March 11, 2007:
The U.S. Department of Defense is spending $2.5 billion to
protect its data networks this year. That's not a lot of money when you consider
that the Department of Defense has 11 million Internet users, five million PCs
and 12,000 networks. It is the largest Internet user on the planet. Department
of Defense networks get probed six million times a day. Since last year there
has been a 46 percent increase in attacks on Department of Defense web sites.
There has been 28 percent more email based attacks. These are increasingly
targeted at specific types of military users, or even individuals. There were
more than twice as many attempts to insert viruses, worms and Trojan horse
software on military systems. The attackers are looking for information, or
secret control, or at least access, to military systems. Some of the attacks
have been massive and well organized. There have been at least four of these
major attacks in the last year, hitting targets like the National Defense
University, the Naval War College and Fort Hood. Each of these cost $20-30
million to clean up after.
Expect to hear more about this battle in the coming year. Whoever is behind the
attacks, has been careful to conceal their identity. Cyber War experts believe
much of the action is coming from China. But there has not been any official
recognition of this, although there may be discreet diplomatic discussions going
on about it. Some of the activity appears to be coming from criminal gangs, who
are known to do corporate espionage, for a price. Foreign nations have hired
these gangs in the past, to break into American government networks and steal
things. A lot of attackers are still "recreational hackers" (usually teenage
males with too much time on their hands.)