[Vision2020] Time For Legislators With Guts To Fix The Internet

Wed May 29 06:18:32 PDT 2013

@Ron,

That may be so.  But there problems of cybercrime against individuals,
businesses, and governments needs to be greatly abated.

w.

On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 8:38 AM, Ron Force <rforce2003 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Leaking details of expensive weapons systems of doubtful effectiveness
> ,such as ballistic missile defense, the V-22, and the F-35 , to the Chinese
> could be seen as a way to induce them to waste resources and undermine
> their economy.
>
>  ------------------------------
> * From: * Art Deco <art.deco.studios at gmail.com>;
> * To: * <vision2020 at moscow.com>;
> * Subject: * [Vision2020] Time For Legislators With Guts To Fix The
> Internet
> * Sent: * Tue, May 28, 2013 3:00:51 PM
>
>    ------------------------------
>    Confidential report lists U.S. weapons system designs compromised by
> Chinese cyberspies By Ellen Nakashima<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ellen-nakashima/2011/03/02/ABdt4sM_page.html>,
> Published: May 27
>
> Designs for many of the nation’s most sensitive advanced weapons systems
> have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared
> for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry.
>
> Among more than two dozen major weapons systems whose designs were
> breached were programs critical to U.S. missile defenses and combat
> aircraft and ships, according to a previously undisclosed section of a
> confidential report prepared for Pentagon leaders by the Defense Science
> Board.
>
> Experts warn that the electronic intrusions gave China access to advanced
> technology that could accelerate the development of its weapons systems and
> weaken the U.S. military advantage in a future conflict.
>
> The Defense Science Board, a senior advisory group made up of government
> and civilian experts, did not accuse the Chinese of stealing the designs.
> But senior military and industry officials with knowledge of the breaches
> said the vast majority were part of a widening Chinese campaign of
> espionage against U.S. defense contractors and government agencies.
>
> The significance and extent of the targets help explain why the Obama
> administration has escalated its warnings to the Chinese government to stop
> what Washington sees as rampant cybertheft.
>
> In January, the advisory panel warned in the public version of its report<http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/ResilientMilitarySystems.CyberThreat.pdf>that the Pentagon is unprepared to counter a full-scale cyber-conflict. The
> list of compromised weapons designs is contained in a confidential version,
> and it was provided to The Washington Post.
>
> Some of the weapons form the backbone of the Pentagon’s regional missile
> defense for Asia, Europe and the Persian Gulf. The designs included those
> for the advanced Patriot missile system, known as PAC-3; an Army system for
> shooting down ballistic missiles, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area
> Defense, or THAAD; and the Navy’s Aegis ballistic-missile defense system.
>
> Also identified in the report are vital combat aircraft and ships,
> including the F/A-18 fighter jet, the V-22 Osprey, the Black Hawk
> helicopter and the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship, which is designed to
> patrol waters close to shore.
>
> Also on the list is the most expensive weapons system ever built — the
> F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is on track to cost about $1.4 trillion.
> The 2007 hack of that project
> <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124027491029837401.html.html>was
> reported previously.
>
> China, which is pursuing a comprehensive long-term strategy to modernize
> its military, is investing in ways to overcome the U.S. military advantage
> — and cyber-espionage is seen as a key tool in that effort, the Pentagon
> noted this month in a report to Congress on China. For the first time, the Pentagon
> specifically named the Chinese government and military<http://washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-chinese-government-military-behind-cyberspying/2013/05/06/f4851618-b694-11e2-b94c-b684dda07add_story.html>as the culprit behind intrusions into government and other computer systems.
>
> As the threat from Chinese cyber-espionage has grown, the administration
> has become more public with its concerns. In a speech in March, Thomas
> Donilon<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-publicly-calls-on-china-to-stop-commercial-cyber-espionage-theft-of-trade-secrets/2013/03/11/28b21d12-8a82-11e2-a051-6810d606108d_story.html>,
> the national security adviser to President Obama, urged China to control
> its cyber-activity. In its public criticism, the administration has avoided
> identifying the specific targets of hacking.
>
> But U.S. officials said several examples were raised privately with senior
> Chinese government representatives in a four-hour meeting a year ago. The
> officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a closed
> meeting, said senior U.S. defense and diplomatic officials presented the
> Chinese with case studies detailing the evidence of major intrusions into
> U.S. companies, including defense contractors.
>
> In addition, a recent classified National Intelligence Estimate<http://tinyurl.com/c66dlfz>on economic cyber-espionage concluded that China was by far the most active
> country in stealing intellectual property from U.S. companies.
>
> The Chinese government insists that it does not conduct cyber-
> espionage on U.S. agencies or companies, and government spokesmen often
> complain that Beijing is a victim of U.S. cyberattacks.
>
> Obama is expected to raise the issue when he meets with Chinese President
> Xi Jinping next month in California.
>
> A spokesman for the Pentagon declined to discuss the list from the science
> board’s report. But the spokesman, who was not authorized to speak on the
> record, said in an e-mail, “The Department of Defense has growing concerns
> about the global threat to economic and national security from persistent
> cyber-intrusions aimed at the theft of intellectual property, trade secrets
> and commercial data, which threatens the competitive edge of U.S.
> businesses like those in the Defense Industrial Base.”
>
> The confidential list of compromised weapons system designs and
> technologies represents the clearest look at what the Chinese are suspected
> of targeting. When the list was read to independent defense experts, they
> said they were shocked by the extent of the cyber-espionage and the
> potential for compromising U.S. defenses.
>
> “That’s staggering,” said Mark Stokes, executive director of the Project
> 2049 Institute, a think tank that focuses on Asia security issues. “These
> are all very critical weapons systems, critical to our national security.
> When I hear this in totality, it’s breathtaking.”
>
> The experts said the cybertheft creates three major problems. First,
> access to advanced U.S. designs gives China an immediate operational edge
> that could be exploited in a conflict. Second, it accelerates China’s
> acquisition of advanced military technology and saves billions in
> development costs. And third, the U.S. designs can be used to benefit
> China’s own defense industry. There are long-standing suspicions that
> China’s theft of designs for the F-35 fighter allowed Beijing to develop
> its version much faster.
>
> “You’ve seen significant improvements in Chinese military capabilities
> through their willingness to spend, their acquisitions of advanced Russian
> weapons, and from their cyber-espionage campaign,” said James A. Lewis, a
> cyber-policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
> “Ten years ago, I used to call the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] the
> world’s largest open-air military museum. I can’t say that now.”
>
> The public version of the science board report noted that such
> cyber-espionage and cyber-sabotage could impose “severe consequences for
> U.S. forces engaged in combat.” Those consequences could include severed
> communication links critical to the operation of U.S. forces. Data
> corruption could misdirect U.S. operations. Weapons could fail to operate
> as intended. Planes, satellites or drones could crash, the report said.
>
> In other words, Stokes said, “if they have a better sense of a THAAD
> design or PAC-3 design, then that increases the potential of their
> ballistic missiles being able to penetrate our or our allies’ missile
> defenses.”
>
> Winslow T. Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the
> Project on Government Oversight, made a similar point. “If they got into
> the combat systems, it enables them to understand it to be able to jam it
> or otherwise disable it,” he said. “If they’ve got into the basic
> algorithms for the missile and how they behave, somebody better get out a
> clean piece of paper and start to design all over again.”
>
> The list did not describe the extent or timing of the penetrations. Nor
> did it say whether the theft occurred through the computer networks of the
> U.S. government, defense contractors or subcontractors.
>
> Privately, U.S. officials say that senior Pentagon officials are
> frustrated by the scale of cybertheft from defense contractors, who
> routinely handle sensitive classified data. The officials said concerns
> have been expressed by Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs
> of Staff<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gen-martin-dempsey/gIQA3FZdKP_topic.html>,
> and Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., the vice chairman<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/adm-james-a-winnefeld-jr/gIQAhRhSKP_topic.html>,
> as well as Gen. Keith Alexander<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gen-keith-b-alexander/gIQA7gFTKP_topic.html>,
> director of the National Security Agency.
>
> “In many cases, they don’t know they’ve been hacked until the FBI comes
> knocking on their door,” said a senior military official who was not
> authorized to speak on the record. “This is billions of dollars of combat
> advantage for China. They’ve just saved themselves 25 years of research and
> development. It’s nuts.”
>
> In an attempt to combat the problem, the Pentagon launched a pilot program
> two years ago to help the defense industry shore up its computer defenses,
> allowing the companies to use classified threat data from the National
> Security Agency to screen their networks for malware. The Chinese began to
> focus on subcontractors, and now the government is in the process of
> expanding the sharing of threat data to more defense contractors and other
> industries.
>
> An effort to change defense contracting rules to require companies to
> secure their networks or risk losing Pentagon business stalled last year.
> But the 2013 Defense Authorization Act has a provision that requires
> defense contractors holding classified clearances to report intrusions into
> their networks and allow access to government investigators to analyze the
> breach.
>
> The systems on the science board’s list are built by a variety of top
> defense contractors, including Boeing<http://washpost.bloomberg.com/marketnews/stockdetail/?symbol=BA>,
> Lockheed Martin<http://washpost.bloomberg.com/marketnews/stockdetail/?symbol=LMT>,
> Raytheon<http://washpost.bloomberg.com/marketnews/stockdetail/?symbol=RTN>and Northrop
> Grumman<http://washpost.bloomberg.com/market-news/stockdetail?symbol=NOC:US>.
> None of the companies would comment about whether their systems have been
> breached.
>
> But Northrop Grumman spokesman Randy Belote acknowledged the company “is
> experiencing greater numbers of attempts to penetrate its computer
> networks” and said the firm is “vigilant” about protecting its networks.
>
> A Lockheed Martin official said the firm is “spending more time helping
> deal with attacks on the supply chain” of partners, subcontractors and
> suppliers than dealing with attacks directly against the company. “For now,
> our defenses are strong enough to counter the threat, and many attackers
> know that, so they go after suppliers. But of course they are always trying
> to develop new ways to attack.”
>
> The Defense Science Board report also listed broad technologies that have
> been compromised, such as drone video systems, nanotechnology, tactical
> data links and electronic warfare systems — all areas where the Pentagon
> and Chinese military are investing heavily.
>
> “Put all that together — the design compromises and the technology theft —
> and it’s pretty significant,” Stokes said.
>
> * *
>
>
> --
> Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
> art.deco.studios at gmail.com
>
>
>
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-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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