These were the words of Richard Clarke, chairman of Good Harbor Consulting, during his keynote at the RSA Europe 2010 conference, existence held inwards London this week.
Giving background, he said cyber criminal offence is non a theory, it goes on every day. “Just 2 weeks ago, at that topographic point were arrests of a cyber cartel inwards the US. However, those arrested were students, acting equally mules. To survive a mule all they get got to practise is opened upward a banking concern concern human relationship too let coin to menstruum inwards too out of it. They are on the lowest degree of the cyber criminal offence structure.”
This is typically the province of affairs inwards cyber crime, explained Clarke. “These cartels are oftentimes based inwards Moldova, Estonia, Republic of Belarus or Russia. Once at that topographic point has been an investigation, oftentimes long too complicated, using warrants to search computers too servers, crimes are traced dorsum to these countries. However, when the investigators enquire for co-operation from these countries, none is forthcoming. They get got become, inwards effect, cyber sanctuaries.”
As long equally the attacks hap exterior their countries, he added, too the cyber criminals give the police push clit kickbacks, they plow a blind eye. This tin can also get got on a to a greater extent than sinister tone, equally when governments demand a friendly hacker to assail approximately other field they occupation these cyber criminals too gain a picayune plausible deniability when a finger is pointed at them.
“This is non different to the province of affairs that arose nigh coin laundering,” added Clarke. “Countries that traditionally used to wash coin were approached, too given a prepare of norms established to foreclose the problem, too standards for enforcement. Nothing happened until they were approached again, too threatened amongst consequences, such equally the devaluation of their currency.”
The same tin can survive done for cyber crime, he stated. “If they don't alive upward to the standards at that topographic point volition survive consequences. For example, nosotros could boundary traffic inwards too out of those countries, or filter too monitor that traffic. At the moment, nix is existence done. The fact is today, cyber criminal offence pays.”
In fact, Clarke said cyber criminals are making thus much coin they are hiring estimator scientists to alter hardware or firmware that is existence produced to ensure they volition get got a backdoor to exploit through an existing flaw.
“Who are the victims here?” he asked. “Traditionally, the banks are seen equally victims equally they ordinarily pay out losses to customers. However, the banks filter those costs downward to their customers. We are paying the price.”
Clarke said cyber criminals suspension into networks too pocket identifications, money, too credentials. Cyber espionage has 2 flavours. Firstly, you lot run into industrial espionage. “This goes on all the fourth dimension – nosotros larn cyber criminals committing cyber espionage for hire.”
Major corporations hire concern news firms to larn them information on their competitors, too also oftentimes are non fussy nigh where the news comes from, he explained. In this case, things stolen volition include industrial designs, chemic formulas, novel production information or unloosen information, aerospace information too thus on.”
Clarke cited equally an illustration the recent Google hack that was traced to attacks on iii 000 other U.S. of America companies, all of which had updated AV, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, firewalls too similar. Many of these companies were spending tens or hundreds of millions a twelvemonth on cyber security.
More worrying though, he said, was the fact that most companies inwards the U.S. of America that knew they had been attacked were informed past times a beginning exterior the company. “When people come upward into your network to re-create information, the information is silent there. It's non similar an fine art heist where the ikon is missing from the wall. This makes it much harder to detect. The network volition hold off equally if no i has been on it. Terabytes of information could get got left the system.”
Occasionally people practise run into it. He said lately a really advanced cyber enquiry facility discovered they were existence hacked, too could exclusively halt it past times pulling the plug. Each block they instituted was counter-attacked. As a outcome they were offline for days.
“If this is happening to such advanced companies, what is happening to less sophisticated organisations? They are losing information, including vital information such equally beginning codes for operating systems too routers. How too then practise you lot protect the network?”
Clarke posed the question, “What is the departure then, betwixt cyber espionage, too cyber warfare.”
The answer: a few keystrokes. “The same techniques apply. What is cyber warfare? Going into person else's network, amongst the intent of damaging, disrupting or destroying.”
He said the U.S. of America conducted an experiment, accessing the Internet, too then an intranet, too then into a SCADA system, to manipulate a generator, causing it to explode. This tin can survive done.
Clarke cited approximately potential consequences from hacking too controlling SCADA systems. “You could campaign trains to derail, blow upward generators, melt mightiness lines. The recent pipeline inwards San Francisco, which is silent existence investigated, could get got happened equally a outcome of this. The command scheme tin can survive made to seem perfectly normal, patch the functionality is existence messed with, past times blocking i halt of the pipeline, causing it to explode.”
Think of the harm that could survive done to fiscal institutions or stock exchanges, said Clarke. The recent debacle where the U.S. of America stock central went down, amongst stocks gaining too losing extreme value for an hour, too existence unopen down, could get got resulted from this. “Their solution? Pretend it had never happened.”
Neither of these, however, are examples of intentional attack. “Stuxnet is the get-go illustration of a malicious assail involving SCADA systems. It made occupation of iv zero-day vulnerabilities. However, most unusual, was its occupation of built-in controls, limiting its replication, where it would assail too similar. It was later Siemens Win CC systems, non broader SCADA systems. It was narrowly targeted, similar a guided missile.”
The inquiry is, he said, is cyber country of war nigh to hap tomorrow? No. “Nation states don't rush out too occupation their novel toys. They set them inwards the inventory for when they demand them. It does hateful that should they enter a conflict situation, instead of using a cruise missile, they could launch a cyber attack. I cannot imagine a scenario, for example, where the U.S. of America or the United Kingdom of Great Britain too Northern Ireland would survive involved inwards a country of war amongst Russian Federation or China.”
Also, Clarke advised to acquit inwards heed that Stuxnet was targeted at Iran. “For approximately time, the Iranian nuclear weapons programme has been causing argument across the world. Sanctions get got been passed to foreclose them from producing nuclear weapons.
“It's non difficult to imagine a scenario where the US, State of Israel too Islamic Republic of Iran are fighting each other. If bombs were falling on Iranian soil, would they survive satisfied amongst exclusively retaliating at home? Wouldn't they desire to assail the US? Islamic Republic of Iran could launch a cyber assail that could cripple systems inwards the US. No i has a corking cyber defence. The fact that the U.S. of America could retaliate doesn't actually matter.
“In all countries nosotros get got to halt worrying nigh cyber country of war on the offence, too start worrying nigh it on the defence. We demand plans – strategy doesn't actually enjoin you lot how to defend the terra firma inwards the lawsuit of a cyber attack.”
What too, of cyber peace?, he asked. “What nigh treaties or agreements? If you lot don't laid about the procedure you'll never larn there. Sure it takes a while, equally did the nuclear arms treaties, precisely you lot get got to start somewhere. We tin can get got cyber arms command agreements that volition brand us safer.
“One concluding thing,” he concluded. “Instead of spending coin on safety solutions, possibly nosotros demand to seriously intend of redesigning network architecture, giving coin for enquiry into the adjacent protocols, possibly fifty-fifty intend nigh another, to a greater extent than secure Internet.”
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