Gamers hacked US Cyber Storm computers
p2pnet news | Politics:- The Net is bad news for America’s guardians – so bad that they’re war-gaming it, the last effort being run with help from more than 100 public and private agencies, associations, and corporations in more than 60 locations in Canada, Australia, Britain and New Zealand, as well as the US.
It also included a real hack attack launched by insiders.
“In the middle of the war game, someone quietly attacked the very computers used to conduct the exercise,” says Associated Press.
“Any time you get a group of (information technology) experts together, there’s always a desire, ‘Let’s show them what we can do’,” it has George Foresman, a former senior Homeland Security official who oversaw Cyber Storm, saying.
“Whether its intent was embarrassment or a prank, we had to temper the enthusiasm of the players.”
Meanwhile, in Cyber Storm 1, the US government’s $3 million, invitation-only, biggest-ever war game, the players, “collaborated in crisis response at operational, policy and public affairs levels in this federally funded and congressionally mandated emergency response exercise,” says the September 12, 2006, exercise report.
It featured, “Imagined villains include hackers, bloggers and even reporters,” says AP.
Even reporters? Say it ain’t so!
“After mock electronic attacks overwhelmed computers at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, an unspecified ‘major news network’ airing reports about the attackers refused to reveal its sources to the government” and “Other simulated reporters were duped into spreading, believable but misleading information that worsened fallout by confusing the public and financial markets, according to the government’s files.”
Says the official report, “More damage could have occurred as a result of erroneous and panicked public responses to incorrect media coverage than by actual attacks by the adversary.”
AP says it unearthed details in “hundreds of pages of heavily censored files”. Cyber Storm was organised to, “test the nation’s hacker defenses,” the story says, going on:
“The laundry list of fictional catastrophes – which include hundreds of people on ‘No Fly’ lists suddenly arriving at airport ticket counters – is significant because it suggests what kind of real-world trouble keeps people in the White House awake at night.”
Cyber Storm, “simulated what the U.S. described as plausible attacks over five days in February 2006 against the technology industry, transportation lines and energy utilities by anti-globalization hackers,” says AP, going on that it got iots hands on the Cyber Storm internal records, “nearly two years after it requested them under the Freedom of Information Act.
“The government censored most of the 328 pages it turned over, marked ‘For Official Use Only,’ citing rules preventing the disclosure of sensitive information.”
117 VIP visitors
According to the Homeland Security September, 2006, Cyber Storm ‘Fact Sheet,’ scenarios had three major “adversarial objectives:”
- To disrupt specifically targeted critical infrastructure through cyber attacks
- To hinder the governments’ ability to respond to the cyber attacks
- To undermine public confidence in the governments’ ability to provide and protect services
Taking part were, “federal and state agencies and private sector partners from the IT, telecommunications, energy, and transportation industries, as well as foreign governments”.
Objectives included, “Identifying public and private information sharing mechanisms to address communications challenges”.
Cyber Storm exercise control activities took place at the United States Secret Service (USSS) Headquarters in Washington, DC. Program designers initiated the invitee outreach process by identifying key exercise stakeholders inside and outside the cyber security community. Cyber Storm participant organizations also played a role in identifying and vetting priority invitees. Invitations were extended to elected officials, international partner representatives, government executives, military commanders, and private industry corporate officers.
A total of 117 VIP visitors attended the Cyber Storm briefings. Among this group were Members of Congress and staff; corporate officers from 10 private sector player organizations; NCSD key partners representing 16 trade and issue advocacy organizations; Federal and State officials from 18 participant government agencies; and international partners from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
The VIP Visit Program provided attendees an opportunity to (1) learn about DHS and NCSD cyber preparedness efforts; (2) further understand the goals and processes of the exercise; and (3) observe the Exercise Control (ExCon) Center. VIPs attended scheduled briefings delivered by NCSD senior leadership and completed tours of the Cyber Storm Control Center at the United States Secret Service Headquarters over a period of three days (February 7 to 9), each visit running approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The VIP program helped illustrate how NCSD and its stakeholders work to protect the Nation`s critical infrastructure and prepare governments and organizations to effectively respond to a cyber-related Incidents of National Significance.
Also See:
Associated Press - Trains, Bloggers Are Threats in Drill, January 31, 2008
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January 31st, 2008 at 12:05 pm
hmm kinda cool if u ask me