The Pentagon has suffered a direct hit from a cyber attack. The weapon used is said to be a hybrid computer worm/virus. Insiders say the hybrid rapidly spread through the thousands of interconnected defense computer networks. A computer worm is different from a computer virus. A worm is thought to be more dangerous because it can run itself where as a virus needs a host program to run. The DoD responded quickly and has taken steps to slow the advancement of the worm/virus by quarantining networks and systems until the worm/virus can be removed.
Cyber investigators have not pinpointed the entry point for the worm/virus, but insider sources point to removable storage devices as the most likely point of infection. This seems to be supported by the fact that U.S. Strategic Command has banned the use of removable media (thumb drives, CDRs/DVDRs, floppy disks) on all DoD networks and computers effective immediately. This incident has been deemed so severe that unprecedented defensive measures have been instituted to protect the military systems.
Oddly enough, all Internet users are being warned to stay vigilant by security experts who believe that Monday, Nov. 24 is poised to be the worst day of the year for computer attacks.
Security experts at Spy-Ops I spoke with said, “If this can happen to the Department of Defense it can happened to any organization.” They went on to say that the cost of this attack could easily reach into the billions of dollars if the worm/virus destroys data. If that’s not bad enough, one expert went on to say that the nightmare scenario is if the malicious code alters data rather than deleting it — a much more difficult problem to resolve.
News of the cyber attack came on the heels of today’s release of the “Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World” document by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The document stated that non-military means of warfare, such as cyber, economic, resource, psychological and information-based forms of conflict will become more prevalent in conflicts over the next two decades.
While the source of the attack remains classified, the usual cast of characters comes to mind. At the head of the list are of course China and the RBN — Russian Business Network. If the attack is found to be sponsored by another country, could this be considered an act of cyber war?
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Absolutely. A well-placed EMP burst ought to get our point across to them, that we don’t like what they’re trying to do to us.
This article and all the articles that mention it seem kind of amusing to me because they are basically describing a regular data security incident in pretty much any corporate environment in the US. These things happen every day and generally tend to push the companies into making the exact same policy decisions regarding removable media. It is extremely likely that this attack came from nowhere nefarious, more likely just someone did something stupid with a usb drive. These incidents are why there are so many security vendors selling endpoint security solutions right now. It is about as common as dirt. What is sad is that the DoD seems to be just as clueless as your basic non-financial company where security policies tend to be lax.
Nick
I have to say I am kind of thinking the same thing!
Jon
The only difference is that you would think DoD would know better and have disabled the USB ports to prevent this on their internal networks!
I’m disappointed. This article points to a sensationalist report that doesn’t say *anything*. Besides that, it’s old news. Wired (i.e. Noah Schachtman) reported this three days ago and provided more information about the virus (which isn’t a new one) and the response to it.
Let’s try and stay on reasonable extrapolation here, not sensationalism
Damn it. For once I agree with Roy. This post is trying to sensationalize.
Here’s the deal on cyber attack. It’s never going to be an act of war. Never. Until bombs drop, it’s not war. Until ground troops invade, it’s not war. Until missiles launch, it’s not war. Could a cyber attack precede a normal attack? Sure. But a cyber attack on its own will not justify retaliation with real weapons. The American public will never accept blowing up Moscow and risking a nuclear exchange (or even blowing up Tehran and risking higher oil prices) simply because someone hacked Barack Obama’s Myspace page.
Skynet.
The real question that everyone SHOULD be asking is “This is NOT a new attack, it has been in the wild for 3 years??? Why did anti-virus software completely fail to neutralize this worm?” The government/military are not as clueless as some seem to think. Their security is taken seriously, is of high quality and is pervasive. The commenter up above is probably correct in that the worm got on the net by someone doing something stupid. But, IMHO, given that 99%+ systems are protected via anti-virus software, updates are regular and enforced, the fact that this worm had invaded far enough to cause the drastic measures named, strikes serious suspicion at the av manufacturers. If this were a previously unknown/unseen virus/worm, okay, I could see the nervousness… that causes havoc… but one that is three years old, and at that based on a worm that is much older? It seems to me that any properly written av code should have recognized its footprint/signature/behaviour and shut it down immediately… So, who dropped the ball and why? And more importantly, if we cannot trust a company that we PAY to protect our equipment for such at the government level… what REAL protection does the average civilian have?
Brian, you say it wont be an act of war until bombs drop, missiles are launched, and that we would never respond with military force. Then you compare destroying the capital city of a major nuclear power(and a non-nuclear one, but still a capital city) because of a myspace hack.
But what if it was not just a myspace hack? What if several amtrack trains derail all of a sudden? How about the ILS systems in a major airport in inclement weather go down? or worse real altitude is reset to below ground level?
And what if the military response was not the complete destruction of a capital city, but(assuming we could accurately trace it) a targeted strike on a hostile intelligence HQ? Or the severing of all fiber optic cables carrying internet into a country?
I believe that cyberwarfare is very much like espionage. It is very deniable. I believe we should become a little more active on the offensive and counteroffensive end. “Im sorry china that all the electricity in one of your provinces went down when we traced back the attack on the pentagon. Must have been some criminal hackers over here. We will do our best to catch them.”
The line will be crossed not when bombs drop, but when someone actually dies as a result of a cyberattack. And then military action IMHO becomes a distinct possibility.
What part of someone being dumb and bringing an infected thumb drive or CD/DVD into work is a cyber attack? Attack assumes that someone picked a target and went after it. In this case a worm that has no idea what network its running on and doesn’t care. 99% of the time these things are isolated early and easily leaving you with machines on network segments than need to be cleaned. It’s a pain the ass but it’s not an attack out to get us.
I for one think the country owes Kevin gratitude and thanks for what he has done to protect our nation against this threat that everyone is underestimating and overlooking! Some of you boneheads on here are so caught up in your own minds that it is sickening. You closed minds are a big part of the problem! Most of you think you know it all and YOU DON’T!!! Kevin – tell them all to go to H -ll and just keep on with the Security Intelligence advisories you publish through your company. Then their little minds won’t be over taxed by informing them of what is going on.
Who is in-charge off protecing the nations computer systems, How can this happen? You all know that this is just the begining and a test of what is coming from the other side of the earth. We better spend some of these billions on protecting our countries computers and secrects. The chinese are developing more advanced weapons and better computer programs years ahead of our America…. It makes me sick!
I still believe that we need to treat cyber attacks like we treat espionage. Foreign entities penetrate our systems to gather Intel or to sabotage. We in turn do the same to them.
Russia had its spies in our nuclear development program. We put spy cameras in the Russian embassy’s Xerox machines in the 60′s. This is just the evolution of it.
Well, now instead of just gathering intelligence, like the spy cam, cyber attacks take it a step further and allow offensive attacks.
I believe that we treat these attacks like espionage and respond in kind. Russia attacks the white house website and replaces Obama’s face with Hillary’s; we in turn hack into the Kremlin webpage and put Hitler’s mustache on Putin.
Everyone (as it relates to “Brian”)
NEVER argue with a fool! Bystanders can’t tell who is who!
What a closed mind!
What if they attack the transportation and cause two trains to crash into each other – OPEN YOUR MIND!
Anti-virus software !! Are you serious? They are not 100% effective. Besides, why the heck does the Pentagon use Windows !! Store sensitive data on the worlds worst OS ? Military intelligence, indeed.
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Kevin – you sir are an unsung hero! You have alerted the nation to the threat that has manifested itself in the cyber attacks on the Whitehouse and the Department of Defense. You will never know how much value and benefit your writing on this blog has brought to our nation.
== The Pentagon ==
The Pentagon is a building that is design in a triangle shape. This design have protection building but it failed on 11 september when airplane crash in Building. The Pentagon is a military that is support by U.S Defence.
The personnel of Pentagon are tough guy that play at soldiers. Pentagon give employee to much rights on the computer. Security Pentagon network is often as leak! The Pentagon block IP ADDRESS ouf outside of USA can not visited website. Pentagon is scared of cyberattact of outsite. Its popular by hackers out of whole world to look in to secret’s of USA Defense computers! Only sad news is that Secret Service arrest you bring in The HELL of Guantanamo Bay a military prison that like on a concentration camp! Some say that this torture of George W Bush. Some soldiers take there USB drive at home
and forget that there child’s download malware on computer that in infected daddy USB Drive.
Some naughty boy make for dad a real fake USB drive that like on US Defence and drop it in daddy rucksack. When dad go to his work and plugin USB drive on computer that are connect on Pentagon Network. Now the malware infected Network of Pentagon but don’t take care a Special Defense Firewall of U.S Defense have block the access inside that make connection to outside. This firewall work fully automatic on a automatic pilote. The infected computer are now offline on network!
Don’t fall for it. We have been duped again. This supposed cyber attack is a hoax, orchestrated from the Obama administration. They are embarking on trying to shove an over 1 trillion dollar healthcare program down the throats of the American people. What better way to convince the millions of people on government disability and other programs that they need the government’s program than to tell them that all their medical records were tragically lost in cyber space. They will not have a “choice” but to give up and give in. Right now, the bill is not very popular and is in trouble to be possibly turned down. There are a majority of Democrats in the Senate and House,but many of the Democrats are planning to vote it down. However, this cyber hoax is just what they need to make it happen. No one will know any better, because all of it is highly classified information. Think strong about this. Don’t be fooled.