ABSTRACT: There are two sides to information warfare: one side attacks computers from the inside (crackers, viruses, worms, etc.) while the other is an all-out war on electronics, conducted through the use of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and Radio Frequency (RF) devices. In this paper, I focus on how RF and EMP devices might be used against the United States in an act of cyberterrorism, how likely such an attack is, and who might conduct it. In the end, I examine what steps Federal, State, and Local agencies can take to prevent such a threat or cope such an incident should it occur.
A. The Scenario
THE NEW YORK JOURNAL: June 25, 2002:
Major Credit Clearinghouse System Goes Down due to Electromagnetic Pulses
The largest transaction clearinghouse in the world, the Clearing House Interbank Payment System, reported today that its computers and electronic equipment have been shut down by either a series of electromagnetic pulses, also known as EMPs. An RF device is believed to have activated the pulses somewhere within the near vicinity of the main offices of CHIPS and the backup center in New Jersey. Almost all electronic devices within a half-mile radius of either building have ceased to function, and phone and power lines in the immediate vicinity of the buildings are down.
"This single event could result in a shockwave that could send the world economy into a depression," said Aaron Gruber, a professor of Economics at Harvard University. "The lack of a rapid clearing system, even for even a few days, could result in smaller businesses closing their doors and possibly even shut down some of the larger corporations. It could, potentially, cause a downward trend in consumption that would ripple outward, affecting other sectors as well.."
Established in 1972, the Clearing House Interbank Payment System serves as a computerized transaction clearing system for everything from credit cards to debit cards to checking accounts, handling up to 1.3 trillion dollars in transactions each day. Even bank officials admit that losing the system for only a few hours could cost billions of dollars since the system is critical for verification of transactions between businesses and consumers.
B. Analysis
While it may seem a minor inconvenience for those of us who rely on credit cards, debit cards, and checks to pay for items we need, an RF attack on such an institution may be more nightmarish than it originally appears.
The lessons from the book are very many. One of these lessons is that the use of bad statistics leads to harmful repercussions. “Save” statistic is one of the examples. When a relief pitcher comes in at the last minute and finds his team ahead, then save the win, he is awarded a save. This is a dumb statistic. The player has no special significance, yet some analysts praise him so much. Instead it is the pitcher who comes in for the 6th inning and save three scoreless innings who has done more than the one who comes in the 9th inning to protect a three-run lead. This implies that for any management decision, it is important to make rational personal decision instead of just using superficial observations to make conclusions (Thaler & Sunstein, 2003).
In this section we investigate attacks and threats to our primary devices. These attacks and threats are built off of the vulnerabilities the previous section and help to determine which security controls would be most valuable against future attacks.
Eric Bland a journalist for NBC News covered an investigative article on the vulnerabilities of GPS devices that everyday citizens have become accustomed. Bland uncovered that a spoofer can jam GPS signals thereby rendering a device with GPS inactive, more interestingly is that a spoofer can create a false signal that overpowers the actual real signal. The false signal transmits like the original signal but offers incorrect and or fabricated destination to the GPS receiver. In such an instance the spoofer would control the victim’s time and destination. While the thought of driving or arriving into an unknown location is frightening and might threaten safety, it is the number of national infrastructure reliant on GPS and vulnerable to spoofers that raises genuine concern and fright in regards to national security. The country’s electrical power grids, generators, airports and law enforcement are examples of infrastructures and institutions that relay on the GPS for daily functioning. Brent Levina adjunct professor at Virginia Tech decide to build a spoofer to better highlight the weaknesses of the GPS (Bland,
People started selling their stocks at a fast pace; over sixteen million stocks were sold! Numerous stock prices dropped to fraction of their value. Banks lost money from the stock market and from Americans who couldn't pay back loans. Many factories lost money and went out of business because of
Hartmann, Susan M. The Home Front and Beyond: American women in the 1940s. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1982
CMRJI.com is operated by currently employed and retired city managers and these managers have conducted research on every state in regards to police and government corruption. The state of Arizona came in better than expected ranking at number 36 for an average over four different years. What some residents may find disturbing regarding the research is that upon review of the tables Arizona has steadily been moving up on the list every year for corruption. In 2002 Arizona was ranked at 43, in 2006 it ranked at 37, and in 2008 it jumped all the way up to 30. Their research covers all governments from municipal to state and the police are the ones that enforce the laws that these corrupt governments are in charge of. ("The Most Corrupt States").
King, R. (2011). EMC’s RSA Security Breach May Cost Bank Customers $100 Million. Retreived from
The threats to security from the United States Department of Defense, the national power grid and the Chamber of Commerce are very real and omnipresent. The Defense Department made an admission of the first major cyber attack upon its systems in August 2010. It was revealed that the attack actually took place in 2008 and was accomplished by placing a malicious code into the flash drive of a U.S. military laptop. “The code spread undetected on both classified and unclassified systems, establishing what amounted to a digital breachhead.” (2) This quote, attributed to then Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III, is just part of the shocking revelations that were disclosed in his speech made on July 14, 2011.
Terrorist attacks are a threat to the development of any country and the welfare of her people. For instance, the September 11 attack in New York caused many deaths, infrastructural damages, and an economic standstill to the World Trading Centre. This paper discusses how technology influenced the attack, actions that were taken to enhance technology thereafter, and the new technologies that can be used to boost anti-terrorism campaigns. Technology played various roles during the September 11 attacks in New York. One of the major roles was communication through radio calls to call for emergencies, evacuations, and security back up. Ultra-high-frequency radios were used to capture signals from various areas including the pilots who were operating the rescuer police helicopters (911 Commission 281; Dwyer, Flynn, and Fessenden para. 3). It is through the communications that the fire fighters responded.
In the early morning of 19 February 1945, United States Marines assigned to the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Division led the initial assault on the Japanese controlled island of Iwo Jima, with the objective of capturing and securing the island. This was the beginning of one of the fiercest and bloodiest; and more decisively, the most strategically important battles fought during World War II. After the dust had settled, and the smoke had cleared, the causalities and losses were astounding. 6,821 U.S. Marines along with 18,844 members of the Imperial Japanese Army had paid the ultimate sacrifice. A decisive US victory on the island of Iwo Jima later played a pivotal role in the overarching defeat of the Japanese Empire and its Armed Forces (Morison, 1945).
Duker and Laurie, Duker, Laurie. Gun Dealers, USA. Arlington : National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health, Arlington, VA. , 1994. Print.
The physical layer of the system is generally secured by an association's physical security—customary locks, keys, and different types of physical access control. must not approach the physical links and other system equipment which make up the system. Remote correspondence, particularly radio, presents new inconveniences. For instance, radio
... they will ensure that every individual who is hired trained in scientific methods and consistent. Then, with the expertise and skills they will be able to do their jobs well. Lack of staff who is experts in the field of IT in an organization will be able to be solved through IT outsourcing.
Although an act of cyberterrorism has yet to occur, officials and scholars continuously study the possibilities of such an attack. As our physical and virtual worlds continue to intertwine the risk of such an event rapidly increases. Everything from our transportation systems to pharmaceutical manufacturing are computer controlled. The closest the world has come to an act of cyberterrorism was in 2000. Known as the Maroochy Shire case in Queensland, Australia was committed by Vitek Boden. Boden was an engineer for Pacific Paradise, a sewage pumping in Australia. He was able to successful hack into a control system modifying the operations and dumping millions of litres of raw sewage into the local waterways. Boden’s motivation was the only reason the act was not classified as cyberterrorism was his motivation. It was personal rather than political or religious in nature (Sharp Parker, 2009). The only reason this wasn’t the first act of cyberterrorism was motivation. As companies invest in upgrading their technological capabilities, they too need to invest in security structure to protect their systems and the public from threats of terrorism. Our government must also decide how to address public safety in regards to cyberterrorism. On September 11th, 2001 America was reminded how vulnerable we are when it comes to acts of terrorism. The sheer complexity and varying design of attacks often makes it very difficult to create a catch-all defense in fighting terrorism. To improve the disruption of terrorist activities by government agencies in the United States many laws needed to be updated to include the latest areas of electronic communications.
Unequivocally speaking, the threat of a cyber-attack has become one of the most critical domestic and national security challenges we face as a nation today. Infrastructures supporting government operations are ...