China's Emerging Cyber-Power

The below newsfeed was barely noticed, but it is pertinent discussions for why it is important to begin finding ways to govern the use of cyberspace.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- China is seeking to unseat the United States as the dominant power in cyberspace, a U.S. Air Force general leading a new push in this area said Wednesday.

"They're the only nation that has been quite that blatant about saying, 'We're looking to do that,"' 8th Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Robert Elder told reporters

Elder is to head a new three-star cyber command being set up at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, already home to about 25,000 military personnel involved in everything from electronic warfare to network defense.

The command's focus is to control the cyber domain, critical to everything from communications to surveillance to infrastructure security.

"We have peer competitors right now in terms of doing computer network attack ... and I believe we're going to be able to ratchet up our capability," Elder said. "We're going to go way ahead."

The Defense Department said in its annual report on China's military power last month that China regarded computer network operations -- attacks, defense and exploitation -- as critical to achieving "electromagnetic dominance" early in a conflict.

China's People's Liberation Army has established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks, the Pentagon said.

China also was investing in electronic countermeasures and defenses against electronic attack, including infrared decoys, angle reflectors and false-target generators, it said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry rejected the U.S. report as "brutal interference" in China's internal affairs and insisted Beijing's military preparations were purely defensive.

Elder described the bulk of current alleged Chinese cyber-operations as industrial espionage aimed at stealing trade secrets to save years of high-tech development.

He attributed the espionage to a mix of criminals, hackers and "nation-state" forces. Virtually all potential U.S. foes also were scanning U.S. networks for trade and defense secrets, he added.

"Everyone but North Korea," he said. "We've concluded that there must be only one laptop in all of North Korea -- and that guy's not allowed to scan" overseas networks, Elder said.

In October, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff defined cyberspace as "characterized by the use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to store, modify, and exchange data via networked systems and associated physical infrastructures."

The definition is broad enough to cover far more than merely defending or attacking computer networks. Other concerns include remotely detonated roadside bombs in Iraq, interference with Global Positioning Satellites and satellite communications, Internet financial transactions by adversaries, and radar and navigational jamming.

Since cyberspace is such fresh battleground, it is possible for an incident in cyberspace to spiral out of control and bring two powers into a physical war. Without international laws of cyberspace defining exactly what kind of electronic attack would constitute an act of war, and with the high potential for a cyber-arms-race between great and not so great powers, the future becomes perilous.

Keep in mind that cyber-attacks will cause harm to a country if and only if its economy, critical infrastructure, security and happiness of its citizens rely on cyberspace. This is the case in America.

Scarily enough, the U.S. military appears to be behind in making sure cyberspace is safe.

Cyber-War Video

The Cyber-War series, the full video which is offered by PBS online is a must see for anyone who is wondering why on earth this guy is writing the blog. The scope of my blog is to make people aware of the security problems coming from the electromagnetic spectrum. Of course, there are doubters who will tell you that its not that big of a problem. However, when its too late, these same doubters will tell you that we didn't do enough, even though there was some danger.

Its better to be one step against other states, such as China, or even violent non-state actors who will want and train use cyberspace against us.

Some say that they already have, but the government is keeping mum about it. When cyber-war does come, it will definatley be something new to see.

National Security Strategy for Cyberspace

While the U.S. appears to be inflicted with problems of information (in)security, it is on the right track. The National Security Strategy for Cyberspace (P.D.F.) is an interesting and important read since it shows that the U.S. is aware of the peril of not security cyberspace. The government, like any bureaucracy, will take a long time before it is able to claim that it’s the information stored on government, business and personal computers are at low risk. As long as cyberspace remains insecure, so does almost every aspect of our lives. From the federal to the local.

Note: The President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board is now known as the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) and operates within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Information (In)Security

And if you think that the U.S. is the top in terms of computer security, well, that is dead wrong. Essentially what this means is that the U.S., while being the world super power, is especialy vulnerable to cyber-attacks I guess the electromagnetic spectrum is its soft underbelly. For the full report follow the link

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/07/30/225877/learn-from-mistakes-made-in-us-security.htm

The Health Consequences of Cyberwar

This article

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/WOR406A.html

is quite interesting in that it brings to light some undiscussed issues of war in the information age. Cyberwar is more than just hacking, cracking and other computer network attacks. There are direct consequences to our health. The fact that most technology is classified means that we will not know how much harm is really being done since we will do not know the nitty gritty of how cyber-war machines work.

To quote the article

"It will likely be years before Americans are told what is being tested upon them during our present chemtrail/space wars era. The Hanford downwinders did not learn until 1986 what had been unleashed upon them some 30 years earlier; SHAD victims filed suit in 2003 to learn the extent to which they were intentionally exposed to dangerous substances in the 60s."