U.S. Military Now Has Special Hack-by-Numbers Device

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» 22 May 2009

U.S. Military Now Has Special Hack-by-Numbers Device

A battery of tests is currently being conducted on devices that launch and control electronic, information, and cyber attacks by the U.S. Military in order to refine and prepare them for action. Once they're ready, they'll be moved out of the laboratory and straight into a soldier's backpack.

This is all part of a technology race that could theoretically introduce a whole new kind of revolution in combat. Even though the rough and tumble Russian attack on Georgia last year had some room for improvement, U.S. analysts were thoroughly impressed with Russia's impeccable approach to cyber warfare.

"The Russians conducted a cyber attack that was well coordinated with what Russian troops were doing on the ground," a seasoned military information operations specialist appraised. He observed that the Russians conducting the cyber war was talking to those running the ground forces all throughout the operation. The Russian military knew the technological talent they have, how to utilize it, and how to best apply it in cyber warfare.

According to the specialist, most of the people in the U.S. Defense Department were surprised by the complex, comprehensive, and multi-tiered strategies in cyber warfare that the Russians were using. It was a faultless and integrated procedure that synchronized the use of cyber weapons ranging from sophisticated to those created by Internet trolls and other miscreants for website defacement.

He clarified that the Russians weren't using any new techniques or technologies, but what really impressed observers was how effective they used these devices as part of a combined maneuver. Therefore, the U.S. is currently looking into developing a tool to duplicate that kind of synchronized cyber attack.

Furthermore, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has rewarded several IT (Information Technology) companies with contracts to create a cyber attack range. Candidate sites include the U.S. Air Force radar cross-section range at Holloman AFB, New Mexico and the radar cross-section facility in the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake, California.

A number of upcoming attack gadgets are being built in a U.S. cyber warfare attack laboratory as well. The one shown to Aviation Week & Space Technology is a programming framework that can track down digital vulnerabilities. It integrates technology analysis, cyber sleuthing, and the tracking of information flow. It also offers advice to the user on how to best launch a cyber assault and, after everything is done, grades the effort via a report.

As of this instant, cyber and electronic attacks are done and understood by very few people. To make this capability part of a soldier's arsenal, it has to be presented and constructed in such a way that a non-tech-savvy person could use it on the combat zone.