18 August 2008

Risky Business: Global Cyberwarfare...

OPEN SOURCE WARFARE: Cyberwar is here to stay. Think about the leverage. Imagine the impact on global commerce from the Board of Directors perspective. Is it possible to disrupt business operations on a regular or targeted basis? The Russian -Georgia Digital Conflict started on the Internet and has spread to Atlanta, GA USA where the Georgian President's web site has been relocated.

John Robb sums this up nicely. Transnational eCrime is being fueled by knowing individuals and governments that:

  • Engage, co-opt, and protect cybercriminals.
  • Seed the movement.
  • Get out of the way.

We have heard the term "plausible denial-ability" in the years past when a world event occurs and somehow the proof is just too far from reach. Those days are soon to be over as new mechanisms are integrated with diplomacy and defense leadership to provide the evidence necessary to show culpable entities.

One such exploit has been out there for months and is being perpetuated by the transnational crime syndicates use of tools such as NeoSploit:

One obvious fact is that Web exploitation toolkits are only going to get more professional and advanced. Some sources state that a NeoSploit kit sells for $1,500‐3,000 USD, based on the features requested. that kind of money, the developers behind these packages have every incentive to make their product as tamper‐resistant and full featured as possible, trying to extend life not only to their own exploits evading detection and analysis), but also to the creations of the virus writers who utilize them.

The business longevity of your organization and it's ability to remain resilient in the face of cyber-warfare depends upon your ability to provide countermeasures and the effectiveness of your digital counterterrorism strategy execution. Without these in place, your organization faces the inevitable aftermath of any conflict when you are too close to the action.

Attacks by Russian hackers against Georgian Web sites, including one hosted in the United States, continued Tuesday even as Russian President Dmitri Medvedev ordered a halt to hostilities against Georgia.

Tom Burling, acting chief executive of Atlanta-based Web-hosting firm Tulip Systems Inc., said the Web site of the president of Georgia was the target of a flood of traffic from Russia aiming to overwhelm the site. Burling said bogus traffic outnumbered legitimate traffic 5000 to 1 at president.gov.ge.

"Literally, our people aren't getting any sleep," Burling said.

Tulip's firewall was blocking most of the malicious traffic. The site has been periodically inaccessible, though it was working midday Tuesday. Burling said the attacks have been reported to the FBI.

The transnational UNSUB's may be beyond the reach of the legal systems of these nation states. Or are they?

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