Re: [iwar] Tenet 2001


From: Fred Cohen
From: fc@all.net
To: iwar@yahoogroups.com

Mon, 12 Feb 2001 08:41:07 -0800 (PST)


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In-Reply-To:  from "Wanja Eric Naef \(IWS\)" at Feb 12, 2001 04:28:40 PM
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Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 08:41:07 -0800 (PST)
Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [iwar] Tenet 2001
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Per the message sent by "Wanja Eric Naef \(IWS\)":

> It looks like it is national week of scare-mongering:

I would go along with that...  part of the desire for justifying a
military build-up.  The Bush administration had claimed that the
military was too weak and that they would strengthen it - but when it
came to budget, they decided not to do so - the result of a campaign
promise that was based on a lie in order to help win.  Now they have to
meet the promise, so they declare a need to review the whole situation
(which seems to show weakness and incompetence - the incoming secretary
of defense should know the situation before arriving...).

They need an enemy to fight against - the cold war is (sort of) over, so
they need to push the emerging threats in order to satisfy the military
industrial complex.

> Fidel (weird that a country with virtually no Internet connections is
> considered a threat, I personally consider computer literate teenagers more
> as threat than Fidel), Bin Laden, ...

Two very different cases of course.  Fidel has a nation to run, Bin
Laden only has to spend his money, entice hatred, and appease political
forces. 

...
> IT & Terrorism
>
> ...'International terrorist networks have used the explosion in information
> technology to advance their capabilities. The same technologies that allow
> individual consumers in the United States to search out and buy books in
> Australia or India also enable terrorists to raise money, spread their
> dogma, find recruits, and plan operations far afield. Some groups are
> acquiring rudimentary cyberattack tools.
>
> Terrorist groups are actively searching the internet to acquire information
> and capabilities for chemical, biological, radiological, and even nuclear
> attacks. Many of the 29 officially designated terrorist organizations have
> an interest in unconventional weapons, and Usama bin Ladin in 1998 even
> declared their acquisition a "religious duty."'...

Hardly an accurate depiction of the situation.  They tend to use cyber
techniques to communicate, but they don't seem to be launching mass
attacks (or preparing to do so) against US critical infrastructures.  In
fact, for many of the organizations this would be the worst mode they
could ever make.  The PLO for example wants US political support - and
this would help to undermine it.  Bin Laden doesn't care about the US,
but it is doubtful if he can get the resources together to do it very
well without the help of China or some such place.

> and Tenet on IO:

> INFORMATION OPERATIONS AND SPACE

> Mr. Chairman, I want to reemphasize the concerns I raised last year
> about our nation's vulnerability to attacks on our critical
> information infrastructure. No country in the world rivals the U.S. in
> its reliance, dependence, and dominance of information systems. The
> great advantage we derive from this also presents us with unique
> vulnerabilities.
...

Of course he is right, but what specific enemies and in what specific
manner? Essentially all successful war making is based on asymetries.
Sun Tzu said so and nothing much has changed since then...

...
> technologies that could be used to develop counterspace capabilities.

Read China?

> Mr. Chairman, we are in a race with technology itself. We are creating
> relations with the private sector and academia to help us keep pace
> with ever-changing technology. Last year I established the Information
> Operations Center within CIA to bring together our best and brightest
> to ensure that we had a strategy for dealing with the cyber threat.

I must have missed it - none of the best or brightest I know were there...
at least they didn't tell me they were...

> Along with partners in the Departments of Justice, Energy, and Defense
> we will work diligently to protect critical U.S. information assets.

But not the private sector which owns these critical infrastructures.

Isn't US politics a funny animal?


FC
--
Fred Cohen at Sandia National Laboratories at tel:925-294-2087 fax:925-294-1225
  Fred Cohen & Associates: http://all.net - fc@all.net - tel/fax:925-454-0171
      Fred Cohen - Practitioner in Residence - The University of New Haven
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