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Pentagon Ponders Cyberattacks On Islamic State

Pentagon Ponders Cyberattacks On Islamic State

By Brian Bennett, David S. Cloud and W.J. Hennigan, Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is considering increasing the pace and scope of cyberattacks against Islamic State, arguing that more aggressive efforts to disable the extremist group’s computers, servers and cellphones could help curtail its appeal and disrupt potential terrorist attacks.

Military hackers and coders at Cyber Command, based at Fort Meade, Md., have developed an array of malware that could be used to sabotage the militants’ propaganda and recruitment capabilities, said U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions.

But closing off the extremists’ communications faces resistance from the FBI and intelligence officials. They warn that too sweeping an effort to constrict Internet, social media and cellphone access in Syria and Iraq would shut a critical window into the militants’ locations, leadership and intentions.

Moreover, a shutdown of communication nodes could affect humanitarian aid organizations, opposition groups, U.S.-backed rebels and others caught up in the Syrian civil war. A virus could spread to computers outside the country.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will meet with his cybercommanders this week at the Pentagon to examine the options, including jamming and viruses, that could be used to target the Sunni Muslim group’s communications, according to the officials.

The White House directed senior Pentagon officials to prepare options for a stepped-up cyberoffensive after evidence indicated that the husband-and-wife shooters who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 2 had become self-radicalized on the Internet and had pledged fealty to Islamic State on Facebook, said the officials.

Those in the White House “want to see options” for cyberattacks, said one official. “That doesn’t mean they are all in play. It just means they want to look at what ways we can pressure” Islamic State.

For now, the White House is leaning toward more targeted cyberattacks when intelligence can pinpoint specific phones, computers or other digital devices used by the Web-savvy militants.

“If you do see something that is in service of an active operation, you may want to take some action to disrupt that operation,” Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, said in an interview.

But there are apparently limits to U.S. cybercapabilities. On Dec. 9, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Islamic State hackers “have developed an encrypted app and can communicate anywhere in the world from an iPhone without any ability for us to pick up those communications. … They have mastered this dark space.”

The issue has erupted in the 2016 presidential campaign. In response to a question at the Republican candidates’ debate Tuesday, front-runner Donald Trump sparked a heated exchange when he said he was “open to closing (the Internet in) areas where we are at war with somebody.”

U.S. officials have long criticized China, Cuba, North Korea and other authoritarian states for limiting or barring public access to the Internet and social media.

Cyber Command, which is responsible for U.S. offensive operations in cyberspace, has targeted some computer networks and social media accounts since President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes and other operations against Islamic State in August 2014, officials said.

But some Pentagon officials privately argue more can be done. They say computer viruses, so-called Trojan horse attachments, denial of service attacks and other digital assaults should be used to take down Islamic State communications.

Experts warn that a blackout probably wouldn’t last — and could backfire. The militants could send messages and videos through flash drives, satellite phones, or other devices or platforms. Encryption, already widely used by the militants, would make tracking them more difficult.

“The more we go after them and take them down, the more we push them into secure areas online,” said Jeff Bardin, a computer security consultant and former Air Force linguist who reads Arabic and tracks radical Islamic groups online.

After Twitter began shutting Islamic State’s official accounts in 2014, for example, the group encouraged its operatives and followers to use encrypted social apps such as Telegram, or to use stronger privacy settings that made them harder to monitor.

Trying to chase and close the volume of traffic on social media may be impossible.

Extremists send about 90,000 Twitter messages a day, according to the Counter Extremism Project, a New York-based nonprofit that tracks militants’ messages online and pressures social media companies to identify and disable accounts that promote extremist groups.

Moreover, intelligence officials say Islamic State has become more adept at changing computers, cellphones and messaging apps when one is compromised.

When its websites are shut down or recruiters are blocked, they often switch to other sites or accounts and the communication gets out.

“Sitting there trying to play whack-a-mole to knock these communications platforms off can be so complicated and so resource intensive and only marginally effective,” said John D. Cohen, a former senior Homeland Security counterterrorism official who teaches at Rutgers University.

The Obama administration has chosen a middle course so far, shutting the most egregious Islamic State website and accounts — and using others to track and kill recruiters and operatives.

In August, a U.S. drone strike near Raqqah, Syria, killed Junaid Hussain, a British-born hacker who had posted the names, addresses and photos of about 1,300 U.S. military and other officials online and urged followers to attack them.

Officials said Hussain also had been in contact with one of the two armed men who sought to attack a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest last May in Garland, Texas. Police there shot and killed the two assailants.

FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee this month that one of the men had exchanged 109 messages “with an overseas terrorist” on the morning of the attempted attack.

“We have no idea what he said because those messages were encrypted,” said Comey.

A month later, the U.S. fired missiles into a building in Syria after a militant published several posts on social media that were embedded with his precise geolocation coordinates.

Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Christi Parsons in Washington contributed to this report.

©2015 Tribune Co. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Photo: Aerial view of the United States military headquarters, the Pentagon, September 28, 2008. REUTERS/Jason Reed

 

Stopping Cyberattacks Likened To A War And Experts Say The Crooks Are Winning So Far

Stopping Cyberattacks Likened To A War And Experts Say The Crooks Are Winning So Far

By Steve Johnson, San Jose Mercury News

SAN JOSE, Calif. — After last week’s stunning revelation that Russian crooks had stolen 1.2 billion user names and passwords, the biggest breach on record, experts say making the Internet more secure will take a huge global effort — bolstering website security, a stronger push to prosecute the cybercriminals, and better vigilance by consumers.

How much all that might cost is unclear, with some experts estimating it could take billions of dollars, while others insist it’s more a matter of redirecting what already is being spent toward more fruitful areas. But even then, critical information on the Internet may never be entirely safe, given the growing sophistication and ability of hackers to find new ways to steal it.

The attack by a Russian gang, uncovered by a Milwaukee security firm, has inflamed concerns about data protection on the Internet and whether the security practices of thousands of companies around the world are sufficient to protect financial and personal information. Security experts say businesses need to take the lead in countering the threat, particularly since the software and gadgets they make to access the Internet are frequently riddled with weaknesses that hackers can exploit.

“There is zero or very little corporate responsibility being taken to insure products in the market are safe,” said Melissa Hathaway, a former top federal cybersecurity official with the National Security Council and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who now has a consulting firm. “If we continue to see the market the way it is, we’ll see more victims.”

Critics have faulted many companies for being slow to address their vulnerabilities because of factors including ignorance about the extent of their flaws and the cost associated with fixing them.

Alan Paller, director of research at SANS Institute, an organization that trains computer-security experts, said that because software can be easily manipulated by crooks, it’s essential to either make programmers responsible for the financial damage that results when their code is hacked, or, at least, make them demonstrate they know how to write safe software through a skills test.

Paller said companies also need to improve the ability of their security staffs to deal with cybercriminals who sneak into the corporate networks. I don’t think they know how to do it in many cases,” he said.

Moreover, he said companies should stop wasting money writing security-related reports — some of which are required by the federal government — and focus more on actually battling hackers.

That’s why he believes tackling cyber crime wouldn’t require a huge additional expenditure, because “fundamentally, it’s a shift from talking about the problem to fixing the problem.”

But others argue that companies will need to spend substantially more, because many of them so far haven’t taken the threat seriously.

One key measure companies could take is to shift from having their websites accessed with user names and passwords to employing biometric identification systems, according to Larry Ponemon, whose Ponemon Institute studies data protection and privacy issues. He noted that some companies already offer voice identification technology for accessing computer gadgets, and he predicts that retinal and facial identification devices could become widely available within five years.

Others argue that the best way companies can avoid having their websites or other operations breached is to think more like the hackers, pointing to Tuesday’s disclosure about the 1.2 billion user names and passwords that were stolen from 420,000 websites.

“This breach illustrates how traditional security tools alone don’t do enough,” said Carl Wright of TrapX Security of San Mateo, adding that businesses “must be as nimble as the attackers themselves and be able to adapt in real-time to defend against evolving threats.”

Several experts also implored the government to work more with foreign nations to crack down on cybergangs, and increase penalties for U.S. companies that lose personal information due to security lapses. And until better methods are instituted, consumers are advised to stop using the same passwords or other personal identifiers to access different websites, because that practice greatly increases their chances of having their identities hijacked and their bank accounts, credit card numbers, or other data stolen.

Even with a concerted effort by everyone, experts say, it’s going to be tough to stem the growing tide of cyberattacks.

“It seems to be getting worse and if we look at this as warfare we are losing most of the battles,” said Ponemon, noting that “the cyberattackers are stealthy and smart and well funded.” But over the next decade, “we stand a good chance to win the war. I’m mildly optimistic.”

AFP Photo/Jim Watson

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Advances In Electronic Warfare Fly Under The Public’s Radar

Advances In Electronic Warfare Fly Under The Public’s Radar

By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — As the Pentagon moves beyond the relatively low-tech wars in the Middle East and turns its attention to future national security challenges, it has doubled down on sophisticated new radar-jamming devices that aim to render adversaries’ air defenses useless.

Although the U.S. faced limited resistance in the skies above Iraq and Afghanistan, that would not be the case in Asia, where the Obama administration plans to shift its diplomatic focus and strengthen its defense strategy in the coming decade.

China and North Korea, for example, have quietly invested in advanced sophisticated radar systems, surface-to-air missile batteries and power-projection capabilities.

So when the Pentagon revealed its fiscal 2015 budget proposal two weeks ago, much of the attention was given to a boost in spending on drones and cybersecurity. Less heralded, but vital to U.S. strategic success, experts say, was the high-dollar investment in radar-jamming technology and other electronic warfare.

Much of this shadowy world is top secret, but the military’s goal is to have complete control over the range of wireless frequencies at the heart of all aspects of war: satellites, radio and radar.

Jammers, for instance, are designed to identify enemy radar installations, then spew radio waves and beams of electromagnetic noise to electronically disable and destroy them. Though the technology does not result in the sort of fiery blasts produced by heat-seeking missiles or laser-guided bombs, the effect is the same.

“We are so used to dominating at sea and in the air, we don’t spend anywhere near the money we should on enablers like electronic warfare and deception and other things like that,” acting Deputy Defense Secretary Christine H. Fox said this month. “That can make a huge difference. And in this budget environment, we can actually afford things like that.”

The capabilities of jamming technology are shrouded in secrecy to stay ahead of adversaries.

What is known is that the equipment is strategic and has been used with great success in recent years. The U.S. Navy used EA-18 Growler jets in 2011 to jam Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s ground radar, enabling NATO fighters and bombers to strike tanks, communication depots and other targets with complete freedom. The jet’s “EA” stands for “electronic attack.”

The Growlers look like imposing fighters armed to the hilt with big bombs slung under their wings. That’s because the plane is a modified version of the F/A-18 Super Hornet. But a closer look reveals that instead of bombs, the Growler carries an array of radars, antennas and high-tech gear.

Each device hanging from the Growlers’ wings performs a different function, including pinpointing the location of enemy radar sites, intercepting and jamming radio signals and following the changing enemy radar tactics.

The Navy has placed such a high value on the planes that last week it confirmed it placed an order for 22 more on its unfunded 2015 request submission. If approved by the Defense secretary and Joint Chiefs of Staff, the order would be a boon for Northrop Grumman Corp.’s El Segundo facility, which makes the plane’s fuselage sections.

Although the Growlers’ jamming system has been repeatedly upgraded over the years, it has been in service since the Vietnam War. The goal is to begin installing the Navy’s new jamming devices on the carrier-based EA-18 Growler jet by 2020. They might also be put on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and remotely piloted drones.

Under the 2015 budget proposal, the jammer would receive $247 million in funding — 56 percent more than in 2014. With follow-on contracts, the Navy said the program could be worth more than $7 billion in the years to come.

Even as the U.S. is trying to enhance its electronic weapon prowess, there are increasing fears within every branch of the military about its ability to protect against an electronic attack that could shut down those frequencies and render billions of dollars’ worth of cutting-edge aircraft and munitions useless.

It has been shown in the Internet age that interfering with the spectrum doesn’t take tremendous wealth, as it does with other modern-day weapon systems. Iraqi insurgents seem to have proved this when they reportedly hacked into live video feeds from MQ-1 Predator drones using off-the-shelf software. They couldn’t take control of the aircraft, just see the video that was streaming back to military personnel.

What’s more, electronic warfare and cyberwarfare are converging. The military has the capability to launch cyberattacks by slipping viruses into enemy computer networks from ships floating at sea or aircraft flying thousands of feet above.

In 2012, a research team at the University of Texas at Austin used a technique called “spoofing” when it commandeered a small drone by sending false GPS signals to trick the aircraft’s receiver, proving the technology is vulnerable to attacks.

AFP Photo/Saul Loeb