not a flaw in the test.
These tests either were performed within the announced window of time or they were cancelled outright. Delay was out of the question. Delay was insecure. Cancelled tests were a nuscience for the test teams because it meant almost a month delay before they'd be allowed to perform the test, but the insecurity introduced by saying "Oh wait, the tests are back on schedule" or "Oh we'll just delay the test window a few days" was unnaceptable to security.
I've heard a time (though I didn't participate) in a test where a piece of equipment failed the day before the two day test window. Without this piece of equipment data measurements would be fuzzed by an order of magnitude on one part of the test. A replacement was ordered but on the day the tests were to begin it still required a day of prep time. To you and me our first inclination might be to simply delay the test a day. That was not acceptable to the security team. The test went on with the bad piece of equipment and the test results were compromised but in only that part of the test. Another test window was scheduled six weeks in the future and the test team's budget was increased to have redundant pieces of certain test equipment on hand and ready as part of the design of new testing procedures.
What seems almost absurd was the idea of moving forward the timeframe of an announced security test. There were times when test teams were very ready ahead of time, but they used the time to double and triple check their preparation, take documentation for next test, meet and discuss the game plan, and use the extra time productively while waiting for the arrival of the upcoming announced testing window. Why not just go ahead with the tests? Because once again, moving the announced test window was a security risk. And performing the test outside a test window was considered a break-in by security, and unnecessary for properly designed tests by the test teams.
I know banking security differs from computer security, but it still seems rather insecure and dangerous to move an announced test window period at all. What's worse is that it seems unnecessary, unusual, and odd to move the test period forward. If the test requires surprise, then it's either a poorly designed test or it was compromised by having an announced test window to begin with. If we're dealing with computer security on an international scope, then it would seem incredibly helpful to take the extra test time and double check the game plan. Tests inside a single banking company with far fewer issues of timing, language, and politics welcomed an extra week to plan and prepare before most tests of even moderate complexity. It seems arrogant, ignorant, or careless to say "Oh, we don't need this extra time before the tests. We'll deliberately tamper with our security and throw away this extra time we could use to prepare and coordinate this very complex international test."
So what's really going on here?
By Adam Brookes
BBC Pentagon correspondent
A newly declassified document gives a fascinating glimpse into the US military's plans for "information operations" - from psychological operations, to attacks on hostile computer networks.
Bloggers beware.
As the world turns networked, the Pentagon is calculating the military opportunities that computer networks, wireless technologies and the modern media offer.
From influencing public opinion through new media to designing "computer network attack" weapons, the US military is learning to fight an electronic war.
The declassified document is called "Information Operations Roadmap". It was obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University using the Freedom of Information Act.
Officials in the Pentagon wrote it in 2003. The Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, signed it.
The "roadmap" calls for a far-reaching overhaul of the military's ability to conduct information operations and electronic warfare. And, in some detail, it makes recommendations for how the US armed forces should think about this new, virtual warfare.
The document says that information is "critical to military success". Computer and telecommunications networks are of vital operational importance.
Propaganda
The operations described in the document include a surprising range of military activities: public affairs officers who brief journalists, psychological operations troops who try to manipulate the thoughts and beliefs of an enemy, computer network attack specialists who seek to destroy enemy networks.
All these are engaged in information operations.
Perhaps the most startling aspect of the roadmap is its acknowledgement that information put out as part of the military's psychological operations, or Psyops, is finding its way onto the computer and television screens of ordinary Americans.
"Information intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and Psyops, is increasingly consumed by our domestic audience," it reads.
"Psyops messages will often be replayed by the news media for much larger audiences, including the American public," it goes on.
The document's authors acknowledge that American news media should not unwittingly broadcast military propaganda. "Specific boundaries should be established," they write. But they don't seem to explain how.
"In this day and age it is impossible to prevent stories that are fed abroad as part of psychological operations propaganda from blowing back into the United States - even though they were directed abroad," says Kristin Adair of the National Security Archive.
Credibility problem
Public awareness of the US military's information operations is low, but it's growing - thanks to some operational clumsiness.
Late last year, it emerged that the Pentagon had paid a private company, the Lincoln Group, to plant hundreds of stories in Iraqi newspapers. The stories - all supportive of US policy - were written by military personnel and then placed in Iraqi publications.
And websites that appeared to be information sites on the politics of Africa and the Balkans were found to be run by the Pentagon.
But the true extent of the Pentagon's information operations, how they work, who they're aimed at, and at what point they turn from informing the public to influencing populations, is far from clear.
The roadmap, however, gives a flavour of what the US military is up to - and the grand scale on which it's thinking.
It reveals that Psyops personnel "support" the American government's international broadcasting. It singles out TV Marti - a station whi
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
There's always a new initiative out there costing tax dollars/pounds with questionable results. Yes, it might make things a little better, but I doubt it will give value for money compared with buying a security audit from a reputable consultancy (Accenture?).
I get the feeling that governments are slowly trying to take control of the internet, bit by bit (no pun intended). Examples are P2P, Data Protection, DMCA, Patriot Act, etc. This looks like yet another example where the goverment should leave well alone (or outsource).
Zen tips: Pay attention. Don't take it personally. Believe nothing.
Well at least we know Windows is not going to pass this test so if they begin banning unsecure operating systems they got my vote at least on this one.
Interesting how the same "partners" in this exercise are also members of the Echelon eavesdropping initiative.
Against the Cybrids?
This is exactly why the U.N. gets upset about the U.S. controlling the internet, they are going to be taking down things like dns servers and major routing switches for THEIR OWN military testing and everyone else can just suck an egg.
there were 'security exercises' weeks before 9/11 on the WTC towers too...
Up here in Canada, most cellphone receivers have no backup power, so cells stop working. Cable and POTS seem to work for at least 12 hours. My laptop only goes for about three hours before needing a recharge.
On the home front, heating systems require electricity to run, (fireplaces and woodstoves still work.) Radios, TVs and the like only work with batteries (and get harder to buy every year).
In short, I am crippled when the mains go out.
1. Turn off the router
2. Turn off the computer
3. Turn on the tv and watch the next episode of "Another day"
4. Open a couple brew and relax
Isnt that in everyone computer emergency manual ?
I had a friend who tried to get me to crack and jack a company in NY so he could sell security software (encription) to them. I nearly choked when he asked me for this, and I read him the riot act about finding anybody to do this for him. Then tried to explane why it is / was such a bad idea. Now DHS wants to do this on a global scale and what about the countys they bork who are not so keen on the US, WOW this looks like the begining of the end.
[HEADLINES] "WW-III Starts over Data and bandwidth with the US taking the first blood" and that's all I got ta say bout that. YIKES,,, Ok so it might not be that bad but it could be.
Check out http://www.linuxrecruiting.org/
I'd Tell you all my secrets but I lie about my past
The Government has rented hundreds of these.
So which one is it ? Nonsense or a valid real-world tactic ?
Well, the US does seem to be big on pre-emptive strikes nowadays, so my comment was Insightfull, and it is also ruled by neoconservatists, allowing me to put my comment into the "In Soviet Russia" form factor, earning me "Funny" as well. And, of course, since it was possible to detect less-than-absolute adoration of America there, I also got modded troll, leading to a net change of zero from my original +2 (thanks to karma bonus).
Does this explain the matter to your satisfaction ?
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Real attacks are NOT going to be happening by the Govt against systems. If anyone had read the article it is just to test the communication between depts and other orgs in the event of a "cyber attack". You are all very very stupid.
LOL
Weren't there some drills also going on the morning of 9/11?
prices of backhoes and scissors are going up ...
and those *bang* plugs and rj45-2-poweroutlet cables.
cyberattacks are a complete lie and like every good
hacker knows really 95% on social manipulating skillz,ay?
Bin Laden has stated that economic disruption is his goal, and American intelligence analysts haven't argued otherwise. He could be playing a sophisticated game of misdirection, but his propaganda is intended for would-be suicide bombers as much as it is intended for our consumption. It wouldn't suit his cause to misdirect his own followers.
We "bled Russia for ten years until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat," bin Laden boasted in his October 2004 videotape.
The October video, released just before the U.S. election, offers a glimpse into the jihadist strategy. "We are continuing in the same policy to make America bleed profusely to the point of bankruptcy," said bin Laden. His logic is simple: To bring the U.S. to suffer a fate similar to that of the Soviet Union, the terrorists need to drain America's resources and bring it to the point it can no longer afford to preserve its military and economic dominance. As the U.S. loses standing in the Middle East, the jihadists can gain ground and remove from power regimes they view as corrupt and illegitimate while defeating other infidels who inhabit the land of Islam.
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He said the September 11 attacks have "shaken the throne of America and hit hard the American economy at its heart and its core." Bin Laden said that if the U.S. economy suffers enough, Americans will withdraw from those countries mentioned.
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According to bin Laden's math, each $1 al Qaeda has spent on strikes has cost the United States $1 million in economic fallout and military spending, including emergency funding for Iraq and Afghanistan.
"As for the size of the economic deficit, it has reached record astronomical numbers," bin Laden said, estimating the deficit at more than $1 trillion.
Al Qaeda has long made a point of hitting economic targets. The World Trade Center was likely targeted on Sept. 11 both because attacking it would kill thousands and because the twin towers were symbols of America's economic power. In a video that surfaced in December 2001, bin Laden said the Sept. 11 attackers struck the American economy "in the heart."
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It is uncertain what he intends to do with those groups, but one thing is clear: for the first time in over a thousand years, it is possible for the basic power structures in the middle east to change radically. In the past, the roles always stayed the same, even though the persons occupying those roles, and the geographic areas they controlled changed.
Your thesis seems to be that he may have some larger aim, but in the medium term his goal is to establish a new power structure in the Middle East. That is an interesting notion, and I definitely could imagine bin Laden practicing strategic misdirection. I can see why he would want to induce America to wage war in the Middle East, but the larger question of his end goal remains. If not to take down America, what is his real mission?
I could imagine a scenario in which his intention is to take over Saudi Arabia, to topple the House of Saud. Perhaps the only way he figured he could gather sufficient manpower would be through fighting America first, in order to profit from the obviously forseeable recruiting benefits. So he draws in America, which as predicted, roils the Middle East. The Sauds fall, and bin Laden steps in and takes over Saudi Arabia. Perhaps he establishes a new caliphate, encompassing several Middle Eastern countries. He proceeds to attempt to overwhelm Israel with suicide bombers. Then what?
Your line of reasoning, if I'm interpreting it correctly, is interesting. I don't know that the answers are as obvious as any of us think, though. After all, generals have a difficult enough time getting inside the heads of their counterparts on the battlefield. Here, we're dealing with a man from a vastly different culture, who follows a radical version of a religion most Westerners don't understand very well (having read the Koran, I can say that it doesn't tell you much about Middle Eastern culture or politics), and who is playing a very, very long game.
One more nit: I don't buy the inference that if he wanted to, bin Laden could be doing more harm to American troops in Iraq. Comparing casualty rates between the Civil War, WWII, Vietnam, and Iraq is just too loose. There are so many variables. The South kicked the North all over the battlefield in the first years of a traditional army against army war. World War II was another struggle between giant conventional forces. Vietnam, though a guerilla war, was primarily rural and involved large numbers of NVA units that were formed along relatively conventional lines. Casualty rates in Iraq are influenced by the overwhelming capabilities of American combat forces at the unit level, the availability of rapid surveillance data, access to extraordinary medical care, and so on. Assuming that the Americans in Iraq aren't getting their hats handed to them by the insurgents merely because bin Laden is holding back seems a stretch to me, absent any evidence to that effect.
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