U.S. steps up effort on digital defenses

A new international race has begun to develop cyberweapons and systems to protect against them.
(From The New York Times)

The story "U.S. steps up effort on digital defenses" published April 28, 2009 at 7:01 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[Michichael]

Very well written article. I'm amused, however, that it took the media outlets so long to recognize that we're not just fighting a war in the real world, but in the virtual as well. Every day our companies and infrastructure is being probed or attacked by hackers in other countries or even our own - these countries have no respect for our laws, and will not prosecute even if we track the hacker down.

So it's become a lot like the wild west - with no real laws binding any of the players in the countries where they launch their attacks, it often boils down to who's got the most skill.... or luck.

[n3td3v]

Everyone in security community is getting really bored and switching off from this type of U.S propaganda these days.

[spongebob321]

Like others way back when, I wrote a lot on cyber warfare. I hit the trail early in 1995. To me, this seems to be an effort to bring US Counterinsurgency into the cyber cultural terrain/realm. Here are some items on cyberwar dating back 14 years. With the global economic structure now so reliant on the Net and networks, it would make little sense for a nation-state to disrupt networks. Probably safe to assume that illicit drug organizations rely on the Net as well.

1995?US Gov Efforts: http://www.springerlink.com/content/y322680tml37150x/
1998??White House Plans Cyber Homeland Defense Effort? published in National Defense.
Feb 2000?Cyber War: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/ARCHIVE/2000/FEBRUARY/Pages/Rules4391.aspx
Feb 2001??U.S. Homeland Defense Policy Mired in Competing Interests,? National. Defense 85 no.567 (Feb 2001)
2002?Terror in Cyberspace http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/45/6/1017

[Cyber Soldier]

This is really concerning

DoD stated the following.

?China has also identified 16 ?major special items? for which it plans to develop or expand indigenous capabilities. These include core electronic components, high-end universal chips and operating system software, very large-scale integrated circuit manufacturing, next-generation broadband wireless mobile communications, high-grade numerically controlled machine tools, large aircraft, high-resolution satellites, manned spaceflight, and lunar exploration.?

The PLA is investing in electronic countermeasures, defenses against electronic attack (e.g., electronic and infrared decoys, angle reflectors, and false target generators), and Computer Network Operations (CNO). China?s CNO concepts include computer network attack (CNA), computer network exploitation (CNE), and computer network defense (CND). The PLA has established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks, and tactics and measures to protect friendly computer systems and networks. In 2005, the PLA began to incorporate offensive CNO into its exercises, primarily in first strikes against enemy networks.?

The above was taken from the US DoD Annual Estimates of Information Warfare Capabilities and Commitment of the PRC


NOW LOOK AT

The information from a summary of China's trusted computing program TCP

They specifically talk about the "trust chain" and that includes "new OS component, OS, BIOS and CRTM. (PAGE 6)

Their extended trust chain model includes an "OS loader and the OS Cernal as well as Applications" (PAGE 8)

Their security architecture shows "strengthened bios and a strengthened OS TSS" (PAGE 9)

They also present a secure memory area on a microprocessor. (PAGE 10)