Information Technology for Counterterrorism Immediate Actions and Future Possibilities (2003) / Chapter Skim
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2 Types of Threats Associated with Information Technology Infrastructure
2 Types of Threats Associated with Information Technology Infrastructure
Pages 15-27
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From page 15... ...
Of course, serious efforts are needed to develop and deploy security technologies to harden all elements of the IT infrastructure to reduce the potential for damage from repeated attacks. 2.1 ATTACK ON IT AS AN AMPLIFIER OF A PHYSICAL ATTACK Given IT's critical role in many other elements of the national infrastructure and in responding to crises, the committee believes that the targeting of IT as part of a multipronged attack scenario could have the most catastrophic consequences.
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From page 16... ...
For example, one might imagine attacks on the computers and data storage devices associated with important facilities. Irrecoverable loss of critical operating data and essential records on a large scale would likely result in catastrophic and irreversible damage to the U.S.
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From page 17... ...
Destruction of some key Internet nodes could result in reduced network capacity and slow traffic across the Internet, but the ease with which Internet communications can be rerouted would minimize the long-term damage.4 (In this regard, the fact that substantial data-networking services survived the September 11 disaster despite the destruction of large amounts of equipment concentrated in the World Trade Center complex reflected redundancies in the infrastructure and a measure of good fortune as well.) The terrorist might obtain higher leverage with a "through-the-wires" attack that would require the physical replacement of components in Internet relay points on a large scale,5 though such attacks would be much harder to plan and execute.
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From page 18... ...
Note also that many supposedly independent circuits are trenched together in the physical trenches along certain highway and rail rights-of-way, and thus these conduits constitute not just "choke points" but rather "choke routes" that are hundreds of miles long and that could be attacked anywhere. An additional vulnerability in the telecommunications infrastructure is the local loop connecting central switching offices to end users; full recovery from the destruction of a central office entails the tedious rewiring of tens or hundreds of thousands of individual connections.
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From page 20... ...
.8 By its nature, the system for retail transactions is highly decentralized, while the system for large-value transactions is more centralized. Both the Federal Reserve system and the system for large-value transactions operate on networks that are logically distinct from the public telecommunications system or the Internet, and successful information attacks on these systems likely necessitate significant insider access.9 2.2.4 Embedded/Real-Time Computing Embedded/real-time computing in specific systems could be attacked.
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From page 21... ...
Another example is that sensors, which can be important elements of counterterrorism precautions, could be the target of an attack or, more likely, precursor targets of a terrorist attack. 2.2.5 Control Systems in the National Critical Infrastructure Another possible attack on embedded/real-time computing would be an attack on the systems controlling elements of the nation's critical infrastructure, for example, the electric-power grid, the air-traffic-control system, the financial network, and water purification and delivery.
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From page 22... ...
22 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR COUNTERTERRORISM By comparison with the possibility of an attack on only a portion of the power grid, the actual feasibility of an attack that would result in a cascading failure with a high degree of confidence is not clear; a detailed study both of SCADA systems and the electric-power system would probably be required in order to assess this possibility. However, because of the inordinate complexity of the nation's electric-power grid, it would be difficult for either grid operators or terrorists to predict with any confi
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From page 23... ...
Under such circumstances, the target might not be the general-purpose computer used in the majority of offices around the country, but rather the installation of hidden rogue code in particular sensitive offices. Another possible channel for attacking dedicated computing facilities results from the connection of computers through the Internet; such connections provide a potential route through which terrorists might attack computer systems that do provide important functionality for many sectors of the economy.
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From page 24... ...
For example, terrorists with the support of a state might be able to use the state's intelligence services to gain access to bribable or politically sympathetic individuals in key decision-making places or to systematically corrupt production or distribution of hardware or software. · The most plausible threats are simple attacks launched against complex targets.
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From page 25... ...
In addition, compared to approaches not relying on insiders, insiders may leave behind more tracks that can call attention to their activities. This judgment depends, of course, on the presumed diligence of employers in ensuring that their key personnel are trustworthy, and it is worth remembering that the most devastating espionage episodes in recent U.S.
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From page 26... ...
A hostile nation conducting an information attack on the United States is likely to conceal its identity to minimize the likelihood of retaliation, and thus it may resort to sponsoring terrorists who can attack without leaving clear national signatures. The committee wishes to underscore a very important point regarding terrorist threats to the IT infrastructure they are serious enough to warrant considerable national attention, but they are, in the end, only one of a number of ways through which terrorists could act against the United States.
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From page 27... ...
Ultimately, the strengthening of the nation's IT infrastructure can improve our ability to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks on the nation.~3 Computer science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council, 1996, Computing and Communications in the Extreme: Research for Crisis Management and Other Applications, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C; computer science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council, 1999, Information Technology Research for Crisis Management, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
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