Urban Legend Watch: Cyberwar Attack on U.S. Central Command | Threat Level | Wired.com

Urban Legend Watch: Cyberwar Attack on U.S. Central Command

• By Kevin Poulsen
• March 31, 2010 |
• 4:29 pm |
• Categories: Cybarmageddon!
• 
  

Claim: A foreign government’s computer hackers were found lurking on a classified U.S. military network in 2008.

UNLIKELY

Example: [Collected from the internet, March 2010]

More than 20 years ago, the United States realized that having an advantage in “intangible factors” — more information, better communications, greater precision — was as important as having more tanks or airplanes. Some call it a “force multiplier.” Cyber capabilities are a force multiplier. Having an “informational advantage” makes U.S. forces more effective. The people who plan to fight us are looking for ways to undo that advantage. Cyberattack is one.

These are not hypothetical capabilities. Other nations’ intelligence services frequently penetrate our networks. So far, they have been more interested in stealing than disruption. But in December 2008, unknown foreign intruders were able to break into Central Command’s classified networks and sit there.

Variations: A November 2009 version sighted on the CBS News magazine 60 Minutes moves the date of the putative cyber attack to November 2008, and expands on the identity and capabilities of the supposed intruders. “The malicious code opened a backdoor for a foreign power to get into the system … They could see what the traffic was, they could read documents, they could interfere with things.”

Origins: Tales of “cyberwar” and “cyberterrorist” threats against the U.S. and other countries first circulated almost two decades ago. After briefly subsiding following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the stories resurfaced, reaching a fever pitch in the Fall of 2009. The stories appear to be most frequently circulated by government contractors and credulous mainstream media.

Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/urban-legend/#ixzz0josUKMUD