Hacker traffic up at HAFB following Sept. 11 attack

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,415016145,00.html

By Brady Snyder
bsnyder () desnews com
Deseret News staff writer
October 28, 2002

HILL AIR FORCE BASE - Attempted hacks into military-base computer
systems have increased in the year following the Sept. 11, 2001,
terror attacks on America.
      
However, it is unknown whether any of those attempted hacks are the
work of terrorists.
      
Layton's Hill Air Force Base is just one U.S. military base engaging
in a heightened cyber war following last year's attacks on the
Pentagon and World Trade Center.
      
Hill now receives 1 million cyber attacks monthly, up from 100,000
monthly attacks the base's computer system suffered prior to 9/11,
reports the base newspaper, The Hilltop Times.
      
While John Gilchrist, Hill's chief of information assurance, said
security precautions forbid him from confirming the newspaper's
numbers, he did say Hill has witnessed a large increase in cyber
attacks since 9/11.
      
It has been a steady, slow increase, not a sudden jump, Gilchrist
said.
      
The increased attacks has Hill's computer defenders on alert.
      
"Probably the biggest single difference has been the level of
intensity or seriousness that we approach the job with," he said.  
"After 9/11, things changed for everybody."
      
There are varying levels of cyber hacks. Some are likely computer
geeks poking around where they shouldn't be. Others are more serious,
rising to the level of potential sabotage, Gilchrist said.
      
To date, however, Gilchrist said his crew has successfully thwarted
every attempted hack.
      
While there is no classified data available on military systems
connected to the Internet, Gilchrist said these cyber attackers could
work to shut down some of Hill's systems.
      
It is difficult to determine where the millions of attempted hacks
originate. In most cases, Gilchrist said attackers will log onto an
Internet service provider in one country, hack into a system in
another country and then launch an attack — effectively making it more
difficult to track the hacker's locale.
      
Hill - like other Air Force bases - is aided by the Air Force Computer
Emergency Response Team to find and prosecute military hackers.
      
Raw numbers indicate that most attacks come from inside U.S.  
borders. However, hacks from Europe and Asia are close seconds,
Gilchrist said.
      
To combat the increased attacks, Hill has beefed up Gilchrist's staff,
which includes both civilian and military personnel. The base has also
employed a new intrusion-detection system that monitors nearby cyber
traffic. That personnel is key to stopping attacks, Lt.  Garrett
Grochowski said.
      
"We certainly don't welcome these attacks, but we've got a great group
of people whose job is to defend the base," Grochowski said.
      
Gilchrist predicts that such cyber attacks at Hill and on other
military bases will continue to increase. The war on terror and
heightened hacker-friendly technology will contribute to those
increases, he said.
      



-
ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org

To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn'
in the BODY of the mail.