Word: pentagon
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After years of building firewalls and other defenses against relentless hacker attacks, the Pentagon is going over to the dark side of computer warfare. But ethically, of course. The Defense Department, like most other large organizations, has recognized that no wall is high enough to keep out skilled and determined hackers for keeps. Instead, it has decided that in order to anticipate and thwart attacks, it needs to know what the hackers know...
...More than 100 foreign intelligence organizations are trying to hack into U.S. systems," Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn warned last month. "Some governments already have the capacity to disrupt elements of the U.S. information infrastructure." So the Pentagon recently modified its regulations to allow military computer experts to be trained in computer hacking, gaining the designation "certified ethical hackers." They'll join more than 20,000 other such good-guy hackers around the world who have earned that recognition since 2003 from the private International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (also known as the EC-Council). (See more about cyberwarfare...
...Bavisi and the Pentagon are sensitive to the possibility that the tactics taught could be used for other purposes. "We're not training Department of Defense guys to become hackers and start hacking into China or any other countries," he says. Weeklong courses will train them in 150 hacking techniques and technologies, ranging from viruses, worms, sniffers and phishing to cyberwarfare. The cost of the course ranges from $450 to $2,500, depending on the training involved...
...Pentagon personnel "are not learning to hack," insists Air Force Lieut. Colonel Eric Butterbaugh. While the EC-Council calls it "certified ethical hacker" training, the U.S. military also calls it "penetration testing" or "red-teaming." These are proven military techniques that have been used for decades to hone war-fighting skills. The Air Force and Navy, for example, maintain "aggressor squadrons" of F-5 and MiG warplanes to give U.S. military pilots practice against the tactics of potential foes. And the Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., has long boasted a highly trained "op-for" - opposition force...
...posturing, jockeying, and rumors, one of which held that Maliki had been shot in the leg. All the major coalitions have complained of electoral fraud, though most Western observers say that for now there appears to be little evidence of serious vote-rigging. Still, Ahmed Chalabi, the former Pentagon favorite now aligned with the Sadrists, has demanded that all allegations be thoroughly investigated before final result are published. At this rate, it may be months before Iraq even has a definitive result, let alone a government...