RTT News_Who's Protecting America's Internet Boarders? (August 25)

25.08.2007

In the spring, Estonia's internet came under siege. A collection of software robots, or a botnet, slipped into the country through the internet and attacked almost every digital front at once. A botnet's originator can control the group remotely, usually for illicit purposes. The attack raised questions about how well the United States is protected from a similar attack, and what the costs might be.

Jaak Aaviksoo, Estonia's minister of defense, told Wired Magazine that, “All major commercial banks, telcos, media outlets, and name servers — the phone books of the Internet — felt the impact, and this affected the majority of the Estonian population. This was the first time that a botnet threatened the national security of an entire nation.”

The event that sparked the attack occurred days earlier, with the removal of a Soviet monument. Russia, who erected the statue in 1947 to commemorate their war dead, warned that the removal would be disastrous for Estonians. Attacks started in late April and continued into early May. It took down websites belonging to the Estonian government as well as several banks.

The timing of the attacks, as well as their scope and sudden availability of botnets to aim at Estonian targets suggested that there was some level of organization involved. Investigators traced the attack to Russians angered by the decision to move the statue. Because bank sites were hurt, many citizens were unable to conduct ordinary transactions such as buying food or gas.

James Mulvenon, director of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, told PC World that, “Estonia shows us how, as we become more networked and more wired, our vulnerabilities increase.” Estonia is one of the most wired countries on earth. They have elections on the internet, and 90% of bank transactions are done online. Attacks such as the one in the spring have a profound effect on commerce.

In 1995 two Russian hackers stole $10 million from Citibank. In response, the U.S. government unveiled its National Information Infrastructure Protection Center. This was designed to help protect America's telecommunications, transportation and technological systems from hacker attacks.

The Feds revealed that the cost of unauthorized access topped $125 million back in 1999. In May 2000, the “I LOVE YOU” virus cost the global economy close to $9 billion, the most harmful hacker-created virus to date. The “Computer Crime and Security Survey” reported that 60% of companies said Internet-based attacks were becoming increasingly problematic.

The United States faces many of the same dangers as Estonia. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission estimates that about 10 million Americans fall victim to identity fraud each year. Public utilities are moving away from proprietary systems towards open-standards based systems that use common internet protocols. Though many U.S. websites are well-protected, a massive denial of service attack (the type of attacks that affected Estonia) could still leave many commercial sites reeling. Financial losses from such an event could be enormous and would be followed by a loss in consumer confidence.

A study done by economic professors Peter Leeson and Christopher Coyne stated that, “While computer hackers constitute a major security concern for individuals, business and public institutions around the globe, hacking and hackers' underground culture remains much of a black box for both lawmakers and those vulnerable to hacker attacks.”

For 10 years, the U.S. government's information systems and critical infrastructures have remained in a “high risk” category. Congress has been paying greater attention to cyber-warfare threats and vulnerabilities through hearings from Homeland security, but some call for more action.

The American government released the “National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace” to provide a framework to protect the infrastructure. It stated that in the past few years, threats in cyberspace have risen dramatically, and we must act to reduce our vulnerabilities to these threats before they can be exploited to damage the cyber systems supporting our nation's critical infrastructures.

The report stated that by 2003, the American economy had become fully dependent upon information technology and the information infrastructure. A network of networks directly supports the operation of all sectors of our economy - energy, transportation, finance and banking, information and telecommunications, among many others. The document went on to say that the government alone cannot secure cyberspace. It said that the federal government could not and should not secure the computer networks of privately owned banks, energy companies, transportation firms and other parts of the private sector. The report continued, stating, “Each American who depends on cyberspace must secure the part that they own or for which they are responsible.”

However, in recent years, companies and banks have proven to be vulnerable to hacker attacks. TJX, parent company of T.J. Maxx, announced a few months ago that credit card and drivers' license information had been stolen through credit and debit card transactions due to suspicious software on its computer system. In the latest Internet Security Threat Report released by Symantec in March, it was revealed that the current internet threat environment is characterized by an increase in data theft, data leakage, and the creation of targeted, malicious code for financial gain. They stated that the United States had the highest proportion of overall malicious activity, with 31%.

Even the government's system has taken blows. In mid-July, hackers stole information from the U.S. Department of Transportation by luring employees with fake job-listings. Malicious programs were able to pass undetected because the software wasn't recognized by existing antivirus software.

Most experts are optimistic about the future security of the internet. Some suggest that between now and 2010, they predict vulnerabilities will flatten or decline, and so will security breaches. They warn, however, that it might only come after a major attack spurs the public into action. If Estonia can go down with little public reaction, who knows how large the attack will have to be?

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