Cyber war defense

Recent news have been all bragging about every major country starting  “Cyber war” initiatives. USA, UK…

“Elite Military Hacker Squad Would Stop Wars With Bits, Not Bombs

Efforts to drag our military’s cybersecurity into the 21st century are well underway, but John Arquilla, professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, wants more: A preemptive international hacker force, which would cripple enemies before they even become a problem. “

How does that sound to you? Science fiction? Not really.

So here goes the thought… they’ll be employing like what, 1000 cyber crooks to fry every other nation’s IT Infrastructure? Just how exactly do you think they are gonna do that, during wartime? Do you think that the attack will begin as soon as the war is declared? Nope, wrong answer.

so when does it begin?

Today. They will need to infiltrate every potentially rival country’s military infrastructure today, starting today and continuing on and on, installing software and hardware “time bombs”, potentially being activated wirelessly via encrypted channels, as that’s the only way to bypass the rival’s communication channels (which might be shut down “preventatively” to prevent enemy attack.. yeah right).

What does it take to infiltrate another country? Just a few clicks, sometimes. Sometimes more, but generally – not.

Think about something.

How many American companies can you name, on which depends all the IT infrastructure of the world? Can they create or show to the NSA or CIA any potential weaknesses (that is, in case they are not there on purpose) in their products, to protect their country? Even if they don’t cooperate, how many ‘rival’ countries out there use american equipment (both software and hardware) for their military systems? That’s like.. what… not logical? For one thing I’m sure – Russia doesn’t. They can afford to use their own software and hardware platforms, at least in the top secret locations. What about smaller countries, like .. Bulgaria, for example (where I currently live)? They use Microsoft products everywhere, from the workstations to the servers… here’s one country that’s crippled even before any “attack” comes our way.

From what I’ve heard, counties such as New Zealand already got ‘bugs’ in their “Secret Services” (is there the possibility I’ve seen them myself? Can’t remember..) IT systems. And it’s not necessary that these bugs are planted by another country – but it’s very likely. How do you make sure your systems are clean? Well… you hire folks like me. Unfortunately, nobody ever hires us, unless they really have to – and it’s probably too late by then. You generally never hear about any intruder in your network, unless the intruders are 1) Really, REALLY stupid, or 2) they are A LOT already, so many you can’t not notice them. Both cases suck, so to speak.

If the US of A and UK have already started hiring “offensive” cyber criminals, it’s time other countries start doing this, or they will be doomed watching their own demise when the day comes to “defend” – that day, they’ll have to defend themselves not from external IT attacks, but from their own already infiltrated IT systems.

The clock is ticking, guys. The clock is ticking.