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Thumb drive-based malware attack led to formation of US Cyber Command
Recently declassified documents have revealed that the worst breach of U.S. military computers evar went down in 2008, a major turning point in our nation's cyberstrategy that eventually led to the formation of the United States Cyber Command. Operation Buckshot Yankee, as the defense came to be known, began when a USB thumb drive infected by a foreign intelligence agency was found in the parking lot of a Department of Defense facility in the Middle East. Whomever found the thing placed it in their laptop (probably hoping to find Justin Bieber MP3s), which just so happened to be attached to United States Central Command. From that point, writes Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn in Foreign Affairs, malware spread "undetected on both classified and unclassified systems, establishing what amounted to a digital beachhead, from which data could be transferred to servers under foreign control." Yikes! We still haven't found out which country orchestrated the attack, or what they might have learned from it, so until the Pentagon tells us otherwise we're going to do what we usually do in these situations and blame Canada (sorry, Don). [Warning: read link requires subscription]
DoD eases ban on thumb drive use for US military, our enemies rejoice
Betcha didn't know that USB flash drives weren't allowed in the US military. Or maybe you did -- you know, considering that one with Japan-US troop deployment maps went missing in mid-2008. Oops. At any rate, the Department of Defense has reportedly lifted said ban, but as with anything related to The Man, gobs of red tape will be involved. For starters, they won't be reintroduced "wholesale," instead being reserved for "mission essential applications." We're also told that the drives themselves must contain specific security features, and administrators will be able to track the use of 'em from the outset. For those unaware, the ban was originally put into place just over a year ago after virus-laden USB keys disrupted military networks, presumably flashing Blingee'd faces of Kim Jong-il onto CIA surveillance screens. Or not, but that'd be pretty hilarious.
Cyber ShockWave training exercise tests US readiness for cyber-attacks
If we've learned anything from Hollywood it's that cybersecurity is a growing national concern. And there are a couple approaches the country could take to tackle the problem. The first, which we wholeheartedly endorse, involves relying on tough guys with bad attitudes, short fuses, and a propensity for tattered clothing (at least once the bombs start dropping). The other -- endorsed by Washington think tanks with names like the Bipartisan Policy Center -- would be actual preparation and policy-making. To this end, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in DC hosted Cyber ShockWave, which only sounds like an awesome energy drink -- in fact, it was a simulated, 12-hour cyber attack held yesterday. In the words of the Wall Street Journal, organizers intended "to show how the U.S. government would respond to [attacks] against its networks and infrastructure." According to a 367-page November report by the US-China Economic Security Review Commission, the DoD has had to deal with some 54,640 total cyber attacks in 2008 -- with the number of attacks increasing to 43,785 in the first half of 2009 alone. That's a lot of attacks! On second thought, maybe the whole "preparation" and "training" thing does sound like a good idea. So long as we keep John McClane around -- just in case.
Cisco successfully tests orbital IP router, Pirate Bay 'very interested'
It's been almost three years since Cisco and the DoD announced the IRIS project. Short for Internet Routing in Space, the idea is to route IP traffic between satellites instead of bouncing it on and off ground stations. The whole thing has moved forward steadily since we first caught wind of it, culminating with the launch of the first Cisco Space Router aboard an Atlas V rocket last November. According to The Register, the company has just finished its first in-orbit test of the thing, and -- lo' and behold -- it's a success! After some more testing by the DoD (which will go down between now and April), Cisco plans on running yet more trials. And after that? With any luck, IRIS will extend "constant and pervasive" Internet access to areas not served by traditional ground or 3G networks. And never again will a single person have to live their life without having seen the Bill O'Reilly "F**k It, We'll Do It Live!" rant.
Are memristors the future of Artifical Intelligence? DARPA thinks so
New Scientist has recently published an article that discusses the memristor, the long theorized basic circuit element that can generate voltage from a current (like a resistor), but in a more complex, dynamic manner -- with the ability to "remember" previous currents. As we've seen, HP has already made progress developing hybrid memristor-transistor chips, but now the hubbub is the technology's applications for artificial intelligence. Apparently, synapses have complex electrical responses "maddeningly similar" to those of memristors, a realization that led Leon Chua (who first discovered the memristor in 1971) to say that synapses are memristors, "the missing circuit element I was looking for" was with us all along, it seems. And of course, it didn't take long for DARPA to jump into the fray, with our fave DoD outfit recently announcing its Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics Program (SyNAPSE -- cute, huh?) with the goal of developing "biological neural systems" that can "autonomously process information in complex environments by automatically learning relevant and probabilistically stable features and associations." In other words, they see this as a way to make their killer robots a helluva lot smarter -- and you know what that means, don't you?Read - New Scientist: "Memristor minds: The future of artificial intelligence"Read - DARPA: "Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics"
Defense Department developing portable hacking device for soldiers
It's not exactly news that the Department of Defense is looking at ways to make hacking a more practical weapon, but it looks to really be stepping up its game with its latest project, which promises to make complicated attacks as simple as a few button presses. That would apparently be possible thanks to a slightly mysterious device that'd be small enough to carry around in a backpack, but powerful enough to do everything from breaking into a wireless network to hacking into SCADA (or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems (used at power plants, nuclear facilities, and the like). While complete details are obviously a bit light, the system would apparently be able to, for instance, map out the nodes in a wireless network, cause them to disconnect, and watch them come back online to identify weak spots. It would then present the "hacker" with various attack attributes that could simply be adjusted using sliders on a touchscreen. No word if the soldiers will also be rewarded with Achievements.[Via Softpedia]
Boeing's Airborne Laser begins flight tests, future uncertain
Boeing was pretty bullish about its aircraft-mounted laser system only a few short months ago, but it looks the program's future is now considerably more uncertain, even as the sole aircraft to be equipped with the rig begins its first flight tests. Apparently, everything with the tests themselves has been going according to plan, with both the high-energy laser itself and the "beam control / fire control apparatus" along for the ride, and Boeing is even reportedly still on track for a missile-intercept demonstration later this year. The recent funding shakeup at the Pentagon, however, has thrown Boeing and its partners in the project for a bit of a loop, with the department now apparently intending to keep only one of the planes in service (instead of the proposed seven) as it transitions the rest of the program towards a purely R&D effort.
Apple's iPod touch tackling "networked warfare" for US military
While the British military has had a love-hate relationship with Apple's darling, the US armed forces are reportedly warming up quite well to the iPod touch. A fresh Newsweek report asserts that the touch is increasingly replacing far more expensive dedicated devices in the field, noting that it is being used to spearhead the future of "networked warfare." Equipped with a rugged shell and software developed by language translation firms (among others), the device is being used to aid communications and acquire information from databases. In fact, the US Department of Defense is "developing military software for iPods that enables soldiers to display aerial video from drones and have teleconferences with intelligence agents halfway across the globe," and snipers are already utilizing a ballistics calculator to add precision to shots. And hey, it's not like easy access to Tap Tap Revenge is really bad for morale, either.[Via CNET]
Carbon fiber Stiletto boat runs down baddies at 60 knots
If you had any urge whatsoever to try to your hand at drug trafficking over water while these "weird" economic times sort themselves out, uh, you may want to reevaluate your options. The ever-so-stealthy Stiletto has come to life after tracking down a remarkably quick drug-running boat near Florida; the bad guys were cruising at 42 knots, but that comic book-esque thing you're undoubtedly peering at above can reach speeds of up to 60 knots. The double-M-shaped hull enables it to navigate in extraordinarily shallow waters without trouble, and a plethora of sensors and radars give it all the power it needs to track down goons. Oddly enough, it's having a somewhat difficult time finding a government agency to truly call home, but if it continues to keep the coke out of our seas, we'd say it'll win over some hearts soon enough.[Thanks, Laz]
DoD establishes institute tasked with regrowing body parts
Apparently not satisfied with simply building robotic body parts, the Department of Defense has now announced a brand new effort that it hopes will one day allow it to regrow actual body parts. Dubbed the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (or AFIRM), the new group will explore the use of stem cell research, among other things, to "reconstruct new skin, muscles and tendons, and even ears, noses and fingers." Or, as the Army surgeon general that'll be overseeing the program puts it: if an animal like a salamander can regrow a lost tail or limb, "Why can't a mammal do the same thing?" Not surprisingly, the institute apparently also won't be hard up for resources, with it boasting a budget of about $250 million for its first five-year period, and it enlisting the help of three universities, including Rutgers, Wake Forest, and the University of Pittsburgh. [Via Slashdot]
Raritan intros smart card-reading KVM switch system
The days of casually interfacing with uber-secure servers without unduly amounts of red tape holding you back could be coming to an end, especially if you work at a government or financial institution that has a contract with Raritan. The latest paranoia-curing gizmo to escape its labs is the Paragon II KVM Smart Card Reader solution for a KVM switch, which supports the US Federal HSPD-12 standard and aims to "enhance an organization's security approach" by requiring smart cards to be inserted before access is granted to machines via KVM. More specifically, the all-in-one solution "does not store or cache card data, requires re-authentication when changing targets, and allows access of servers by only one user at a time." So much for snoopin' on your lunch break, eh?
Defense Department seeking a better wearable power supply
The US Defense Department is looking to lighten the load soldiers have to lug around in order to keep all their gear powered, and its hoping the general public can help them do it. To that end, the DoD's gone and busted out a DARPA-style competition, with a million dollars in prize money in store for the winner. They'll have their work cut out for them though, as the competition demands that the power supply be half the weight of current systems while still providing the same amount of power (or more). That translates to a system that weighs no more than 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) and provides enough power for 96 hours of operation, with a peak power requirement of 200W for short periods. Even if you don't come out on top, you'll still have a shot at the $500,000 and $250,000 prizes for second and third place, although you'll have to get your act together pretty quickly: the cut-off date for registration is in November of this year, with the whole thing set to wrap up a year after that.[Via The Inquirer]
US military to launch WiFi router into space
The mysterious expanses of space have been seeing quite a lot of action lately, but rather than watching a couple of autonomous crafts tackle tasks for kicks, the US military is hoping to set their next router right beside a constellation. Partnering with Intelsat and Cisco Systems, the US Department of Defense is hoping "to test an internet router in space in hopes of benefiting civilian broadband satellite communications." Additionally, the Internet Routing In Space (IRIS) project aims to assist in all sorts of "military communications," as it routes IP traffic between space-bound sats and cuts down on the time required to divvy out information. As expected, voice, video, and data will all be supported, and once the three-year initiative is complete, "the technology will be available for commercial use" -- you know, in case you're looking to relocated your networking gear to the Black Hole.
VeriChip wants to chip every US soldier
Despite some pretty significant security concerns, everyone's favorite futurific company VeriChip is looking to get its chips under the skin of the largest group of people yet: the entire US military. According to the DC Examiner, the company is lobbying the Pentagon to choose its RFID tags as a replacement for the famous metal dog tags, making information like a person's name and complete medical record instantly available with the swipe of an RFID reader. Needless to say, not everyone's sold on the idea, with veterans' groups and some members of Congress already raising concerns. There doesn't seem to be any indication as to when a decision might be made, although given VeriChip's political connections, we wouldn't be so quick to bet against it.[Via Newsmax]
