DATE=5/12/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUNDER
TITLE="LOVE BUG" & CYBER-WAR
NUMBER=5-46307
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=ROSSLYN, VIRGINIA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Experts in cyber-war say the conflict in
Kosovo and the recent "love bug" virus that affected
computers worldwide mark the beginning of a new era of
information warfare. They say future conflicts will
see a wider and more deadly use of computers as
weapons. Some experts also say computer conflicts
will likely have a much greater impact on the daily
lives of ordinary people, even in peacetime. V-O-A's
Pentagon correspondent, Jim Randle, reports.
TEXT: Computer experts say NATO forces launched the
fiercest computer attack in history on Serb
communications, air defenses and military activities
during last year's war in Yugoslavia.
But cyber-war expert Kevin O'Brien says Western forces
could have -- and should have -- done much more with
information warfare, which he calls "I-W."
/// 1st O'BRIEN ACT ///
While NATO enjoyed many tactical successes using
I-W in the conflict with Yugoslavia, I-W failed
because it was never fully employed.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. O'Brien is a scholar who follows computer and
military issues closely from King's College in London.
He spoke at a professional seminar near Washington
(Friday).
During the war in Kosovo, he says, NATO's cyber-
warriors had many computer programs and techniques
that could be used as weapons, including "exotic"
software that could confuse critical military
computers running Serb air defenses.
/// 2ND O'BRIEN ACT ///
Planners devised schemes to insert false
messages and targets into the [Serbian]
centralized air-defense command network. These,
however, were never fully implemented, due to
political hesitation.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. O'Brien says political timidity by national
leaders meant that only about one-tenth of such
computer weapons saw any action. He says computer
hackers from U-S intelligence agencies located huge
foreign bank accounts owned by Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic, and kept track of them even after
the conflict was over. Concerns about causing
economic chaos and legal questions once again kept the
agents from taking action, such as emptying the bank
accounts.
Mr. O'Brien argues that such concerns are misplaced.
In his view, if cyber-war had been more effective,
there would have been much less need for traditional
bombs and bullets -- and the deaths they cause.
Meantime, historian Daniel Kuehl [pron: KEEL] says
future armed conflicts will certainly see much more
use of information and computers as weapons.
/// KUEHL ACT ///
...Because the information component of national
power is becoming increasingly important to, let
me say, dominant in global business, global
politics, and the art and practice of warfare.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Kuehl teaches classes in information warfare
to military and government officials at the National
Defense University in Washington.
Government and military computers are not be the only
targets in this new age of information attacks,
according to computer scientist Dorothy Denning. The
Georgetown University professor says the recent "love
bug" computer virus cost billions of dollars by
causing chaos for business, government and personal
computer users around the world. She says this
demonstrates the growing vulnerability that comes with
the growing reliance on computers, particularly those
linked to the World Wide Web.
Ms. Denning says it is very convenient to have
computers controlling electric grids, chemical plants,
water supplies or hospital information systems -- but
such convenience comes at a price.
/// DENNING ACT ///
In this kind of environment, the opportunities
for mischief or really serious harm and damage
... explode from where they are now. Right now,
cyber-space is not that closely coupled with the
physical world. You can get hold of a lot of
information, but you can't control a lot of
processes. But I see that changing, and the
threat is going to change with it.
/// END ACT ///
Computer warfare expert Kevin O'Brien says experts
issued warnings months ago about computer viruses like
the one that appeared this month, hidden in e-mail
messages marked "I LOVE YOU."
The rogue program hijacked the hard drive of anyone
who opened a file attached to the e-mail message, by
immediately sending electronic copies of itself to
computers around the globe. The virus also copied
victims' passwords, and many victims reported their
private files were damaged.
Mr. O'Brien says the next offensive computer program
could hit even harder, because the hackers who write
virus programs are becoming more skilled, and because
more people are using vulnerable computers each day.
(Signed)
NEB/JR/WTW
12-May-2000 20:38 PM EDT (13-May-2000 0038 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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