Information Security & Occasional Forays Into Adjacent Realms
Well, there you have it: A resurgence of World War II era loose-lip stupidity - this time attached to a criminal hacking campaign by certain hackster entities (EvaPiks) sharing too much data for admiration & whatnot. Proof, there is nothing new under the sun, when dealing with the vagaries of human nature... All conveyed via the eponymous Dan Goodin writing at the widely beloved Ars Technica.
Jason Rivera (a Director at CrowdStrike) and Wanda Archy (a Supervisor in RSM's security practice, targeting the Dark Web), writing at Small Wars Journal, in a remarkable tour de force of darkness - in this case, the darkness relates to the so-called Dark Web, and it's apparent suitability for nation-based and non-nation-actor warfare. I can assurte you, Mr. Rivera's and Ms. Archy's paper (in the form of a post) should be considered as today's Must Read.
"Warfare has always and will always continue to evolve – it is therefore prudent for national security professionals to be aware of this evolution and familiarize themselves with the various technological intricacies that will continue to shape the evolution of warfare. The Dark Web, like other emerging technologies, is one of those technological intricacies. " - Jason Rivera and Wanda Archy writing at Small Wars Journal
> Image Credit> , > Israeli Defense Forces> , The > IDF**> Desert Rreconnaissance Battalion**> Training Exercises
Terrific blog post by Gerhard Jacobs, writing at the Imperva Cybersecurity blog, and discussing IoT and ML with Gilad Yehudai (Gilad is a Security Research Engineer at Imperva), this time, where connected devices and machine learning interact in concert with and inform warfighting and warrior, and machine capabilities. Today's Must Read.
via Anthony Rutkowski, writing at CircleID, comes this tremendous piece on conveyance as a weapon, entitled 'Internet as Non-Kinetic WMD'. Today's Must Read.
"What is amazing about all of these contemporary developments is that the DARPA Director who originally approved the development of its internet initiative in the 1970s, Steve Lukasik, has been warning of the dangers of an open internet since it found its way into the public infrastructure in the 1990s. He pulled together an initial expert team in the mid-90s supported by NSA, and spent the next decade hosting extraordinary Red Team specialists and producing innumerable DOD reports on the multiple weaponizations of the open internet for kinetic attacks. " - via Anthony Rutkowski, at CircleID, in his thought provoking article: 'Internet as Non-Kinetic WMD
“… these men came here – British and our Allies, and Americans – to storm these beaches for one purpose only, not to gain anything for ourselves, not to fulfill any ambitions that America had for conquest, but just to preserve freedom. . . . Many thousands of men have died for such ideals as these. . . but these young boys. . . were cut off in their prime. . . I devoutly hope that we will never again have to see such scenes as these. I think and hope, and pray, that humanity will have learned. . . we must find some way . . . to gain an eternal peace for this world.” – via Carlo D’Este - Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life (ISBN-10: 0805056874)
The Allies That Landed On The Normandy Beaches That Day In Defense of Freedom: United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Free France, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Poland.
via Dan Goodin's superlative reportage at ArsTechnica, we learn of the action in Panmunjom was - colloquially - the tip of the iceberg...
"It would be highly unusual for any country to cease intelligence gathering operations in the midst of some of the most important talks in their history," Sergio Caltagirone, director of threat intelligence at security firm Dragos, told Ars. Previously, he was a senior threat intelligence analyst at the US National Security Agency. "In fact, we would expect espionage activity to grow during periods of negotiation." - via Dan Goodin reporting at ArsTechnica
In a tour dé force piece - published in The Atlantic - Ed Yong illuminates the horrifying truth of human warfare's murderous effect on animals in the wild; in this case, a study of the nearly total decimation wildlife populations within protected areas of Africa during wartime. Something to read and ponder. A revelation, and today's Must Read.
via Gadi Evron, Founder and CEO at Cymmetria comes this unique retrospective view of the world's first internet-based war fought within Estonia, now, a decade removed. An outstanding historical view and well-crafted thought piece - well worth your time to read. Most Certainly, Todays' Must Read
Image via NextBigFuture.com
Detailing the use of internetworked F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and a newly converted B-52 ordinance 'truck' (I do prefer the old-school moniker of B-52 Stratofortress). Proof that there is nothing new under the sun; and potentially flawed, (unless the 'arsenal truck' is unmanned, stealthy (which the B-52 is not and in LEO), even then, still vulnerable from killer satellite and missile attack). Outstanding, nonetheless.
In superbly crafted reportage published at The New York Times, Pam Belluck tells us of the efforts of a physicist at the University of Miami's Center for Computational Science, if you wil - Neil Jophnson, Ph.D., to predict - with algorithmical efficiency - the next move by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Read the study, and marvel at the power of mathematics.
News, via Aldrimer, of the Kingdom of Sweden's airspace, and the violation thereof - without aircraft. Todays Must Read and Hat Tip to Firewall Consultants.
and, then there were five....
CHATTANOOGA, Tennesee, United States of America - August 15, 2015) Battle crosses for fallen service members on stage during the memorial at McKenzie Arena at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. The memorial honored the four United States Marines and one United States Navy Sailor who died in the Navy Operational Support Center Chattanooga shooting July 16, 2015.
United States Navy Photograph by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Wolpert
Story Number: NNS150718-01 Release Date: 7/18/2015 02:09:00 AM From the Navy Office of Information
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- A statement by Rear Adm. Mary M. Jackson, Commander, Navy Region South East, was given at the City of Chattanooga's vigil for the fallen Marines, July 17.
Good evening. It is with my deepest sympathies and personal sadness that I am here tonight.
I would like to thank the Chattanooga community for their overwhelming support of our Navy and Marine Corps family. We greatly appreciate the arrangements made here this evening with this vigil invitation and those who have gone out of their way to make us feel at home. We are honored to be part of this community. We continue to keep our thoughts and prayers with our fallen Marines and their families, and for our wounded Sailor and his family.
Today, a small team of counselors and chaplains arrived from around the Southeast Region to provide support for families and service members and we will continue to support our Navy and Marine Corps team alongside the community.
These incidents have had a profound impact on every one of us, regardless of whether we wear the uniform or not. But we stand together and find resilience in each other as we move ahead of these difficult times. We are Chattanooga strong!
"They exposed weaknesses in the armor, illustrating that "we as scientists and engineers think we have a great solution and ha-ha moments, thinking Soldiers will love this" new piece of gear. Then the Red Team would show up and show all the weaknesses, she said, so "we started solving those problems." From that point on, anything deployed to small forward operating outposts of 300 people or less gets a Red Team going over from "the construct of the operational perspective, technology perspective, and how we could integrate it in such a way not to create inherent vulnerabilities. It's been very effective." - via David Vergun writing at the United States Army
Illustrating exactly why, Cyber Ranges are vitally important for training. After all, you will fight like you train.
