DATE=12/15/1999 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=MILLENNIUM: FUTUREWAR IN CYBERSPACE NUMBER=5-45004 BYLINE=JIM RANDLE DATELINE=PENTAGON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Top Pentagon officials say the United States is in a virtual war in cyberspace, while experts outside government say America is being "invaded," every hour of every day, by hostile forces using computers. Many of these incidents are minor annoyances launched by young computer hackers. Others are launched by sophisticated nations and could cost American lives. The irony is that this new threat stems from the technical sophistication that helps make the U-S military the strongest in the world. V-O-A's Jim Randle reports. TEXT: The Pentagon's second-in-command, John Hamre, says U-S military computer networks are being constantly probed by hostile computer experts who are trying to break in and disrupt communications, steal information, plant misinformation, or cause other damage. At least twice this year, Dr. Hamre has said the United States was in the middle of a cyber war - and the pace of attacks on U-S Military computers has increased since then. /// Hamre Act /// We are in a day to day, virtual cold war. In that sense that we have people trying to disrupt the Department of Defense's computers on a daily basis. So far, we are staying ahead of the problem. But just barely. /// END ACT /// In an interview with V-O-A, Deputy Secretary of Defense Hamre says the most worrisome attacks show a level of skill likely to come only from a well- educated, well-trained cadre of cyber soldiers financed and supported by the government of a major nation. Some computer experts outside the U-S government, such as Frank Ciffullo of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, say the danger is real and constant. /// Ciffullo Act /// The myth persists that the United States hasn't been invaded since 1812. I'd like to inform you otherwise. And that is the fact that invasion through cyberspace is now a daily occurrence. /// End Act /// The U-S military's computers are vulnerable to probes and break-ins because they are linked to each other by the internet or other communications systems. The military computers need these linkages to send masses of information back and forth at the speed of light. Experts say the U-S military cannot just disconnect from the network because it needs computers to do everything from monitoring threats from ballistic missiles to ordering vital supplies for front line units. But clever attackers can use such networks to locate critical computers. Then they use stolen passwords or other devices to fool them into thinking that the attacker has legitimate business inside the computer. Pentagon officials say there are 80 to 100 attempted computer break-ins each day and the number is growing. About 10 such daily attacks are serious enough to warrant investigation and a percentage turn out to be what officials call "serious business" that threatens lives, property, or secrets. Many U-S officials say cyber warfare is tempting for their adversaries because the overwhelming power of U-S military forces makes conventional attacks unlikely to succeed. /// Opt /// Experts say computer warfare requires a high level of education and skill, but the cost of a workable cyber war program is less than the price of one first class fighter plane. /// End Opt /// Meanwhile, several reports blame Russia for a series of sophisticated attacks apparently aimed at stealing U-S Navy codes and other highly secret and sensitive information. U-S officials refuse to say which groups or countries are behind these attacks. Mr. Ciffullo says attackers take advantage of the complex, anonymous nature of cyberspace, which can make it quite difficult to figure out where attacks are coming from, and who is behind them, frustrating attempts at deterrence or revenge. /// Ciffullo Act /// If I'm targeting the United States, I'm not going to leave muddy footprints back to my country, back to my site. In fact, I will exploit innocent sites along the way, say university systems in Stockholm and Hamburg, and by the time you do your audit trail (try to trace the attack), I've zapped off a long time ago (gotten off the network). /// End Act /// Mr. Ciffullo says there are plenty of suspects. He says the F-B-I is investigating at least 23 cases of suspected computer espionage, some aimed at the military, others directed at U-S based companies. And he says at least eight nations, ranging from Russia and China to Western nations such as France and Britain, have information warfare programs comparable to the ones being developed in the United States. He says China is even considering making cyber warfare a separate branch of service on a par with the Chinese air force, army and navy. Meantime, the U-S Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines recently combined their efforts to defend computer networks under the U-S Space Command headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Each military service also watches over its own computers. One of the U-S Navy's cyber-sentries is Petty Officer First Class Reed Smith, who sits with colleagues in a large room (in Norfolk, Virginia) filled with computers, watching for any unusual patterns in the masses of traffic on the information highway. He is aided by computer programs designed to seek out odd patterns, computer databases that let him compare what he is seeing to prior attempted break-ins - and instinct honed by experience. /// Smith Act /// So much information (is) passed from network to network that our intrusion detection devices may pick up on something that is totally benign. /// End Act /// By next October, the United States will have a military unit dedicated to launching its own attacks in cyberspace. America's top General, Hugh Shelton, says Washington conducted some limited offensive cyber warfare operations against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo crisis. He would not say what the targets were, but experts say the attacks focused on confusing and blinding Yugoslav air defenses in the last 10 days of the war. Some critics of the program called it too timid and too late. /// Opt /// U-S officials say they must solve some moral and legal issues - as well as practical problems - before cyber warfare becomes a mature part of the U- S arsenal. The second in command of the Pentagon's cyber war efforts, Navy Captain Bob West, says cyber warriors have to follow the same rules of war as any other fighters - avoiding civilian deaths and focusing on military targets. U-S officials have written that using cyber attacks to hit mostly civilian areas by opening the floodgates on a dam or causing an oil refinery to blow up in a residential area, are out of bounds. /// End Opt /// Computer expert Frank Ciffullo says U-S offensive cyber war efforts are inhibited by the realization that the United States is the most technologically advanced society on earth - and therefore, the most potentially vulnerable to computer-based attacks. He says U-S officials do not want to give their enemies a powerful example of the effectiveness of cyber weapons. Meantime, computer security expert George Smith is skeptical that offensive military operations will work very well in cyberspace. For years, Mr. Smith has been writing a newsletter on computer break-ins - and how to deal with them. He says Pentagon officials are overstating the danger from computer hackers and intruders. /// Opt /// Mr. Smith says computers and computer networks are maddeningly unreliable, and computer operators and people who depend on computers are well used to dealing with breakdowns and delays of the sort that might be caused by computer attackers. Nevertheless, he expects the United States and many other nations to try to create "cyber-attack" forces. /// Smith Act /// I think it is likely that people will try, I think it is unlikely they will have any impact. /// End Act // - End Opt /// Mr. Smith says armies in Bosnia and the Gulf War faced computer problems, including viruses. He says they coped with them in much the same way they coped with flat tires on vehicles, or worn out parts on aircraft. He says the idea that small groups of people, armed only with keyboards, could seriously hurt a powerful military force belongs in Hollywood - not the battlefield. (Signed). NEB/JM/JP 15-Dec-1999 12:59 PM EDT (15-Dec-1999 1759 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .