INSIGHT: E-Zapper Could Break The Bank
Insight Magazine E-Zapper Could Break the Bank
Transient electromagnetic devices are not hard to make
and can be stuffed in a briefcase or loaded into a van.
But they could zap our computer-based infrastructure.
Scenario One: Awell-dressed woman enters an airline terminal with a leather
briefcase and pauses briefly in front of the ticket counter. But
nobody notices her because, seconds later, all of the computers crash
and even the hardware goes dead.
(2). . . . A beat-up van drives around the block in mid-Manhattan where
the Clearing House Interbank Payment System, or CHIPS, is located.
This is the set of computers which handles $1.3 trillion per day in
check-clearing for U.S. banks -- the very heart of the U.S. economy.
Suddenly the mainframes blink off, and there is a slight smell of
overheated ozone. Not to worry, though, because the CHIPS backup
system in New Jersey picks up without a hitch. Meanwhile, another
van is approaching the New Jersey site.
. . . . Down the coast, a 747 takes off from Dulles International Airport
west of Washington with the secretary of state on board. Moments
later, before the plane has achieved cruising altitude, it plunges into the
Blue Ridge mountains. Months of inquiry produce no explanation for
the sudden failure of all the airliner's systems, including the recordings
in the black boxes. But no one thought to check out the large
satellite-dish TV antenna located in the backyard behind a mountain
cabin looking just like hundreds of other such antennae in communities
with poor TV reception.
. . . . None of these scenarios has happened, of course. But recent
hearings before Congress' Joint Economic Committee, or JEC, under the
leadership of Chairman James A. Saxton, a New Jersey Republican,
raise chilling possibilities of terrorist threats to the national
infrastructure using new developments in Radio Frequency, or RF, that
could put a Popular Mechanics handyman in the terrorist business.
Once considered the Buck Rogers baloney of urban-guerrilla legend,
simple, portable RF weapons now are within reach -- and affordable.
. . . . For years, military establishments around the world have spent
millions on devices that would generate and focus high-powered
microwaves, or HPM, aimed at disrupting the circuits of missiles,
aircraft, satellites and command-and-control computers. Using
essentially the same principle found in the magnetron of a home
microwave oven, these expensive devices generate smooth sine waves
tuned to frequencies that can enter a target through its own antenna or
gaps in its shielding. Like a home microwave, this produces heat in the
target by causing atoms to vibrate against each other, leading to
meltdown. Only a national-defense organization could field the teams
of experts needed to produce HPM. It's not something to try at home.
. . . . But there is another type of RF weapon that produces a single
spike of energy which envelopes the target across the entire
electromagnetic spectrum, interrupting the flow of electrons performing
computer calculations, and in some cases damaging the microscopic
circuits themselves. This one is called a transient electronic device, or
TED. There is no tuning to a vulnerable wave length here. The
broadband burst attacks indiscriminately, like a radio broadcast that
could be heard on every frequency. The phenomenon can be compared
to the static electric discharge created by walking across a carpet;
indeed, every tinkerer who opens up a computer is specifically warned
to discharge any static before touching a circuit board.
. . . . The TED is in fact based upon modern versions of the spark-gap
technology discovered by Michael Faraday in the 19th century. Any
good engineering student with access to a textbook, a Radio Shack and
an auto-parts store might build one.
. . . . Military experts long dismissed the possibility of a backyard
bomber coming up with an RF weapon. But the panel assembled by
Saxton from the Pentagon and elsewhere gave a much more somber
assessment. Witnesses testified that the TED-in-a-briefcase already
has been developed by a Russian technical institute and is for sale for
$100,000 to interested parties. Another expert described how he built a
TED in his basement, using a couple of ignition coils, an auto fuel
pump and oil filter, and other commonly available junk parts. From there
it would take only a little practical experimentation to work up to the
TED-in-a-van, or the TED hooked up to a 12-foot satellite dish. A
witness from the Department of Defense, or DoD, said that the military
takes the possibility of RF attacks on aircraft so seriously that it has
been testing such effects live in the field on surplus Huey helicopter
gunships.
. . . . "Here in Congress we are still trying to bridge the information gap
[on RF weapons]," Saxton tells Insight. "I even had one very nice man
who asked whether this would pass the laugh test. But I think we need
to make it a priority. I remember that Dick Cheney, when he was
secretary of defense, told us that the Soviet Union would go away and
the Cold War would be over, but the threat would not go away -- it
would change.
. . . . "And he was right. The threat from chemical/biological warfare is
now of a magnitude that it was not during the Cold War. It is the same
with nuclear proliferation. Now, because of our reliance on high-tech
systems, the potential use of radio-frequency weapons is emerging as a
serious threat."
. . . . Congressional staffers told Insight that the modern economy has
been rebuilt around the computer chip and associated interconnected
networks. This is true not only of actual financial transactions, but for
the command-and-control of the national electrical-power grid, ground
transportation and communication systems, air-traffic control, marine
safety, satellite-position systems and, of course, the Internet, which is
quickly being transformed from a scientist's or hobbyist's domain to a
fundamental vehicle that affects business decisions in worldwide
enterprises. Even individual cars, trucks, trains and airplanes depend
upon in-board computers just to function.
. . . . All of this is now at risk because of inherent vulnerabilities. As
recounted in Martin Mayer's new book, The Bankers: The Next
Generation, the CHIPS check-settlement operation, at the center of the
nation's banking system, never has experienced a failure, an almost
unprecedented record for major computer systems. This is the result of
careful security, planning and redundancy. But in January 1996, in the
midst of the worst blizzard in the northeast in decades, pipes froze on
the floor above the Manhattan computers, pouring water into the
system. The New Jersey backup immediately took over, running on
generators because ice storms had caused a regional electrical
blackout. But the storms also prevented fuel trucks from getting to the
iced-in loading docks, and CHIPS came within half an hour of shutting
down. What would happen to the economy if a terrorist group
developed a weapon that would pierce CHIPS' security?
. . . . Similarly, an extensive enquiry into the explosion of TWA 800 off
Long Island produced the conclusion that an electrical spark in the
center fuel tank was responsible. But what if, in the future, an RF beam
created an electrical discharge in the on-board computer systems of
another flight?
. . . . It has long been known that high-level nuclear explosions generate
an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, which on the battlefield can have a
devastating effect on other weapons and command-and-control
devices not directly in the path of the nuclear explosion. The U.S.
military has spent billions of dollars to develop hardening devices to
shield critical systems from EMP. At the same time, former Soviet
states, including Russia, and the United States have looked for ways to
focus and generate high-power microwaves as a weapon without
having to set off nuclear explosions. That is why the military has put so
much effort into HPM systems.
. . . . In testimony before the JEC, David Shriner, a civilian who formerly
worked at the super-secret China Lake test center in California, said
that in comparison to the HPM systems the "TEDs are relatively simple
devices that generally use simple spark-gap switches, either in oil or in
pressurized gas-pulse storage lines. The power supplies are relatively
small in size and much lower in average power and cost than for the
narrow-band systems."
. . . . It was Shriner himself who built such a devise in his basement from
spare parts in two weeks, just to confound the experts who said it
couldn't be done. He was careful to share his data with government
experts and to keep it in a secure facility.
. . . . "Such a system would have to cause detrimental effects to
common infrastructure items such as those found in financial
institutions [banks, ATMs, and stores], medical facilities, airport
facilities, general transportation items [auto-engine controls, ABS, air
bags, etc.], utility facilities [telephone exchanges, power-grid
controllers], and other infrastructure entities," Shriner told the
committee.
. . . . Shriner told Insight later that the curtain could be about to rise on
what he called the dark side: "A terrorist, or somebody on the dark side
using good engineering sense or just getting something out of a
textbook could assemble a TED device. He would just simply park in
front of a bank or a hospital or a grocery store where they use
computers or microprocessor-based equipment and diddle with a
homemade device until something happens. Technology is a powerful
thing growing in our minds, and I can't help but think that the dark side
is ready to use it."
. . . . In his testimony to the JEC, Shriner laid out a graphic picture:
"This quickly developed, low-cost system could easily be placed in a
small van and used in a parking lot or directed at buildings that the van
was driven past. It is highly likely that this type of device would be a
very effective terrorist system and the findings of its design could be
factored into another larger, higher-powered device, or a more
advanced design, each with significantly greater effectiveness."
. . . . Finally, Shiner added, "It is clear that there are four basic
configurations that could be used, one the size of a briefcase that could
be placed very close to a target system [like a computer at a desk or
counter]; one that could be mounted into a small van and disguised to
appear as something ordinary; one dedicated to be set up at a remote
target location and used for some purpose where appearance was not
of any concern; and finally, a system that could be located in one's
back yard such that it could be aimed at over-flying aircraft." Shriner
believes that an ordinary 12-foot TV dish antenna connected to the
weapon could be pointed easily and fatally at aircraft.
. . . . A DoD witness at the JEC hearings specifically raised the need to
test the effects of RF on aircraft. James F. O'Bryon is the deputy
director of operational testing and evaluation live-fire testing for the
Office of the Secretary of Defense. His office was tasked to test
emerging threats as well as current systems. He singled out
directed-energy threats as one of the most important for analysis
because it would not require a major effort to launch them.
. . . . "Other nations may very well choose to fight the U.S.
asymmetrically, thereby avoiding a frontal assault on our forces in the
more traditional war of engagement and attrition," O'Bryon said. "They
very well might choose to select a specific area of our potential
vulnerability; for example communications, or information warfare or
other selective threats to attack us more effectively and efficiently.
Recognizing that our nation, both militarily and commercially, is heavily
dependent upon electronically produced, processed and transmitted
information, it makes good sense to assume that rogue nations could
easily try to exploit this potential niche-warfare area to not only disrupt
military command, control and communications but also to attempt to
defeat our highly sophisticated military systems which rely
increasingly on computers and their related software."
. . . . O'Bryon revealed to the committee that for the first time tests for
the survivability of systems against RF had been made outside, rather
than inside a closed laboratory.
. . . . Just as one's voice sounds different in a shower than it does
outside, so does the performance of an RF weapon in the open, he told
the committee. He would state only that the results of his test against
Huey cobra helicopters were "significant."
. . . . DoD sources tell Insight that this was the first time tests had been
made that included shooting into rotating copter blades.
. . . . O'Bryon says, "Drawing much of their technology from the
commercial world, our military systems, whether they be tanks, ships or
aircraft are heavily dependent upon computers or computer
components. They use computers to navigate, to communicate and to
acquire and home on targets. In fact, some of our new fighter aircraft
literally cannot fly without their computer controls. Destroying,
disrupting, corrupting or interrupting computer components could be
very serious."
. . . . The development of the Russian briefcase weapon was reported
by another DoD witness, Dr. Ira W. Merritt, of the U.S. Army Space
and Missile Defense Command. He stated that the Ioffe
Physico-Technical Institute in St. Petersburg has developed compact
RF devices based on solid-state pulsers, as well as a RADAN device
that "can be powered by small hand-carried energy sources, which is a
compact high-current electron accelerator that is smaller than an
attaché case and weighs about 8 kg [18 pounds] with its rechargeable
power supply."
. . . . Merritt adds, "A directional antenna has been developed [so] that
RADAN could be used to stop car engines and to destroy the
electronic arming and firing circuits of bombs." He cited an article in a
Swedish newspaper reporting that the Swedish National Defense
Research Institute purchased a Russian suitcase bomb for $100,000
that uses high-powered microwaves to knock out computers and
destroy all electronics within the radius of its detonation.
. . . . The Australian military also has acquired one of these Russian
devices, says Merritt. He says that U.S. and Russian scientists have
been exchanging information on high-powered microwave sources,
citing visits to the Moscow Radio Technical Institute and the Kharkov
Physico-Technical Institute in Ukraine.
. . . . Merritt warns that the Russians have a large and diverse RF
weapons program that is as yet poorly understood in the West.
. . . . "The hearings have stirred up interest in this problem in the
defense community," Saxton tells Insight. "There was already a high
level of interest in the group working on these problems, but now it is
becoming more widespread."
5/9/98
James P. Lucier
By James P. Lucier
Insight
Despite our current travails in the White House, we've so far
been REALLY lucky that a lot of this hasn't already happened...
Michael
Thought you might enjoy this. Think Y2K.
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