[LINK] China's Cyber Warfare Capabilities
Tom Worthington
tom.worthington at tomw.net.au
Mon Nov 7 08:35:23 AEDT 2011
On 04/11/11 15:54, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> Perhaps of interest ..
>
> China's Cyber Warfare Capabilities Desmond Ball, Security Challenges
> http://www.securitychallenges.org.au/ArticlePDFs/vol7no2Ball.pdf> ...
>
> ... it is often very difficult to determine whether these attacks have originated with official agencies or private ‘Netizens’ ...
The issue of how to identify and respond to cyber-attack is discussed at
length in "Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar", by Martin C. Libicki (RAND
Corporation, 2009):
http://blog.tomw.net.au/2009/10/cyberdeterrence-and-cyberwar.html
Cyber-warfare like other forms of irregular warfare, where it is
difficult to work out who is responsible for an attack. Under the Bush
doctrine "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.": an
attack by individuals my be treated as attack by the country they are
based:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_Doctrine#Attacking_countries_that_harbor_terrorists
One difficulty is in an effective military response to a diffuse
cyber-attack. The USA is still preparing its "Doctrine to Establish
Rules of Engagement Against Cyber Attacks":
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65739
Retaliation in kind for cyber attacks is unlikely to be effective. Even
where cyber retaliation inflicts damage, that damage may not be apparent
to the government or the people of the country attacked (or apparent to
the world media). Israel's government yesterday denied its security
agency web sites were hacked: "Israeli Websites Down in 'Technical
Malfunction'" (ABC News, 6 November 2011):
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israeli-websites-technical-malfunction-14893107#.Trb4r0BBu5k
There are some relatively simple measures to combat on-line attack. As
an example, having personnel on duty to deal with the issue and having
help with threats provided via the web.
The report "Alert and Ready: An Organizational Design Assessment of
Marine Corps Intelligence" from the RAND Corporation pointed out that
the US Marine Corp did not have a 24 hour a day intelligence service.
The staff at headquarters in Quantico went home at the end of the day,
leaving no one to answer the phone. Also deficiencies in their the web
site design meant customers went elsewhere for information:
http://blog.tomw.net.au/2011/11/role-of-web-in-us-marine-intelligence.html
Some of the US based reporting on China's threat are a little
sensationalist, such as The book "Tiger Trap: America's Secret Spy War
with China" by David Wise (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011):
http://blog.tomw.net.au/2011/11/tiger-trap-americas-secret-spy-war-with.html
> ... pre-emptive strategy ... cyber-warfare capabilities are
> unleashed atthe very outset of prospective conflicts ...
Use of electronic warfare at the start of hostilities has been routine
since the development of the telegraph. There seems no reason to believe
that this same practice would not be followed in cyberspace.
One aspect which has made parties less willing to attack electronic
systems in modern symmetric conflicts is that they may be sharing the
same infrastructure. There is no point in taking out the global IT
systems if you cripple your own military, and perhaps control over your
own country, in the process. As an example, it is likely that both sides
to a conflict will be using the same satellites for navigation and
communications. Either side could disable the service and so the
question is who has more to be lost?
ps: Another stalwart of Australian strategic thinking is speaking in
Canberra on Monday: "Why did we get the collapse of the USSR so wrong?"
by Professor Paul Dibb, ANU 6:3opm. If I get the chance I will ask him
about China: http://billboard.anu.edu.au/event_view.asp?id=83642
--
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia http://www.tomw.net.au
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards
Legislation
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/
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