Hackers shifting to 'destruction': US cyber chief

Hackers shifting to 'destruction': US cyber chief

www.france24.com

General Keith Alexander, who is director of the National Security Agency and commander of the US Cyber Command, told a Washington forum that the new tactics could move beyond mere annoyances and begin causing severe economic damage.

"We are seeing the threat grow from exploitation to disruption to destruction," he told the group at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

He argued that these attacks could impact organizations ranging from stock markets to power grid operators -- "all of that is in the realm of the possible."

These types of destructive attacks can wipe out data, which could bankrupt a company or disable the control systems operating key infrastructure.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Moving along in the realm of my other thread -

www.abovetopsecret.com...

More evidence of state-sponsored attacks and showing the changing dynamics of cyber warfare. Some posters out there think this kind of tit-for-tat has been happening for the past 20 years or more. While there is no questions that systems have been hacked by political or military operatives in the past, there has never....I repeat....NEVER been this kind of coordinated state-sponsored attack that was meant to take down entire industries or target our country in such a systematic methodology

www.france24.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by CIAGypsy

Hackers shifting to 'destruction': US cyber chief

www.france24.com

General Keith Alexander, who is director of the National Security Agency and commander of the US Cyber Command, told a Washington forum that the new tactics could move beyond mere annoyances and begin causing severe economic damage.

"We are seeing the threat grow from exploitation to disruption to destruction," he told the group at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

He argued that these attacks could impact organizations ranging from stock markets to power grid operators -- "all of that is in the realm of the possible."

These types of destructive attacks can wipe out data, which could bankrupt a company or disable the control systems operating key infrastructure.

(visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 3-10-2012 by CIAGypsy because: (no reason given)

Maybe an electronic false flag this time around to be blamed on the public to them lock down the internet.

For businesses.
Move off grid...partially.
Have multiple temporary backup servers that are on different networks and on different pro-rated temp contracts.
Back everything up and insure what you can insure.

Problem solved.

I think most people do not realize just how much REAL damage could be done by hackers. Most people seem to think, "Oh well it may mess up some computers, but they can just be fixed and that's that". The destruction that could be done by hackers intent on real harm could be on a global scale, killing possibly millions. This is a very real threat to our future, and unfortunately I believe it may very well be state-sponsored. What better way to start a war then a cyber false flag hitting a nuclear plant or causing a missile silo to start launching its weapons? The possibilities are vast.

Just thought I'd chime in and say the majority of this 'cyberwar' stuff is BS and FUD. There isn't going to be any armageddon/apocalyptic crap resulting from 'hackers'. There isn't a 'cyberwar', and there never will be.
Don't believe me? Look at the amount of time, resources, expertise and intelligence that went into the STUXNET attack. Even that involved physical infiltration of the target's location, and it still didn't accomplish much.

The vast majority of Internet-based attacks have economic outcomes.

"I hope we don't have to wait for a 'cyber 9/11' for action to happen," she said. "These problems are not going to go away."

This is crazy. They are starting to encrypt even GPS signals. Its hard to imagine the loss of life duplicated by these kinds of attacks.

Originally posted by CIAGypsy

Hackers shifting to 'destruction': US cyber chief

www.france24.com

These types of destructive attacks can wipe out data, which could bankrupt a company or disable the control systems operating key infrastructure.

(visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 3-10-2012 by CIAGypsy because: (no reason given)

The part about destroying data having a lasting effect like "bankruptcy" is total BS. Hackers can destroy as much at-the-moment data is housed on a machine, but any business worth its IT department will have incremental backups every few hours, at least, if the data was so important to them. Backups stay on tapes or DVDs or external hard drives or whatnot. Unhackable unless you're physically on it.

reply to post by CIAGypsy


Why do i have a feeling China is going to spark an international incident with all this cyber warfare they keep initiating on America without attempting to hide it?

America needs to go on the offensive and attack China through the internet instead of worrying about what China is going to say.

---

There also needs to be an offensive against Anonymous. I don't care if the kids are 14 years old. Put them in prison for the next four years. They'll break.

Hackers are going to cause us a hell of a lot more headache. They arent helping any one.

I think its all a blessing in disguise. I think the north American continent as a whole would benefit greatly from the absence of the internet all together for a while. It causes just as much bad as it does good. I would love to see the internet and mobile networks as we know it to completely disappear for 2 years.

It would force your average slob to get up and move their bones for a while, get a hobby, get some exercise, read some books, spend some real quality time with friends and family, write a letter, discover or rekindle a passion.



EDIT: And in doing so finally rediscover the community spirit we have completely lost, i think to take 3 steps back with the perspective we've gained over the past 12 years of internet information ubiquity would be a huge learning and growing experience for those of use with a real functioning brain-stem.

I think the north American community would rebound from the "disastrous" internet collapse with renewed spirit and spark.

The problem is we need to alter our perception.

Swap the word 'hackers' for 'Governments' is the first step.

Next, realize that it is near on impossible for us 'people' to work out who is doing what. We know our governments lie about most things. They will lie about who is doing the hacking. False flags aplenty.

P

We're living in an age where the high school kid next door can swipe your info from his basement. With the mass amounts of people practically living on their computers these days having full access to an almost infinite amount of "how to" information it's easy to become a hacker, or computer whiz, and be PROFICIENT at it without professional assistance.

When I was just a kid and first started using a computer at maybe 15 years old one of my very first online friends that I met was a computer geek. He taught me vast quantities of tactics and information such as how to build websites from scratch, ping and boot IP addresses of various online users. He taught me all about the different IP addresses and ports and even taught me computer languages, how to type them out, and everything I wanted to know about online vocabulary, like what SOCKS was, and what a backdoor meant. I was only 15.

reply to post by milkyway12
You know MY computer made in Chuna.
Should I be woried.

reply to post by CIAGypsy
PLus to do any real damage you would have tha wart or a mole in your system some.
You can't hack a door that does not exist,unless you are the door.

Originally posted by OOOOOO
reply to post by CIAGypsy

 

PLus to do any real damage you would have tha wart or a mole in your system some.
You can't hack a door that does not exist,unless you are the door.

edit on 4-10-2012 by OOOOOO because: (no reason given)

True, but these guys are getting very crafty. They've figured out that most of our ancillary products are manufactured outside the US. Supply chains are vulnerable. They've begun to "infect" items before they even leave production so they are pre-loaded with cyber weaponry before they enter the country.

Same thing happened with Stuxnet and Iran.

reply to post by CIAGypsy

I think there's a real threat, just like there was a real threat from the Y2K problem.

And I think just like the Y2K problem, we are going to prepare for the threat, and therefore it will happen but it won't amount to much when it does.

Even some relatively small companies I know have backups on top of backups at different locations, and the larger companies have even more sophisticated backup and disaster recovery plans. So will a hacker or state-sponsored attack cause possibly massive disruption and billions in economic losses at some point? Possibly. But will lots of people die from it and is it cause for panic? I don't think so.

However, if you don't already have a supply of non-perishable food, as well as water so you could survive a few weeks without going to the grocery store, then you should. This is not just to prepare for a cyber attack but could be any kind of natural disaster. If you have that, I think the chances you'll die from any kind of cyber attack are near zero because the grid or whatever they attacked will be back up and running in probably a week or less. But since you may not live a week without water, you better have some extra water in storage at least.

Disorganized and/or unaffiliated hackers aren't really much of a threat. Sure, you'll have a few groups stealing Yahoo accounts or LinkedIn passwords but these are temporary inconveniences to most people. For critical systems, like stuff relating to the power grid or air traffic, you'd need to have someone inside willing to cooperate and even then there are plenty of failsafes making it harder to do anything of note. Teams employed by governments, though, are a different story. But most nations (hopefully) realize hacking infrastructure of any sufficiently advanced nation is about the same level of stupid as launching a nuclear attack against a nation with nuclear weapons-- if China tried to do something wonky with the US power grid the US would definitely respond in kind.

Anyone wanna bet one of the first attacked will be some corrupt agency or corporation and a bunch of sketchy files are just gonna conveniently go missing?

All of halliburton's and bank of america's questionable dealings gone in a flash. "See! Look! Look! They're dangerous! We need legislation quick!"

Or you all think they're just gonna go straight for the kill and knock out energy systems and what not to throw us under martial law?

first they came after teh hackers,
i dint say anything because i wasnt a hacker........
then they can after the websight operators
and i didnt say anything because i wasnt a websight operator,
then they came for the users,
but no one was left to help me......

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