Free Republic

Updated February 18, 2010 Cyberattacks Reportedly Traced to Computers in Chinese Schools" FOXNews.com SNIPPET: "The recent cyberattacks on Google and other American companies have been traced by investigators to computers at two schools in China, including one with ties to the Chinese military, according to a New York Times report citing unnamed inside sources. The Times report also says that the attacks began much earlier than first thought, as far back as April..."

Although I’m sitting in the living room of a second-floor condominium in Germantown, Maryland, what I see on the monitor of Dan Ward’s Dell computer invites me to imagine I’m in the cockpit of an Embraer 145 regional jet. Visible through a cockpit window is the jetway, which runs from the passenger door to a gate at Terminal 3 of Chicago O’Hare. The cockpit instruments are dark, but after Ward types in a few commands, the control panel lights up like a Christmas tree. Soon Ward, senior pilot for Delta Virtual Airlines, is keying flight data into the flight management...

The world's largest Internet search company and the world's most powerful electronic surveillance organization are teaming up in the name of cybersecurity. Under an agreement that is being finalized, the National Security Agency would help Google analyze a major corporate espionage attack that the firm said originated in China and targeted its computer networks, according to cybersecurity experts familiar with the matter. The objective is to better defend Google -- and its users -- from future attack. Google and the NSA declined to comment on the partnership. But sources with knowledge of the arrangement, speaking on the condition of anonymity,...

In a paper published by the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Major General Amos Yadlin of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), in the Intelligence Research Center Journal, described the development of cyberwarfare, computer attacks in the 21st century, and the capabilities required from armies to fight this medium successfully. According to Maj. Gen. Yadlin, cyberwarfare is divided into three areas: intelligence gathering, defense and attack. "Anyone who is able to hack (personal computers, cell phones and internet) ends up knowing quite a lot. If you catch my drift," warned the Military Intelligence chief in the article. "Just imagine the...

Less than two years after the U.S. Air Force officially dumped its planned Cyber Command, it's scaled-back replacement, the 24th Air Force, recently officially opened for business. Over the past five years, the air force has been trying to establish a new Cyber War operation and use it to gain overall control for all Department of Defense Cyber War activities. The other services were not keen on this. That resistance, plus internal problems (losing track of nuclear weapons, cost overruns on new aircraft, inability to perform on the battlefield) led to the Cyber Command operation being scaled back to being...

The United States faces an evolving list of potential adversaries in the 21st century that not only continue to seek weapons of mass destruction, but are honing the skills necessary to wage battle in cyberspace as well as outer space, a panel of national security experts said Jan. 20. The nature of warfare has changed significantly since the end of the 20th century, with new technologies and threats emerging faster than ever, U.S. Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, said during a panel discussion at the Conference on National Security Strategy and Policy here. The...

We are in fact entering a "Brave New World". The 'Battlefield of Ideas' has moved into Cyberspace, and is embroiled in Ideology and Rhetoric the way Talk Radio and Television were before us. The question is: Can Conservatives hold this ground, too? See the full article at the Liberty Tree Revolution

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top-ranking Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, today argued against establishing a new cybersecurity coordinator position at the White House. Rather than have a new White House “cyber czar” oversee cybersecurity efforts, the Homeland Security Department should be given greater resources and authority to secure civilian networks, Collins said during a speech in Washington. She called for establishing a cybersecurity center at DHS with a “strong and empowered leader” who would also serve as principal cybersecurity adviser to the president. Under the government's overall computer security strategy, DHS is responsible for protecting...

SNIPPET: "Rusty Shackelford, PhD., credits Samir Khan with the first report of the arrest of Abu Sayaba, proprietor of the "iskandrani" blog, by the FBI in Boston. This corresponds to the arrest of Tarek Mehanna, age 26, on charges of lying to FBI agents when questioned two years ago about his friend and now-convicted terrorist Daniel Joseph Maldonado. Mehanna was about to leave the USA for Saudi Arabia, which evidently prompted the unsealing of his indictment." (Read More...)

Note: The following text is a quote: Navy Moves to Meet Information Age Challenges By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2009 – The Navy is merging its information technology, intelligence and communications operations into one organization to better address Information Age challenges, including threats to computer networks, the Navy's top officer said here yesterday. “If we as a Navy are to remain dominant in this Information Age or Cyber Age, or whatever moniker you choose to put on it, I think that we have to take advantage of the new opportunities that exist, such as...

Note: The following text is a quote: National Guard Embraces Social Media By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill Special to American Forces Press Service ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 12, 2009 – Even in the 140-character brevity demanded of a “tweet,” the enthusiasm National Guardsmen have for communicating through Twitter software is evident. “Just shot my first rounds from a M1A1 Main Battle Tank. Killed 3 of 4 targets. Best Tank on the planet!” And it’s not just the rank-and-file who are communicating, although among Twitter’s millions of users -- the company won’t say exactly how many -- one stands out: He...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has created a new cyber command in the Pentagon as part of the Obama administration's focus on cyberdefense. The new command will be headed by the director of the secretive National Security Agency. Privacy advocates worry about the role of the NSA and the militarization of the Internet. In a memo this week, Gates said the nation's increasing dependency on cyberspace, alongside a growing array of cyberthreats and vulnerabilities, adds a new element of risk to national security. The memo says a new command is necessary, capable of synchronizing war-fighting effects across the global security environment....

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53850 Official Cites Value of Cyberspace to Warfighting Operations By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 8, 2009 – Maintaining and protecting the U.S. military’s worldwide computer network is a vital component of national security, a senior official said here today. “For the United States military, cyberspace is a warfighting domain and it is critical to our operations,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. “And so, we do have to aggressively protect our networks and our ability to work in cyberspace.” It also is important, Whitman said, that the Defense...

RTNews (RussiaToday News) reported March 26 that the Obama Administration is seeking the power through legal channels to have the right to see just what is on your computer hard drive. Funny how the mainstream media has not given this story any coverage. The way in which the Obama Administration intends to carry out this flagrant violation of privacy will be under the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Below is a definition of the ACTA courtesy of Wikipedia. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed plurilateral trade agreement which is alleged by its proponents to be in response "to the...

More Fitna in Cyberspace: Mihdar vs al-Maqdisi Brynjar Lia February 7th, 2009 | AQ in Iraq, Jihadi media Is another chapter in the history of cyber-jihadi infighting about to be written these days? The latest controversy is a series of attacks by the webforum Madad al-Suyuf on Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, perhaps the most influential salafi-jihadi clerics alive. That the cyber-Jihadis quarrel with one another should come as no surprise. Despite calls for unity and brotherly counseling, jihadi writers frequently fight it out in the open. In fact, inter-jihadi quarrels seem to have become more common and less ‘brotherly’ in tone...

A panel of web experts from government, private and the military sectors released a report yesterday urging the next president to establish a new office of cyberspace security and begin federal regulation of the Internet....

The Department of Homeland Security has failed to secure the Internet and should no longer take the lead role in trying, say government and security experts who on Monday urged President-elect Barack Obama to create a new national office to police cyberspace. Their report also calls for new laws to protect privacy and speed investigations of cybercrimes; strong identification of all people and devices connecting to networks belonging to power plants and other organizations critical to U.S. security; and secure software for everybody who connects to the Internet - not just the military and national security agencies. The recommendations are...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2008 – Cyberspace is a warfighting domain, and the Defense Department is taking steps to defend this crucial capability, a Pentagon spokesman said today. “We are aware of a global virus for which there are some public alerts, and we’ve seen some of these on our networks, and we are taking steps to identify and mitigate the virus,” Bryan Whitman said. “We do aggressively monitor our networks for intrusions and take adequate steps to protect them.” Public alerts on this global virus threat urge all computer users to take precautions. Users should have current anti-viral software programs...

The Air Force on Monday suspended all efforts related to development of a program to become the dominant service in cyberspace, according to knowledgeable sources. Top Air Force officials put a halt to all activities related to the establishment of the Cyber Command, a provisional unit that is currently part of the 8th Air Force at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, sources told Nextgov. An internal Air Force e-mail obtained by Nextgov said, “Transfers of manpower and resources, including activation and reassignment of units, shall be halted.” Establishment of the Cyber Command will be delayed until new senior Air...

The USAF wants to make its own botnet to combat forign and domestic threats. (IMG:J.Anderson) Are we in a cyber arms race? The Cyberspace Command, a US Air Force project designed to defend the cyber domain from threats, is alive and kicking with millions of dollars spent on PR and marketing. The USAF says that there is an urgent need to defend the IT infrastructure on US soil, and a recent opinion article written by COL. Charles W. Williamson III details that they are serious in this mission. The goal is to use botnets to help defend the new cyber...