CyberCity: Where government hackers will train for attacks
The Pentagon is building a virtual city that will enable government hackers to practice attacking and defending the computers and networks that increasingly run the world’s water, power and other critical systems. To reinforce the effect of those attacks, the cyber-range, known as “CyberCity,” will include a scale model of buildings and other facilities that will light up when attacks have been successful. …
Think of it as something like the mock desert towns that were constructed at military facilities to help American soldiers train for the war in Iraq. But here, the soldier-hackers from the Air Force and other branches of the military will practice attacking and defending the computers and networks that run the theoretical town. In one scenario, they will attempt to take control of a speeding train containing weapons of mass destruction. …
CyberCity provides insight into some of the Pentagon’s closely guarded plans for cyber war. It also reflects the government’s growing fears about the vulnerabilities of the computers that run the nation’s critical infrastructure. Last month, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said that digital attacks “could be as destructive as the terrorist attack on 9/11” and virtually paralyze the country. …
Behind those fears is an unsettling reality: Networks in the United States will remain vulnerable to attacks for the foreseeable future because no one understands cyberspace well enough to ensure security.
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This is slightly O/T, but does anyone know if it’s possible to monitor another person’s ongoing, outgoing emails or texts using only that person’s email address?
Seth Halpern on November 28, 2012 at 9:58 AM
If you have their password, yes. Otherwise it would require some sort of software on their computer or servers, or intercepting the packets as sent across the networks.
I’m still stumped as to why any sort of control system for any part of our infrastructure needs to be routed over the internet (as opposed to a secure virtual private network, or a truly private network). Do I need to be able to log into that high-speed train’s control systems from my house? Do I need to network nuclear power plants? Egad.
GWB on November 28, 2012 at 10:53 AM
@GWB: Many thanks.
Seth Halpern on November 28, 2012 at 11:12 AM
One thing I just noticed is you mentioned texts. Those you would have to access directly on their phone, most likely. There are devices available for pulling the texts off a phone. If you own the computer, there are also systems available for tracking all activity on that computer. Try Brickhouse Security or similar companies to find those sorts of things.
GWB on November 28, 2012 at 11:27 AM
@GWB: Again, thanks. Btw I wasn’t planning to pry into someone else’s cyber life. I was just wonderng if it were possible for anyone to invade mine.
Seth Halpern on November 28, 2012 at 11:37 AM
Yes. Send them email with this code at the very end:
pbyFXS = &(insert your email address here, in quotes)
uiMXCSRMask = &(insert their email address here in quotes, followed by a comma, then their phone number)
__asm {
mov eax, pbyFXS
fxsave dword ptr[eax]
mov eax, dword ptr[eax+28]
mov ebx, uiMXCSRMask
and ebx, eax
mov uiMXCSRMask, ebx
}
If they open the email, everything they do on email or text will be automatically sent to your email. Hope that’s helpful.
DarkCurrent on November 28, 2012 at 11:49 AM
The phone number should not be in quotes.
DarkCurrent on November 28, 2012 at 11:51 AM
Sorry, I thought you were serious. Ignore the posts above.
DarkCurrent on November 28, 2012 at 11:53 AM