Cyber-Terrorism&

SecurityNew Definitions For New Realities

Dan VertonVice President & Executive Editor

FISSEA

March 2005

www.itsecuritymagazine.com

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This Is A Controversial Topic• “The problem is that when you

make a recommendation before [an attack] happens, people tend to think you're nuts.”

• “That's the kind of mind set that made it difficult for us…the institutional bureaucracy…couldn't see the threat because it hadn't happened.”

Richard Clarke Testifying at 9/11 Commission Hearing, 3/24/04

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Before We Do Anything…

• Accept the FACT that vulnerabilities open doors to the unexpected.

• Accept that there is NO separation between the cyber world and the physical world.

• Terrorism is multifaceted. Traditional definitions must be adapted to the new realities.

• We’ve become distracted – insider threat is real & growing.

• Change the way you THINK about future threats…don’t be a security APPEASER.

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Appeaser

• According to Webster’s Dictionary:

• \Ap*peas"er\, n. One who appeases; a pacifier.

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Appeaser

• According to Verton’s Dictionary:

• \Ap*peas"er\, n. “One who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last.”– Sir Winston Churchill

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What Do I Really Mean By“Appeasement?”

• Maybe we are growing dangerously complacent?

• Maybe we do underestimate our enemies?

• Maybe we really do think this is as bad as it can get?

• Maybe the threat-independent model is not how we should be approaching these issues?

The Vulnerability Matrix

Electric

Government

Natural Gas

26,000 FDIC institutions

2,800 power plants

104 commercial

nuclear plants

1,600 municipal wastewater facilities

2 million miles of pipelines

66,000 chemical plants

5,800 registered hospitals

E-commerce

2 billion miles of cable

5,000 airports

300 maritime ports

300,000 production sites

120,000 miles of major rails

3,000 govt. facilities

Home Users

Broadband Connections

Wireless

Viruses, Worms

Banking

Telecom

EmergencyServices

Chemical

Rail

Natural GasWater

Waste Water

Transportation

Oil

80,000 Dams

Insiders

Configuration

Problems

150,000 miles transmission lines

130 overlapping grid controllers

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IT SecurityHow Important Is It Really?• Not only about $… It’s about public safety too!

– Railroads.

– Water & Wastewater Treatment.

– Uranium Mining.

– Oil Wells, Water Flood Operations.

– Airline Baggage Checking.

– Aug. 14 Power Failure.

– Online Information Control.

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Defining The FutureThreat = Intent + Capability

Pakistani ISI

Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence

Hackers for Hire,

Organized Crime,

Disgruntled Insiders

Russian FAPSI

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Defining The EvidenceOmar Bakri MuhammadBin Laden's man in London

• Syrian-born, radical, founder of Al-Muhajirun

• Spokesman for the International Islamic Front, the political wing of the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, led by Osama bin Laden

• Has recruited for Hamas, Hezbollah and various groups in Afghanistan

• FBI memo on July 10, 2001, noted a connection between Middle Eastern men in Phoenix-area flight schools and Bakri's London-based Al-Muhajirun.

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Bakri On Cyber Attacks• "In a matter of time, you will see attacks on the

stock market."

• “I would not be surprised if tomorrow I hear of a big economic collapse because of somebody attacking the main technical systems in big companies."

• "The third letter from Osama bin Laden…was clearly addressing using the technology in order to destroy the economy of the capitalist states. This is a matter that is very clear."

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Other Evidence - Historical• L’Houssaine Kherchtou, a 36-year-old

Moroccan, was one of al-Qaeda’s early trainees in high-tech methods of surveillance. Teacher = Abu Mohamed al Amriki

• Fey Street (Peshawar) Electronics Lab run by Abu al-Alkali and Salem the Iraqi.

• “They found out that I don’t know anything about electronics, and they told me just to study from the beginning and to recognize...the different components.”

• Degree in engineering?

Slacke & Terr0r

• On 8th of March F-Secure got a report of a network trojan known as "Slacke"

• Report came from Russia

• The trojan was written by a Kuwait hacker group Q8SEE

Slacke & Terr0r

• The worm downloaded additional code from a website

• The website was WWW.LUVZ.ST

• .ST is the domain of São Tomé and Príncipe

• Where?

Slacke & Terr0r

São Tomé and Príncipe is small island nation off Atlantic coast of Africa

The Net Widens

• The .ST domain rights were sold to a company operating in Stockholm, Sweden

• According their WHOIS, Luvz.st was registered to:

 Administrative Contact Information  Company Name: JordanChat  Contact Name: TeRrOr Address: Irbid , 00962 , irbid , IR , JO Expire date: 29 Oct, 2003

The Net Reaches U.S.

CHAT.CNN.COM > #Noticias in Mexico

Slacke & Terror?

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Insider Threat• Why spend R&D money when you can steal it?

• Economic Espionage: $ hundreds of billions

• Four forms of insider: Internal (current/former employees, executives)

External (contractor, maintenance, business partner)

Collaborator (external working with internal)

Rogue Ideologue (seeks hire for purpose of doing harm)

• Technology Complicates Internal Defenses The Perimeter is gone!

USB devices, cell phone cameras, common configuration errors, lack of access controls, contractors, outsourcing

Places premium on automated tools, data-centric

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Insider Stats

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Types of Data Being Stolen• Computer source code

• Business plans and design specifications• Customer and order information

databases• Motorola 2-way radio specifications

• Newest Intel chip specifications (twice)• Sales and pricing data

• Oil and gas well logs and software used in the analysis of the information

• Engineering drawings for next generation of Gillette razor systems

• Eng. Drawings Next Generation Space Shuttle

(inside or outside??)

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Case: Ramon

• An intellectual of sorts, highly educated, conservative in his politics, painfully introverted, somewhat arrogant and kind of a geek.

• Expert programmer who preferred communicating with associates through e-mail rather than in person.

• Hacked his employer's computer system without permission to show management that there were serious security gaps that needed to be fixed.

Robert Hanssen – The worst insider spy case in FBI history.

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Insider Psychological ProfileIntroverted: A common characteristic of IT specialists, which can pose a significant management challenge.

Frustrated: Family or social problems may be compounded by negative attitudes toward authority.

Computer-dependent: Such individuals often prefer online activity to direct social interaction.

Ethical flexibility: Dangerous insiders view malicious actions as justified, given their circumstances.

Entitlement: Feelings of being “special” employees—for example, the only ones with the necessary training. Being overworked with no rewards can lead to a desire for revenge.

Reduced loyalty: Some insiders identify with the IT/programming profession and not with the organization that employs them.

Lack of empathy: The impersonal nature of cyberspace leads to a lack of regard for the impact of the perpetrators’ actions on others.

Final Thought – 9/11Think Differently

Security is about a lot of things, not only bits & bytesTHANK YOU