As security measures evolve and are meant to keep your computer and mobile phone safe from cyber attacks, hackers are getting better at attacking also. In fact, the better something is secured, the more its worth for hackers to attack that something. Still, hackers have rarely been able to do something and get away with it. Or if they did get away with it, their attack probably didn’t cause much damage anyway. The story changes completely when we’re talking about spying agencies. On Wednesday, a top defense official announced that a foreign spy agency managed to breach Pentagon computer networks by inserting a flash drive into a US military laptop. This event represents the most serious breach of Pentagon computer networks so far. It took place in 2008 in the Middle East but was up until now classified information. Just recently it was disclosed in a magazine article by William J. Lynn, Deputy Defense Secretary. According to Lynn the malicious code on the flash drive managed to spread without being detected on classified as well as unclassified Pentagon systems. The malicious code could allow data to be transferred to servers under foreign control.
It was a network administrator’s worst fear: a rogue program operating silently, poised to deliver operational plans into the hands of an unknown adversary,” Lynn wrote in an article for Foreign Affairs. “This … was the most significant breach of U.S. military computers ever and it served as an important wake-up call.”
Lynn also mentioned that the Pentagon’s operation to counter the attack, dubbed ‘Operation Buckshot Yankee’ made a turning point in US cyber defense strategy. In November 2008 the Defense Department enforced a ban regarding the use of small storage devices which are used to move data from one computer to another. This year the ban was partially lifted and it approved a limited use of such small devices. This event goes to show that US adversaries may pose a threat to the country without making use of high-tech weaponry and vehicles such as stealth fighters or aircraft carriers. It only takes several crafty computer wizes to find a vulnerability and exploit it.
“A dozen determined computer programmers can, if they find a vulnerability to exploit, threaten the United States’ global logistics network, steal its operational plans, blind its intelligence capabilities, or hinder its ability to deliver weapons on target,” Lynn wrote.
Lynn estimates that there are about 100 foreign intelligence organizations which are trying to break into US networks. He didn’t however disclose whether any military secrets were stolen back in 2008 as a result of the penetration of the Pentagon computer network, or which nation or
intelligence organization was behind the attack.
On the bright side, this event made the US military more cautious regarding cyber attacks. Defense officials claim that about 15,000 computer networks and 7 million computers forming the military system suffer from millions of probes each day. The threats come from a wide range of attackers from the regular hacker to foreign governments that are interested in more important information.
