[infowar.de] GEM 12.2.02: Uebung Bio- und Cyberattacks gleichzeitig

[Georg Schoefbaenker <schoefbaenker -! - aon - at>]

Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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Interessant,

eine Stabs=FCbung, bei der =C4pfel mit Birnen vermischt werden. Einerseits=
 ein Biowaffenanschlag, andererseits die nahezu krampfhafte Herstellung=
 eines Zusammenhanges zur Al Qaida und Cyberterror.

mfg

GS



http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0202/021202td1.htm
February 12, 2002=20

Simulated bioterror attack tests federal response=20

By Molly M. Peterson,=
 <http://www.nationaljournal.com/technologydaily>National Journal's=
 Technology Daily=20

Fictional terrorists attempted to launch a biological attack on a fictional=
 U.S. embassy Tuesday. But real-life technology companies helped thwart the=
 invasion by linking their real-life communications networks, as officials=
 from the Pentagon, the FBI, the CIA, the State Department and other federal=
 agencies watched and took notes.

"These guys are really very computer literate, and they have the capability=
 to launch major attacks on our communications infrastructure," George=
 Webber, a contractor with Getronics Government Solutions, said of terrorist=
 organizations like Al Qaeda. Getronics sponsored the seminar, which was=
 designed to help companies and government agencies develop ways to protect=
 their critical infrastructures against cyberattack.

Getronics, which provides the Defense Department and many other agencies=
 with information security services, staged an elaborate simulation of how=
 terrorists could use widely available technology to attack U.S. interests,=
 and demonstrated how existing products and services could prevent such an=
 attack.=20

The attack scenario involved a fictional virus called "gemstone," which a=
 terrorist cell had released as an initial attack on the defensive military=
 unit protecting the U.S. embassy in the fictional country of Timbuktu.=20

Reading from scripts and using several interconnected laptop computers,=
 Getronics employees posing as military officials promptly notified Mount=
 Granite, a fictional Defense installment in the United States. Using=
 products such as General Dynamics' "Intrusion Vision" and Raytheon's=
 "Silent Runner," Mount Granite officials tracked communications patterns=
 and determined that the gemstone virus was linked to cryptic messages about=
 "carat dust."=20

Mount Granite then used a secure e-mail network to contact the fictional=
 equivalent of the FBI, which had intelligence indicating that "carat dust"=
 was a biotoxin.

The FBI then contacted the fictional Centers for Disease Control and=
 Prevention to determine vaccine availability and sent the fictional State=
 Department a secure message to notify embassy officials. The FBI also set=
 up a secure Web server "community of interest" to enable the various=
 agencies to track the gemstone attack.=20

Thwarting the attacks required the agencies to share real-time information,=
 which often proves complicated for real-life agencies because of barriers=
 erected among agencies for security purposes. Agencies also use various=
 authentication techniques, which must be synchronized in order for secure=
 communications to be transmitted successfully.

For example, agencies use a variety of public key infrastructure (PKI)=
 technologies for encrypting confidential messages. Webber said the=
 interoperability of PKIs is crucial to bridging communications gaps among=
 the agencies fighting terrorism. But he added that finding the right way to=
 tie those PKI infrastructures together is a "big operational issue" facing=
 the agencies.=20

The simulation successfully bridged those gaps and culminated in a "happy=
 ending" when FBI field agents stopped the terrorist attack. But Webber=
 warned that without such coordination, federal agencies remain at risk.

"The tragedy on Sept. 11 brought home how vulnerable we are right here in=
 the United States," he said. =20


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