{"id":685,"date":"2012-01-28T21:58:43","date_gmt":"2012-01-28T21:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noi3.org\/site\/?p=685"},"modified":"2012-01-28T21:58:43","modified_gmt":"2012-01-28T21:58:43","slug":"china-based-cyber-attack-targets-dod-access-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/?p=685","title":{"rendered":"China-based Cyber Attack Targets DoD Access Cards"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\t\tCyber security firms have discovered a computer virus that uses servicemembers’ network security cards to hack into government networks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tHow does it work? servicemembers receive an email with an official-looking PDF file connected to the virus that allows it to record keystrokes, said Jaime Blasco, lab manager for Alien Vault, a California-based cyber security firm. The virus then collects a service member’s personal identification number associated with a Common Access Card when he logs into a government computer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t \t<\/p>\n

\t\t“The hackers can get in pretty easily with this virus and do whatever they want on a government computer while a soldier just works on his computer,” Blasco said in a phone interview from his office in Spain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tBlasco said he suspects the cyber attack originates from China because of the Chinese characters found within the virus’ coding.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t“Since we started tracing it … we found software that’s only really used in China,” Blasco said. “We’re 99 percent sure this attack is coming from China. Not 100 percent sure, but we’re pretty sure.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tThe Defense Department is aware of the virus strain called “Sykipot,” according to multiple news reports. Pentagon officials didn’t respond to a request for comment.
\t\tBlasco said he has spoken to cyber-experts working for the U.S. government about the virus strain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t“They know about it and are working on it,” Blasco said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tAlien Vault has tracked the virus for three months. Blasco said he’s not sure what sort of information the hackers have targeted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tThe military is not the sole target. The virus could have hit other U.S. government agencies such as the State Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tThe only way to protect against Sykipot is to train servicemembers not to open the PDF attachment. Hackers often disguise their poisoned email attachments as government documents, Blasco said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tCalled “CAC cards” by servicemembers, the CAC doubles as an identification card for servicemembers and most contractors. A computer chip is embedded into the card that also contains the owner’s photo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tservicemembers must insert their CAC in order to log onto government computers. servicemembers use their CAC to access the military’s secret and top-secret cyber networks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tCyber officials say the CAC system is more secure than one that uses only passwords. However, a report published last year by the cyber security firm Maniant documented multiple cyber attacks in which hackers targeted identification card systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tDefense Secretary Leon Panetta and other senior DoD officials have called cyber attacks one of the greatest threats to national security, and an arena in which the U.S. military is the farthest behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\tPanetta has implored Congress to increase funding to improve research and development for cyber weapons, even as other areas in the defense budget shrink or grow at a reduced rate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\tArticolul original: aici<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cyber security firms have discovered a computer virus that uses servicemembers’ network security cards to hack into government networks. How does it work? servicemembers receive…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[325,124,326],"class_list":["post-685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-armata","tag-atac","tag-china","tag-cibernetic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}