Tag Archives: Cyber warfare

Britain, Government, National Security, Russia, Society, United States

The Kremlin’s power to paralyse

WESTERN SECURITY

RUSSIA’S tentacles of sinister cyber operations are snaking out across the globe and pose the gravest of threats to Western security and democracy.

Recent revelations expose the sheer scale, breadth and audacity of the Kremlin-backed plots – and our vulnerability to this new brand of warfare.

Among those who were targeted were a British television network, the Democratic Party in America, public transport hubs in Ukraine, the US engineering giant Westinghouse, and the World Anti-Doping Agency based in Montreal – apparently hacked in a brazen act of revenge for showing Russia’s systematic abuse of the testing regime at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.

Perhaps the most disturbing of all, however, was the unsuccessful attacks on our own soil – at the Foreign Office and Porton Down – and the foiled attempts by four Russian agents to hack the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague.

The OPCW is continuing to conduct investigations into the Salisbury novichok poisonings and the use of banned weapons by the Russian-backed Assad regime in Syria.

About a dozen or so “cyber-actors” have been identified as responsible, but they are all fronts for the GRU – the Russian military intelligence unit also implicated in the attempted assassination of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Given are dependence on computers, its coordinated attacks have huge implications. Everything from cash machines to home heating systems, from electricity generators to mobile phones, and to the health service which is relying more on cyber technology. We have seen many times in recent years the enormous disruption caused by a temporary breakdown in service, as happened during the botched IT upgrade at the TSB bank.

Similarly, 18 months ago the NHS was hit by a major cyber problem, prompting the mass cancellations of appointments and operations. Then the North Korean government of Kim Jong-Un was cynical enough to take the blame and the fear inspired by that. But it is clear, from the wealth of mounting evidence, that the Russians certainly have the capability and determination to launch similar attacks.

If patients’ lives were put at risk by such a cyber-attack, it would create a real global panic – the cyber equivalent of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

That is why we should be worried. What is happening now in cyberspace is even more dangerous and certainly more unpredictable than the darkest days of the Cold War.

For all the anxieties back then about a nuclear stand-off, at least the hostility between the West and the Soviet Bloc was governed by respected boundaries. The rules – such as a prohibition on assassinations – were generally upheld. Both sides communicated with each other, partly from the need to avoid a nuclear apocalypse through a catastrophic misunderstanding.

That culture has disappeared. We live in a much more fluid world where restrictions on movement – especially in Europe – hardly exist at all. At any given moment there are probably more than 100,000 Russians in Britain, most of them wholly innocent and here to work, study or by enjoying a break. Yet that transient mass also provides cover for hostile intelligence agents.

Moreover, technology makes it much easier for someone to cause mayhem. During the Cold War, if the Soviets wanted to hit a water pumping station or sabotage an aircraft, they had to send in armed agents. Today, that could be accomplished from an office in Moscow or Kiev – just as computer programs can churn out millions of emails to damage businesses, influence elections and propagate fake news and untruths.

Then there are the armies of hackers in “troll” factories who spread and disseminate destabilising information, such as Hillary Clinton’s emails or the intricate medical details of Olympic cyclist Bradley Wiggins’ asthma prescriptions. The aim is to undermine public respect for Western politicians and heroes alike.

The fall of the Berlin Wall almost three decades ago was a remarkable triumph for freedom and capitalism over totalitarianism. But that ascendency lulled Western politicians into a false sense of security.

Russia, which has an economy no bigger than that of Britain or France, is showing almost by the day that if resources are focused on a certain area – in this case cyber warfare – then a nation can still have lethal power.

And we are only just coming to terms with it. Lord Ricketts, who served as Britain’s National Security Adviser until 2012, has warned that the recent plots are just the start, “pilot projects” to test defences in advance of a full-blooded cyber assault to bring anarchy to the West.

As President Putin’s invasion of Crimea and his support for the blood-soaked Assad regime in Syria has shown, he is not a man constrained by normal democratic values. Throughout his presidency he has been pushing at boundaries, seeing what he can get away with, what will provoke the West to act.

Now his dwindling popularity at home over his domestic agenda – particularly his attempt to raise the retirement age – makes it all the more imperative for him to wrap himself in the nationalist flag with high-profile attacks on the West.

 

AT least the complacency in Europe and America is beginning to lift and we are starting to fight back – such as when the Dutch defence minister, Ank Bijeveld, and Peter Wilson, the British ambassador to the Netherlands, explained how the OPCW conspiracy was foiled.

In the context of cyber warfare, the West has unparalleled expertise. The staff of both the US National Security Agency and our own formidable base at GCHQ in Cheltenham have world-beating abilities in hacking computers and other electronic devices.

So far, the West has proved far more restrained than Russia in deploying that expertise. There is only one documented case of Western agents using a computer against an enemy state’s infrastructure. That occurred when the Israelis and the Americans worked together to release the Stuxnet virus into the computers that operated Iran’s nuclear programme. It proved what the West can do if necessary.

But any escalation in cyber warfare is fraught with risk. A miscalculation by any rogue agents, anxious to ingratiate themselves with the Kremlin, could have disastrous consequences.

The reality of the new world disorder is one in which Putin is not only promoting, but relishing. We would do well to remember that.

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Britain, Economic, Government, National Security, Russia, Society, United States

Russia’s ‘tremendous weapon’

CYBER WARFARE

SECURITY CHIEFS have warned that tens of thousands of British families’ computers have been targeted by Russia – potentially paving the way for a devastating cyber-attack.

. You might also like to read The terrifying era of internet warfare

They fear the Kremlin is trying to identify vulnerabilities allowing it to “lay a foundation for offensive future operations” that could cripple Britain.

The concern is that Russia could take control of these devices then use them to overload vital infrastructure systems such as banks, water supplies, energy networks, emergency services and even the Armed Forces.

A so-called “man-in-the-middle” attack could be carried out anonymously because the Government would not know who had hacked into these systems in UK homes.

Security chiefs said they feared Moscow-backed hackers were trying to create a “tremendous weapon” to unleash in “times of tension”. Britain’s eavesdropping agency GCHQ, the White House and the FBI have launched an unprecedented joint alert about “malicious cyber activity” carried out across the globe by the Kremlin.

They warned that Moscow was mounting a campaign to exploit vulnerable devices and threaten “our respective safety, security, and economic well-being”. It followed a recent warning that Vladimir Putin was ready to retaliate for the Western air strikes on Syria, where Bashar al-Assad’s regime is backed by Russia.

Britain has been tracking the online activity for more than a year, a spokesperson for the National Cyber-Security Centre (NCSC) said.

Kremlin-sponsored actors were said to be using “compromised routers” to conduct “spoofing” – when the attacker hides their identity – to “support espionage… and potentially lay a foundation for future offensive operations”.

In an unusual transatlantic briefing the NCSC said there are millions of machines being globally targeted, with the intent of trying to seize control over connectivity.

“In the case of targeting providers of internet services, it’s about gaining access to their customers to try to gain control over the devices.

“The purpose of these attacks could be espionage, it could be the theft of intellectual property, it could be positioning or use in times of tension. All of the attacks have directly affected the UK.”

The FBI says that US government experts had found themselves “unwittingly on the frontline of the battle” against Moscow’s cyber-attacks. The Bureau said that, if Russia were able to hack into a wireless router then “own it”, hackers could monitor all the traffic going through it. “It is a tremendous weapon”.

A White House cyber security co-ordinator warned the Kremlin that the US and Britain would respond to any attack. The UK has previously carried out a huge cyber offensive against Islamic State, and the US attacked the Iranian nuclear programme by launching the Stuxnet cyber- attack in 2010 which wholly deactivated the programme’s centrifuges.

The US and UK insist they are pushing back hard and say that cyber activity must be stopped and opposed at every turn. They are confident, however, that Russia has already carried out a co-ordinated campaign to gain access to enterprise, small office routers and residential routers – the kind of things that everyone has in their homes.

The NCSC, FBI and US department of homeland security warned that Russian state-sponsored actors were trying to spy on individuals, industries and the Government.

A joint UK-US statement said “multiple sources” – including private and public sector cyber security research organisations and allies – had reported such activity to governments. The communique said: “Russia is our most capable hostile adversary in cyberspace so dealing with their attacks is a major priority.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “This is yet another example of Russia’s disregard for international norms and global order – this time through a campaign of cyber espionage and aggression, which attempts to disrupt governments and destabilise business. The attribution of this malicious activity sends a clear message to Russia – we know what you are doing, and you will not succeed.”

 

THE warning from intelligence agencies that Russia is launching a cyber offensive against our Government, infrastructure, companies and even families, with the intention of spreading chaos and panic, is hugely significant.

It is a chilling reminder for everyone – if one were needed – that for Vladimir Putin, bombs, missiles and poison gas aren’t the only weapons of war.

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Britain, China, Government, North Korea, United Nations

Britain hints it could hit North Korea with cyber war

NORTH KOREA

THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT has refused to rule out using cyber warfare to target North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un in the wake of his latest missile launch.

Theresa May has pledged to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Japan whose territory was targeted.

The prime minister, who had arrived in the Japanese city of Kyoto 36 hours after Pyongyang sent a missile over the north of the country, said she was keeping the door open to launching a retaliatory cyber strike. Mrs May also provoked a row with China after heaping pressure on Beijing to rein in the rogue state.

At the commencement of her three-day trip to Japan, she said: “We are very clear that the actions of North Korea are illegal. I think they are significant actions of provocations.

“I think that is outrageous, that is why we will be working with our international partners and re-doubling our efforts to put pressure on North Korea, to stop these illegal activities.” Mrs May refused three times to say if Britain could use its cyber capabilities to take on North Korea, as she repeatedly avoided questions about the prospect of future military action.

Britain has doubled its investment in defensive and offensive cyber warfare to £1.9billion and set up a National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ.

National Cyber Centre

The new National Cyber Security Centre is the authoritative voice on information security in the UK. It is part of GCHQ and an integral part of the intelligence community.

Last month, the Prime Minister said she had told China’s President Xi that she believes his country has a “key role in putting pressure on North Korea to stop the actions they are taking”.

She said: “We want to ensure that North Korea desists in this action. We see that the best way of doing that is for China to be bringing pressure to bear on North Korea.”

But this week the Chinese foreign ministry criticised those claiming China should step up the pressure on North Korea. A statement released, said: “They only pay attention to sanctions and pressure, and ignore peace talks. When we promote peace talks, they ignore this. You will reap what you sow… The parties directly concerned should take responsibility.”

Mrs May attended Japan’s national security council and announced the deployment of HMS Argyll to the region in December 2018.

Matthew Rycroft, British ambassador to the UN, said Britain wants new sanctions against North Korea which would target workers who are sent to countries such as Russia and China, and whose wages are a source of revenue for Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, a former GCHQ expert has warned that Britain’s enemies would use cyber-attacks to create panic and disrupt key services such as banks, power plants and the NHS if a Third World War erupts.

Brian Lord, who was deputy director for intelligence and cyber operations at GCHQ, said countries are engaged in a cyber arms race and “unpredictable” North Korea is one of those developing capabilities to penetrate global computer systems.

BRITAIN’S relationship with China has suffered a setback after Beijing accused Theresa May of being a “weak” leader.

After the Prime Minister called for the Chinese to do more to rein in North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, a state-linked newspaper taunted her over her disappointing general election performance.

The Global Times attacked Mrs May in an article headlined, “Beijing does not need London to teach it how to deal with North Korea”.

“May’s Conservative Party lost many seats, turning her into a vulnerable Prime Minister,” the newspaper wrote in an editorial column. It also accused her of copying Donald Trump’s stance.

“Weak people often look for opportunities to show their strength”, it said. “Perhaps Prime Minister May doesn’t know much about the Korean Peninsula. Her comments sounded just like a rehashing of Washington’s rhetoric.

“If the British Government genuinely wants to protect its businesses and investment interests in the region, it should speak and act cautiously… rather than pointing fingers and making irrelevant remarks.”

But an undeterred Mrs May doubled down on her demands, calling for “actions as well as words” as Britain, America and Japan all urged China to sign up to oil sanctions against the rogue state.

Confronted by the criticism from Beijing, Mrs May said she was not deterred, adding: “We need to ensure it’s not just words of condemnation, but that action is taken. China does have a leverage in the region and we should be encouraging China to exercise that leverage.”

The Prime Minister and her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe both agreed to an increase in sanctions to bring North Korea to heel. A Government source said these could include implementing current sanctions more quickly, as well as looking at new areas to target.

It is understood China is resisting increasing sanctions to North Korean oil, on the back of a coal export slapped on the international pariah two weeks ago.

Following the North Korean missile test over Japan earlier this week, Mr Abe said: “The threat is felt not only by our country or Asia alone, it has become a global threat including Europe.

“North Korea will launch an intercontinental ballistic missile and the range would include almost the entire region of Europe.” Mrs May added: “We are very clear that the actions of North Korea are illegal.”

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said the UK and its NATO allies must compete on the “cyber battlefield”.

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