Cyber breaches undermine delicate US-China relations

Cyber-warfare has emerged as the spearhead of the new strategic capabilities strongly supported under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. However, extensive cyber-attacks launched from China targeting U.S. core economic, military, and strategic interests pose a major threat to this delicate phase in U.S.-China relations. 

In the last few weeks, the controversial issue of cyber-attacks allegedly sponsored by Beijing has created a great deal of concern for the Obama Administration.

The Budapest Convention and cyber cooperation

The potential ideal of cyberspace has always been a free-flowing, borderless utopia. In this vision, information and ideas travel freely from user to user, with technology overcoming language barriers and common standards ensuring compatibility all around. However, the digital domain is a reflection of the offline world. To keep it running and to maintain security, territory and responsibility have to be demarcated somehow. When an infraction or a dispute takes place, it is natural to turn to the international legal system.

There is no universally accepted international cyber treaty. However, the Council of Europe's Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, which has been in force for a decade and has been ratified by 44 countries, is the closest there is to one. Part of the success of the Budapest Convention can be attributed to its relative flexibility, allowing signatories to choose how they will implement the requirements of the treaty. It seeks to build on existing international cooperation mechanisms, including Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) and extradition agreements.

Document Reveals Growth of Cyberwarfare Between the U.S. and Iran

A newly disclosed National Security Agency document illustrates the striking acceleration of the use of cyberweapons by the United States and Iran against each other, both for spying and sabotage, even as Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart met in Geneva to try to break a stalemate in the talks over Iran’s disputed nuclear program.

The document, which was written in April 2013 for Gen. Keith B. Alexander, then the director of the National Security Agency, described how Iranian officials had discovered new evidence the year before that the United States was preparing computer surveillance or cyberattacks on their networks.

Στο στόχαστρο του κατασκοπευτικού ιού Regin κυβερνήσεις και επιχειρήσεις

Η εταιρεία κυβερνοασφάλειας Symantec ανακοίνωσε ότι ανακάλυψε έναν από τους πλέον εξελιγμένους ιούς που έχουν ποτέ βρεθεί. Ονομάστηκε Regin, πιθανότατα δημιουργήθηκε από κάποια κυβέρνηση και εκτιμάται ότι έχει χρησιμοποιηθεί εδώ και έξι χρόνια εναντίον διαφόρων στόχων ανά τον κόσμο.

Υπολογιστές στη Ρωσία, στη Σαουδική Αραβία και στην Ιρλανδία φαίνεται να έχουν «χτυπηθεί» περισσότερο, σύμφωνα με το BBC. Από τη στιγμή που θα εγκατασταθεί σε ένα μηχάνημα, ο ιός μπορεί να κάνει διάφορα πράγματα, χωρίς να γίνεται αντιληπτός, όπως να «κλέβει» τα περιεχόμενα της οθόνης του υπολογιστή και κωδικούς ασφαλείας ή να διαβάζει διαγραμμένα αρχεία.

India - Pakistan: Cyber Wars

In the night of November 6, 2014, Pakistani hackers defaced websites of 22 Government departments and organisations in India. On the defaced websites, the hackers identified themselves as '1337 & r00x! - Team MaDLeeTs', greeted the Government of India, and leveled a range of allegations against the Indian Army in Kashmir. "We are not asking for Kashmir. We ask for peace. Nothing deleted or stolen. Just here to deliver my message to the government and the people of India," the hackers wrote, signing off with "Pakistan Zindabad" (long live Pakistan).

On November 1, 2014, Pakistan-based hackers, calling themselves 'Pakistan Cyber Mafia Hackers', hacked two websites of Gujarat Government - the official website of the Commissionerate of Higher Education (www.egyan.org.in) and the official website of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee of Ahmedabad (www.apmcahmedabad.com). The hackers put their logo and some text on the homepages of these websites, which read: 'Hacked by Pakistan Cyber Mafia Hackers', 'Feel the power of Pakistan', 'Pk_Robot was here' and 'Pakistan Zindabad'.

Red Star: Another advanced hacking crew from China is revealed

In the spirit of last February’s report by Mandiant detailing the exploits of a Chinese-government-linked hacker group, Russian IT security giant Kaspersky Lab today released a report on another sophisticated Chinese cyber-espionage outfit, dubbed the Red Star APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) by the lab.

According to the lab, this advanced hacker group of about 50 people has been active since at least 2005, possibly 2004, and has invaded the networks of more than 350 “high profile” victims ranging from Tibetan and Uyghur freedom activists to government agencies, embassies, universities, defense contractors, and oil companies in 40 countries using “covert surveillance” and espionage software called NetTraveler. (The name sounds so innocent, doesn’t it?)

U.S. Helps Allies Trying to Battle Iranian Hackers

The Obama administration has begun helping Middle Eastern allies build up their defenses against Iran’s growing arsenal of cyberweapons, and will be doing the same in Asia to contain computer-network attacks from North Korea, according to senior American officials.

The American officials would not say which countries in the Persian Gulf have signed up for help in countering Iran’s computer abilities. But the list, some officials say, includes the nations that have been the most active in tracking Iranian arms shipments, intercepting them in ports and providing intelligence to the United States about Iranian actions. The three most active in that arena are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The International Community Must Hold Russia Accountable for Its Cyber Militias

by Casimir C. Carey III

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the U.S. Army War College, Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense.

Tensions in Tallinn, Estonia had been building for weeks when Hillar Aarelaid—director of Estonia’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)—detected an unusually volume of web queries toward government and commercial websites on 26 April 2007.[1]  He was not particularly surprised.  The ethnic Russian minority population in Tallinn was incensed about the Estonian government’s intention to reposition the “Bronze Soldier” war memorial from downtown Tallinn to a military cemetery—not to mention the annual enmity that occurred on the forthcoming 9 May “Victory Day” observance of triumph over Nazi Germany. 

‘Erase Israel from the Internet’: Anonymous plots massive cyber-attack

Hacktivist group Anonymous, along with numerous other hackers, is planning a massive cyber-attack on Israel, threatening to “erase” the country from Internet. Israel is apparently taking the threats seriously, with defensive preparations underway.

Pentagon cyberdefenses weak, report warns

A new report for the Pentagon concludes that the nation’s military is unprepared for a full-scale cyber-conflict with a top-tier adversary and must ramp up its offensive prowess.

The unclassified version of the study by the Defense Science Board also urges the intelligence community to boost its collection on leading nations’ cyber-capabilities and maintain the threat of a nuclear strike as a deterrent to a major cyberattack.

U.S. said to be target of massive cyber-espionage campaign

A new intelligence assessment has concluded that the United States is the target of a massive, sustained cyber-espionage campaign that is threatening the country’s economic competitiveness, according to individuals familiar with the report.

The National Intelligence Estimate identifies China as the country most aggressively seeking to penetrate the computer systems of American businesses and institutions to gain access to data that could be used for economic gain.

US defense chief says pre-emptive action possible over cyber threat

The U.S. military could act pre-emptively if it detects an imminent threat of cyber attack, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said urging stronger action to bolster America's defenses against such plots.

In what was described by U.S. officials as the first major policy speech on cybersecurity by a defense secretary, Panetta lamented under-investment by America's private sector and political gridlock in Washington that he said stymied cybersecurity legislation. He said a presidential executive order was being considered "while we wait for Congress to act."

Addressing a gathering of business leaders in New York, Panetta warned that unnamed foreign actors were targeting computer control systems that operate chemical, electricity and water plants and those that guide transportation, Reuters reports.

"We know of specific instances where intruders have successfully gained access to these control systems. We also know that they are seeking to create advanced tools to attack these systems and cause panic, and destruction, and even the loss of life," Panetta said.