Cyber ​​front: the quiet battles of the future

Get out of the comfort zone

To begin with, a little modern chronicle of "war" actions in cyberspace. On May 7, 2021, in seventeen states, the American authorities introduced a state of emergency. It's all about 100 GB of critical information from the oil company Colonial Pipeline, which the hackers remotely encrypted and demanded a ransom of $ 5 million in bitcoins. Oil workers have stopped the work of pipelines through which up to 45% of petroleum products are supplied to the east coast of the United States. As it turned out, the security system of the company and government agencies of the United States were not ready for such a turn of events. It was necessary, with the consent of the government, to pay millions to the extortionists, and it was only on May 13 that the work of the oil terminals was restored. In all likelihood, it was the largest in stories cyberattack on the energy sector. The DarkSide hacker group, responsible for the massive disruption of the oil operator, carries out attacks on a critical information structure every two to three days. Of course, not all of them end up with such a fat, but the intensity of the work and the scale are impressive. So only DarkSide ended up with the US oilmen, they stole more than 740 GB of confidential information from the French office of Toshiba in order to ransom. It is worth remembering that a small part of hacker scandals reaches us. Victims of cybercrime are not always ready to share with the press the details of the failures of their own security services. According to blockchain analysis company Elliptic:

"In total, just over $ 90 million in Bitcoin has been paid out to DarkSide alone from 47 different wallets."

What does this story tell you? First of all, about the vulnerability of the modern civil world and the limitless possibilities of cybercriminals. And if someone believes that hackers are only able to take a person out of their comfort zone by turning off water, electricity and heating, then they are deeply mistaken. In February and April of this year, in Pennsylvania and Florida, attackers connected to local water treatment plants in an attempt to poison the water. In Florida, in Pinellas County, an unknown person remotely tried to increase the concentration of alkali in drinking water by 100 times. The operator noticed the cursor wandering around the interface in time (the hacker entered the system through TeamViewer) and returned all the changes to their place. Even in the event of a successful attack, utilities would have time to stop the effects of alkalization of water in time. But the very fact that hackers have access to such important resources makes us think.

We thought about the prospects for global vulnerability and government structures. Potentially, cyberwar can not only lead to massive infrastructure accidents, but also cause the death of people. A couple of years ago, hackers demonstrated hacking the control system of Tesla electric vehicles. Taking over the autopilot functions, the programmers took the car into the oncoming lane. Now imagine what chaos would ensue in the country if hacker groups launch a massive attack on all fronts. A real world war will begin.

Non-military component

As you know, generals are always preparing for the last war. But, nevertheless, they try as best they can to foresee the future. For this, military academies and specialized research institutes have been created. Sometimes military analysts manage to correctly predict the specifics of future wars. One of the key ideas of a whole group of Russian military scientists (recall that there are special academic degrees in Russia - candidate and doctor of military sciences) is a serious transformation of armed conflicts in the present and future. And the most important place in the hypothetical Third World War may be occupied by the cyber front. This opinion is confirmed by a number of foreign experts. Gunther Oettinger, former European Commissioner for Digital Economy and former Prime Minister of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, believes that a new all-out war will take place without guns and even without nuclear weapons... Everything will be replaced by silent battles on the fields of cyberspace.

Domestic analysts are not so categorical. According to the authors of the Military Thought magazine, in the 80st century, up to 90-10% of interstate confrontations will take place in the form of a non-military component. In this share, a large place is given to the cybertroops. The remaining 20-XNUMX% fall on hypersonic missiles, electronic warfare, drones, laser systems, stealth technology, missile defense and weapons based on new physical principles. It is interesting that in the past century the ratio of threats was reversed - up to 90% for "tangible" weapons and about 10% for the non-military component. In 2021, an article was published in one of the issues of the Military Thought publication, in which the information threat from the West for Russia becomes one of the key ones for the period 2030-2040. That is, we are much more likely to fall victim to a gigantic infrastructure collapse caused by a cyberattack than to die from a nuclear or conventional weapon. And it's all about integration into the information space. Every day we expand our presence in the virtual environment, becoming more and more vulnerable.

The story with the American GPS system can be an illustration of this problem. Not the one used by our smartphones and navigators, but a military high-precision one. The Pentagon has so accustomed its fighters and equipment to a convenient and high-speed positioning system that disabling GPS will cause chaos in the battle formations of the Americans. Hence the targeted opposition from Russia and China, aimed at destroying the constellation of GPS satellites and local suppression of navigation signals. The only difference in cyber threats is that Russia, China, and all countries with a developed information structure are in place of the United States.

Identification difficulties

There is still no consensus on the precise definition of cyberwar. In this, the situation is similar to the term "artificial intelligence". Scientists and engineers offer dozens, if not hundreds, of different interpretations of this phenomenon. For example, Alan Turing (the man who hacked the German Enigma) generally believed that

"A machine should be considered intelligent if it can do everything that a person does with his mind."

That is, a simple calculator, according to Turing's theory, can be considered an example of "artificial intelligence".

There are now at least three definitions of the term cyberwar. The version of the National Security Research Department of the RAND Corporation states that it is

"Impact on communication systems, intelligence, automated control, information networks with the aim of destroying them, disrupting and distorting information."

The authors of the book Cyberwar. A New Threat to National Security and Ways to Overcome It "Clark and Kneik:

"The actions of a nation state to infiltrate another country's computers or networks to cause damage or destruction."

And, finally, the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies writes that

"Cyber ​​warfare implies the achievement of superiority over the enemy through the widespread introduction of new technologies in combat command and control systems and, most importantly, improving the organization and command and control of troops."

Such inconsistency in terms unambiguously speaks of a certain confusion of state services in the face of a new threat. After all, if we do not fully understand what to fight with, it is very difficult to find an effective antidote. Despite this, we are gradually slipping into a real cyber war with absolutely unpredictable consequences.

The main threats

The advent of the Internet of Things and 5G networks makes every person on the planet potentially vulnerable. Cyber ​​weapons are becoming real weapons of mass destruction. The ubiquitous connection of everything and everyone to the World Wide Web theoretically allows hackers to influence even the metabolic processes of the body. Now in medicine, pacemakers and insulin pumps with a remote interface are becoming widespread. The possibility of hacking these gadgets and malicious control (shutdown or release of a lethal dose of insulin) was discussed back in 2012 at McAffee. A less bloodthirsty example: smoke detectors and kettles are integrated in the concept of "smart home" into a single network with Internet access. Theoretically, it is possible to remotely reduce the sensitivity of the sensors, turn on the kettle and start a fire.

Source: wikimedia.org

It is not uncommon for hacker groups to spend millions of dollars and months of continuous work on their attacks. Viruses have to be implanted into vulnerable systems and put into hibernation mode for an extended period. Such "sleeping bombs" can now be found in any device connected to the Internet at least once.

Examples of domestic cyberwarfare should not be regarded as the lot of self-taught hackers. In the event of a serious aggravation, a total attack on the civilian population by the "combatant" cyber units of enemy states is quite possible. It is worth recalling the experience of the all-out World War II, where the destruction of civilian infrastructure and civilians by Western countries was seen as an essential condition for victory.

At the strategic level, cyberwarfare is even more unpredictable. First, cyber technology is very difficult to constrain. This is not a nuclear or chemical weapon; after its use, there is almost no evidence left. It is even more difficult to catch an aggressor country in developing a new means of attack. Secondly, the countries of the third world can create competition with the states of the first line. The example of Iran with its effective cyber troops is indicative in this case. Third, in terms of cost-effectiveness, cyberwar is simply beyond competition. Penny state-wide costs can be multiplied by one or two successful cyber operations. And finally, the most important and most dangerous property of a cyber weapon is its ability to cause a completely real war according to the good old rules. It is very difficult to determine for what purpose a conventional air defense system has been hacked - solely for the sake of espionage or destruction of the defense line before an impending invasion? Only the very cold-blooded will be able to restrain themselves from far-reaching conclusions. And then the quiet battles will burst into artillery cannonade.

Comments

[Per se.]

Interestingly, in the past century, the ratio of threats was the opposite - up to 90% for "tangible" weapons and about 10% for the non-military component.

The Soviet Union fell, not from "tangible weapons" and not from cyber attacks. We were beaten by political cheats, we were hypnotized by Hollywood, bribed by the advertising gloss of the West. In meanness, duplicity and hypocrisy "gentlemen" have no equal.

The Anglo-Saxons did not just become the leaders and masters of the world capitalist system. They went to this for a long time, and long ago they mastered that it is quite possible to rake in the heat with someone else's hands, set enemies on rivals, and eliminate leaders. Britain "goat" us, in life, in Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea and the Far East, always and everywhere. But when necessary, these foxes drew Russia into an alliance against Napoleon, or into the Entente, against "Uncle William". The same Nicholas II got the shame of Tsushima, where Japan was actively used by the Anglo-Saxons, and climbed for them to harness to the Entente. And, the point is not in Nikola Princip, not in Serbia, there was a struggle for the world throne of capitalism, Germany was a contender, the war was inevitable, they found not this other reason.

To be able to dress up as wolves in the sheep skins of "democracy", to sponsor Hitler, creating an anti-USSR out of defeated Germany, to cash in on the war, this is a talent. Then they create world terrorism, and they themselves, like fighting, launch COVID-19, and again the Chinese are to blame, not they. This is the main threat that the Anglo-Saxons are masters to do. Until we understand this, we will be a toy in their hands, where we will already get a "tangible" or cyber weapon, as a result.

Without a national idea, without strong agitation and propaganda, without a powerful national security service, we can be defeated without any "hot war", traitors will surrender the country, squeezing out the remnants of Soviet greatness like a lemon, and the rotten morality of consumers and the cult of money will complete the degradation.

[Lech from Android.]

We were beaten by political cheats, we were hypnotized by Hollywood, bribed by the advertising gloss of the West.

And what did our management do to create their own Hollywood, promote their advertising ... you can of course push all the blame for the collapse of the USSR onto Hollywood and advertisers ... but this is fundamentally not true.
The leadership of the USSR began to rot, starting with the Politburo ... and then the decomposition went from top to bottom until the gangrene of the entire state began.

[Per se.]

Quote: Lech from Android.

The leadership of the USSR began to rot, starting with the Politburo ...

There are also people in the Politburo, the same dear Leonid Ilyich was greedy for gifts, and our party ladies who visited the United States cried after their luxurious shops. Children of diplomats with clothes from the West, farts, double standards, special rations, fucking "Birches", Moscow, where the whole country went "for sausage".
The Moon deal with the Americans, which gave birth to the fetish of the West, was one of the main reasons for the weakening of Soviet morality.

They created the Soviet Union with sweat and blood, the main potential was laid under Stalin, after which, in fact, degradation began. Khrushchev began, Gorbachev completed. It was impossible to be an antagonist, a mortal enemy, it was impossible to see it as a "partner", it was impossible to hope for any kind cooperation with the West. Only strength, containment. The consequences of flirting with wolves are well known, especially since the West never needs a strong Russia, even with the tsar, even with the democrats, especially with independent socialism, as a new pole of world power.

[Lech from Android.]

There are also people in the Politburo, the same dear Leonid Ilyich was greedy for gifts, and our party ladies who visited the United States cried after their luxurious shops. Children of diplomats with clothes from the West, farts, double standards, special rations, fucking "Birches", Moscow, where the whole country went "for sausage".

A systemic problem ... against which no antidote was found ... there was no second comrade Stalin to cleanse the rotten top.
In the film The Diamond Arm, it was allegorically said about this ...

After returning from there, your husband has become different! The pernicious influence of the West ... These toys are idiotic! And this strange phrase: "A dog is a friend of man." Strange, to say the least ...

[knn54]

Eugene-François Vidocq, a former convict with experience, headed the General Directorate of National Security of France. In fact, he is the founder of the world criminal investigation.
Scrap scrap is a trick. Hackers can and should be involved in ensuring the country's security.
And as Sergei correctly noted, money and benefits will not be enough. An idea is needed, an ideological stimulus is needed.
A recent example of a Chinese specialist who "burned out at work", And it was not money that guided his actions.
It is very scary when love for the Motherland is perceived as an anecdote.

[Jacket in stock]

Quote: Per se.

They created the Soviet Union with sweat and blood, the main potential was laid under Stalin, after that, in fact, degradation began ...
You can't be an antagonist, a mortal enemy, it was to be seen as a "partner"

But you're lying.
It was Stalin who actively traded with the West, attracted specialists, exported gold and cultural values.
And it was under Stalin that arbitrariness, arbitrariness, lawlessness, and total lies in the media flourished in the country.
It was under Stalin that all sorts of Lysenko, Khrushchevs and other figures who were incompetent in anything except apparatus intrigues were promoted to leading posts. They eventually took over the country, bringing it to decline.

[Per se.]

Quote: Jacket in stock

But you're lying.
It was Stalin who actively traded with the West

The way Stalin traded with the West can be characterized by the common phrase attributed to V. I. Lenin - "If you offer a good price, the capitalists will sell the rope itself, on which they will be hung.".
Under Stalin, they bought a lot from the bourgeoisie, including from the United States, but this was done for the good of the country, the entire Soviet people, it created its own economy, personnel, experience.

The Soviet Union, the world's first socialist country, with a new social system, much, if not everything, was done from scratch, for the first time, hence the inevitable mistakes and losses. But, in 40 years, a nuclear and space superpower was created, moreover, in a hostile environment, with great potential, which continued to develop.

Now, for 30 years in our bourgeoisie, only basically the Soviet reserve of strength is being consumed, and, as in that phrase, our home-grown capitalists are already ready to sell not only the "rope", but also their mother, if they are in such "export" pay well.

[Doccor18]

Quote: Per se.

Without a national idea, without strong agitation and propaganda, without a powerful national security service, we can be defeated without any "hot war", traitors will surrender the country, squeezing out the remnants of Soviet greatness like a lemon, and the rotten morality of consumers and the cult of money will complete the degradation.

Bravo
Excellent commentary.

On my own behalf, I just want to add that despite the technology ball, the question of the quality of personnel again arises as never before. After all, a cyber defense specialist is, at least, an intelligent person, with an analytical mindset and the ability to find non-standard solutions, in close conjunction.

[lucul]

We were beaten by political cheats, we were hypnotized by Hollywood, bribed by the advertising gloss of the West. In meanness, duplicity and hypocrisy "gentlemen" have no equal.

Stupidity.

The Anglo-Saxons did not just become the leaders and masters of the world capitalist system. They went to this for a long time, and long ago mastered that it is quite possible to rake in the heat with someone else's hands, set enemies on rivals, and eliminate leaders.

Since 1640, when the usurers came to power there.
The whole secret of the success of the Anglo-Saxons is in the application of the female behavior matrix (manipulation). As a woman manipulates a man, so the Anglo-Saxons manipulate other countries.
You tune in and try to predict the train of thought of the man of the enemy, but he is not there, there is a woman's mentality - and you always lose.))))

[Per se.]

Quote: lucul

As a woman manipulates a man, so the Anglo-Saxons manipulate other countries.

Manipulation, not a woman's property, and "according to Freud," the concessions of the same Gorbachev to the West cannot be explained. On the contrary, the "Faberge" in this in the West turned out to be stronger than that of the husband of Raisa Maksimovna.
In addition to manipulation, there was also bribery, blackmail, political assassinations, various sabotage, intervention, direct aggression (for example, from the latter Yugoslavia, Iraq).

[lucul]

Manipulation, not a woman's property,

Precisely what is the property of women))))
The male mentality is to break and destroy everything that poses at least some kind of danger to the man himself and his family))))

[Per se.]

Quote: lucul

Male mentality - tear and destroy everything

Vitaly, you are substituting concepts. England plundered its colonies (why destroy them), the United States is plundering the whole world in one way or another, with the largest national debt.

Below, respected by me ccsr, expressed the opinion that "the destruction of us with weapons of mass destruction will be the main goal." What for? Maybe the exception is viruses, biological weapons. Russia is a trophy, a coveted trophy and rich booty, first of all, in terms of natural resources (intellectual ones bought or stole them after the collapse of the USSR). In addition, from Russia, and so billions are flowing over the hill, it is a sin for the bourgeoisie to complain about such a Russian "cash cow". Dreams Come True.

The West got the image of an enemy after the Crimea, again super-profits on this, and our cheeks are puffing up, to raise ratings, after the failed Yeltsin. Everyone is happy.

No one needs to trash clean fresh water, fertile soil, and other raw materials with radioactive rubbish. We could make the US an exclusion zone, our resources will be enough for us. There will be blackmail, pressure. Here, from the "male mentality", I would not like to get the ending on the song of Pugacheva, - "Oh, what a man was - a real colonel!" ... In this, "who's who (huː'es huː)", time will tell ...

[lucul]

Vitaly, you are substituting concepts. England plundered its colonies (why destroy them), the United States is plundering the whole world in one way or another, with the largest national debt.

This is called parasitism))))
As a woman, in most cases, parasitizes on a man's neck, pulls resources and money for herself (and ideally there should be symbiosis), so the Naglo-Saxons (Zionists) parasitize and manipulate other peoples.
Everything is strictly according to the precepts of female manipulation.

[Jacket in stock]

Without a national idea, without strong agitation and propaganda

Is it okay that the national idea is directly prohibited by the Constitution?
Although no, there is still one. Proclaimed in 1991, was widely supported, and has not changed since then.
And our powers that be are actively promoting it in life.
"ENRICH!"

[Vladimir Mashkov]

The article is interesting and useful. Many thanks to Eugene for her!

On the cyber front, all of us who go online are fighters and stand for the light or dark side. Most are privates, and a few are officers. I'm not talking about those funny high ranks that some have on the VO (many of them are simply screwed by friends to each other by acquaintance with the approval of the patron), but about valid the importance of each fighter of the information front. After all, some go out just to get publicity, others - to quarrel, throw out dissatisfaction with their lives, and still others - are fighting "windmills". Of real the right fighters fighting for the truth, unfortunately, not enough. Yes and no, many of them have no free time: they are busy deed.

[ccsr]

In 2021, an article was published in one of the issues of the Military Thought publication, in which the information threat from the West for Russia becomes one of the key for the period 2030-2040. That is, we have a much better chance of becoming a victim of a giant infrastructure collapse caused by a cyber attack than of being killed by nuclear or conventional weapons.

The authors of the article apparently did not think that this collapse would be specially caused in order to then destroy our country with nuclear weapons, or at least destroy all centers of government, including our central government, in order to destroy the integrity of the country and its economy ...
Otherwise, they will not achieve anything, our people may not endure such attacks, and the current sanctions against us have led nowhere. So those who think that the main threat to us will come from cyberattacks are mistaken - on the contrary, the destruction of us with weapons of mass destruction will be the main goal, the achievement of which will be the previous cyberattack.
Strange, but it was assumed in the last century, the authors of the article are apparently not aware of the military analytics of some structures of the Ministry of Defense.

[nobody75]

The authors of the article apparently did not think that this collapse would be specially caused in order to then destroy our country with nuclear weapons, or at least destroy all centers of government, including our central government, in order to destroy the integrity of the country and its economy ...

Yes, yes .... Today my post on one of the ZAO 1c channels was deleted ... I wrote to them that the encryptor mentioned in the article does not encrypt backups of infobases made through the configurator ... So what about the economy?
Sincerely

[nobody75]

Let me remind you once again - this encryptor hails from the outskirts ... they love file databases there!
Sincerely

[Radical]

Only the very cold-blooded will be able to restrain themselves ...

Or very cowardly ....

[nobody75]

Cowardice and meanness for cyberwar are positive qualities ... As the saying goes "Kill and Leave"
Sincerely

[boni592807]

I agree with the author. But... . Colleagues, what is the future.?!.. Not even funny! I'll try aboutappreciate the "timing" set by the author, through Chernomyrdin's aphorism " "... nebylo, nebylo .. and AGAIN !!! ..." Remember! At least a nuclear power plant in Iran (remember WHEN ?!), and how many times have our state sites at least hung - incl. Ministry of Internal Affairs, Adm. The President and .... Perhaps someone knows more .. Why scare you with a "joke" played by "their" hackers in the United States, when the light was turned off in one of the major cities (at least 8 years). Тwe went to pogroms and organizing shops and ... Then there was Moscow, on TV they "praised" the understanding of the Russians. "They (the USA) robbed, and ours (RF) were engaged in demography ...". The process has been going on for a long time, the question is in its mass application. ... But, judging by the development of the situation with Western partners and the "unambiguous" use of hardware and software only from Western partners in all , except (hopefully) the FSB and the Ministry of Defense (higher protection and its own) . "Interesting" times await us. R.S. It's even inconvenient to remind about the "little things" of the current results of digitalization - see options for fraud, blue whales and options (Kazan) ...

[Radical]

Quote: nobody75

Cowardice and meanness for cyberwar are positive qualities ... As the saying goes "Kill and Leave"
Sincerely

I can agree, provided that the blow must be struck first!

[nobody75]

To do this, you need to systematically deal with software and hardware !!!
Sincerely

[Radical]

Quote: nobody75

To do this, you need to systematically deal with software and hardware !!!
Sincerely

Who would argue ....

[Victor Tsenin]

> That is, a simple calculator, according to Turing's theory, can be considered an example of "artificial intelligence".

There speech is everything that the brain can do, so such a thesis is nevertheless extremely simplified.

In fact, cyber threats are an important point in that absolutely insufficient attention is paid to security (no updates, banal standard login pairs, etc.). On this occasion, there has long been a wonderful study on 3dnews, where, using the examples of the ocean fleet, the complete carelessness of carriers was shown in terms of a completely simple interception of navigation systems and control of huge ships. I doubt that anything has changed since then, so the case in Suez can be viewed from a new angle)
What I mean is that in a huge number of cases, hackers come to their own home, without further ado with the introduction, waiting, backdoors and similar moments.

[nobody75]

Turing talked about the fact that it is impossible to guess with whom you are communicating - with a person or with a machine.
Sincerely

[Mikhail3]

First of all, about the vulnerability of the modern civil world and the limitless possibilities of cybercriminals.

It is impossible, well, it is simply impossible not to laugh at the situation that has arisen! And what were the creators and, most importantly, the beneficiaries of the "digital world" hoping for ?! What is this "digital economy" anyway? Well, if you do not pay attention to the lies, and especially to the illiteracy and complete inability to think of the singers of this very digitalization, then the picture is as follows.
First, the "digital economy" is professional begging. People who do not produce anything and do nothing at all, in various ways diligently beg for money from those who work. Little by little. But since there are really still a lot of workers, and they are not fed up with bloggers, streamers, remote makeup artists and virtual sex of varying degrees of abomination, the exhaust is quite decent.
And secondly. Here the dog is digging with all his might. Basically, the profit was brought by the opportunity to dramatically reduce the number of real specialists employed in the economy. They managed to throw millions and millions of pros out into the street, and the rest of them got their wages low. Victory!
After all, why keep engineering and technical personnel at the enterprise itself? In many enterprises? It is enough to have one central office, in which one team of specialists will be placed, who will partially control the equipment remotely, and partially give instructions to technicians (who receive dozens of times less) on the spot! The employees in the central office also managed to lower their salaries, on the basis that now "you don't have to get your hands dirty."
Such a picture is everywhere, around, everywhere. But this management model is critically dependent on communication lines and software availability. At first, hackers tweaked small things. But the further, the more the process takes on scope. Why work for a person, or even more so for a group of people, if they can easily steal as much as they want? And so it began ... The process will grow. The cost of security measures is already approaching the savings achieved through layoffs. But this is just the beginning))