Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=2-7-03

TYPE=INTERVIEW

NUMBER=3-527

TITLE=SIPULSKI - IRAQ

BYLINE=PAT BODNAR

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

Host: President Bush reportedly has ordered the U-S government to draw up guidelines for the use of cyber-warfare tactics to disrupt enemy computer networks. The Washington Post reports (Friday) that Bush administration officials say they hope to establish rules determining when and how U-S forces could launch cyber-attacks against enemy computer systems. The study is under way amid speculation that the U-S Defense Department would consider a cyber-attack against Iraqi computer systems if Washington launches a military attack on Baghdad.

In a first move last month to consult with experts from outside government, White House officials helped arrange a meeting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that attracted about 50 participants from academia and industry as well as government.

Harvey Sipulsky is an MIT professor who hosted the conference. He tells NewsNow's Pat Bodnar about the meeting.

TEXT: MR. SIPULSKI: This was a conference of specialists in the field, technical specialists and security study academics, to try to understand whether there is a strategic concept for dealing with cyber warfare, both in the offense and in the defense. It was a parallel in some people's minds to the problems with nuclear weapons 50 or 60 years ago and development of strategic thought that was based on trying to understand what would nuclear weapons do to warfare, where we were trying to understand what will cyber attacks do to warfare.

MS. BODNAR: Now, there obviously would be concerns, particularly as the U.S. has ratcheted up concerns about security threats, there are concerns not only of biological terrorism but cyber attacks. What possible concerns are there that you could lay out for us?

MR. SIPULSKI: There are many. The United States, other industrialized countries, are very heavily dependent on computer-based systems. And I think they're under attack almost all the time by hackers of one kind or another and perhaps governments as well. The fear is that, were war to start, there will be an intensification of those kinds of attacks. The United States, I think, has spent -- and other countries do as well -- a lot on trying to defend their systems, trying to prevent hacking or unauthorized access to these systems. And that's going on all the time. But it's a very difficult thing to keep up with because the technology diffuses so rapidly and the skills are readily available in lots of places.

MS. BODNAR: Obviously there is also a concern, as the possibility of war with Iraq looms ever closer, that there could be an offensive use. What kind of concerns have been raised in your community about that?

MR. SIPULSKI: The conference didn't discuss any specific offensive techniques or policies, but there was a general discussion of what offense meant. And there was a recognition that there are a lot of problems associated with the United States using cyber systems for attacks because of the danger of collateral damage. That is, many of these systems are intertwined with civilian, military systems are intertwined with civilian systems, and that could cause a lot of damage to civilian infrastructure.

For example, attacking the electrical system, which surely would be based in part on computerized transfers of power, that would be useful militarily but it also might damage the hospital system or the water supply system. And that would cause lots of political problems in addition to any military advantage that might come from just the military side of it.

And then there is the fear of what might be called blowback; if we start attacking a particular industry in another country, our firms in the same industry here might be upset because that opens them perhaps to increased hacker attacks or national attacks. So, there is a fear of if the banking industry were attacked in another country, it might have some military advantage, but it would also be very upsetting to the banking system in the United States.

(End of interview.)

Host: Harvey Sipulsky is the Director of MIT's Defense and Arms Control Studies Program. He spoke with NewsNow's Pat Bodnar.

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