In recent years, that has transitioned to VPN access to the control system LAN. . Counterintelligence Core Concerns The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) is the most significant attempt ever undertaken by Congress to improve national cybersecurity and protect U.S. critical infrastructure from nation-state, non-state, and criminal behavior. 64 As DOD begins to use and incorporate emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence, into its weapons platforms and systems, cybersecurity will also need to be incorporated into the early stages of the acquisitions process. 1636, available at . The operator will see a "voodoo mouse" clicking around on the screen unless the attacker blanks the screen. Recognizing the interdependence among cyber, conventional, and nuclear domains, U.S. policymakers must prioritize efforts to reduce the cyber vulnerabilities of conventional and nuclear capabilities and ensure they are resilient to adversary action in cyberspace. Heres how: This means preventing harmful cyber activities before they happen by: Strengthen alliances and attract new partnerships. All three are securable if the proper firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and application level privileges are in place. Additionally, cyber-enabled espionage conducted against these systems could allow adversaries to replicate cutting-edge U.S. defense technology without comparable investments in research and development and could inform the development of adversary offset capabilities. The most common configuration problem is not providing outbound data rules. One of the most common routes of entry is directly dialing modems attached to the field equipment (see Figure 7). Many breaches can be attributed to human error. Wireless access points that allow unauthorized connection to system components and networks present vulnerabilities. Common firewall flaws include passing Microsoft Windows networking packets, passing rservices, and having trusted hosts on the business LAN. The attacker must know how to speak the RTU protocol to control the RTU. See, for example, Eric Heginbotham et al., The U.S.-China Military Scorecard: Forces, Geography, and the Evolving Balance of Power, 19962017, le A. Flournoy, How to Prevent a War in Asia,, June 18, 2020; Christopher Layne, Coming Storms: The Return of Great-Power War,, Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, (Washington, DC: Office of the Director of National Intelligence, February 13, 2018), available at, National Security Strategy of the United States of America, (Washington, DC: The White House, December 2017), 27, available at <, https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf, Daniel R. Coats, Annual Threat Assessment Opening Statement, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, January 29, 2019, available at <, https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Newsroom/Testimonies/2019-01-29-ATA-Opening-Statement_Final.pdf. Progress and Challenges in Securing the Nations Cyberspace, (Washington, DC: Department of Homeland Security, July 2004), 136, available at <, https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB424/docs/Cyber-019.pdf, Manual for the Operation of the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System. An attacker will attempt to take over a machine and wait for the legitimate user to VPN into the control system LAN and piggyback on the connection. The Government Accountability Office warned in a report issued today that the Defense Department "faces mounting challenges in protecting its weapons systems from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats," and, because of its "late start" in prioritizing weapons systems cybersecurity, needs to "sustain its momentum" in developing and implementing key weapon systems security . The business firewall is administered by the corporate IT staff and the control system firewall is administered by the control system staff. If a dozen chemical engineers were tasked with creating a talcum powder plant, each of them would use different equipment and configure the equipment in a unique way. For additional definitions of deterrence, see Glenn H. Snyder, Deterrence and Defense (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961); Robert Jervis, Deterrence Theory Revisited, World Politics 31, no. Nearly all modern databases allow this type of attack if not configured properly to block it. A backup control center is used in more critical applications to provide a secondary control system if there is a catastrophic loss of the main system. There are a number of common ways an attacker can gain access, but the miscellaneous pathways outnumber the common pathways. DODIG-2019-106 (Washington, DC: DOD, July 26, 2019), 2, available at <, https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/oig-reports/DODIG-2019-106.pdf, Valerie Insinna, Inside Americas Dysfunctional Trillion-Dollar Fighter-Jet Program, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/magazine/f35-joint-strike-fighter-program.html, Robert Koch and Mario Golling, Weapons Systems and Cyber SecurityA Challenging Union, in, ed. Additionally, an attacker will dial every extension in the company looking for modems hung off the corporate phone system. See James D. Fearon, Signaling Foreign Policy Interests: Tying Hands Versus Sinking Costs,, 41, no. In a typical large-scale production system utilizing SCADA or Distributed Control System (DCS) configuration there are many computer, controller and network communications components integrated to provide the operational needs of the system. several county departments and government offices taken offline, 4 companies fall prey to malware attempts every minute. 3 (January 2020), 4883. The FY21 NDAA makes important progress on this front. 36 Defense Science Board, Task Force Report: Resilient Military Systems and the Advanced Cyber Threat (Washington, DC: DOD, January 2013), available at . Risks stemming from nontechnical vulnerabilities are entirely overlooked in strategies and policies for identifying and remediating cyber vulnerabilities in DOD weapons systems. Every business has its own minor variations dictated by their environment. For instance, former Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer described naval and industry partner systems as being under cyber siege by Chinese hackers.42 Yet of most concern is that the integrity and credibility of deterrence will be compromised by the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of weapons systems. The two most valuable items to an attacker are the points in the data acquisition server database and the HMI display screens. It is common to find RTUs with the default passwords still enabled in the field. Past congressional action has spurred some important progress on this issue. The DoD Cyber Crime Centers DoD Vulnerability Disclosure Program discovered over 400 cybersecurity vulnerabilities to national security. Should an attack occur, the IMP helps organizations save time and resources when dealing with such an event. Moreover, some DOD operators did not even know the system had been compromised: [U]nexplained crashes were normal for the system, and even when intrusion detection systems issued alerts, [this] did not improve users awareness of test team activities because . A potential impediment to implementing this recommendation is the fact that many cyber threats will traverse the boundaries of combatant commands, including U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Strategic Command, and the geographic combatant commands. , no. Some reports estimate that one in every 99 emails is indeed a phishing attack. More commercial technology will be integrated into current systems for maximum effectiveness in the ever-changing cybersphere. A typical network architecture is shown in Figure 2. large versionFigure 2: Typical two-firewall network architecture. 35 Relatedly, adversary campaigns to conduct cyber-enabled intellectual property theft against the U.S. military and the defense industrial base are also a concern because they continue to cause staggering losses of national security information and intellectual property. 2 (January 1979), 289324; Thomas C. Schelling. Capabilities are going to be more diverse and adaptable. 1 (February 1997), 6890; Robert Jervis, Signaling and Perception: Drawing Inferences and Projecting Images, in Political Psychology, ed. 32 Erik Gartzke and Jon R. Lindsay, Thermonuclear Cyberwar, Journal of Cybersecurity 3, no. To understand the vulnerabilities associated with control systems you must know the types of communications and operations associated with the control system as well as have an understanding of the how attackers are using the system vulnerabilities to their advantage. For example, there is no permanent process to periodically assess the cybersecurity of fielded systems. System data is collected, processed and stored in a master database server. The attacker is also limited to the commands allowed for the currently logged-in operator. There are three common architectures found in most control systems. a. (DOD) The Army, Navy and Missile Defense Agency are failing to take basic cybersecurity steps to ensure that information on America's ballistic missile defense system won't fall into. Holding DOD personnel and third-party contractors more accountable for slip-ups. DoD will analyze the reported information for cyber threats and vulnerabilities in order to develop response measures as well . The controller unit communicates to a CS data acquisition server using various communications protocols (structured formats for data packaging for transmission). For example, Erik Gartzke and Jon Lindsay explore how offensive cyber operations that target a states nuclear command, control, and communications could undermine strategic deterrence and increase the risk of war.32 Similarly, Austin Long notes potential pathways from offensive cyber operations to inadvertent escalation (which is by definition a failure of deterrence) if attacks on even nonmilitary critical systems (for example, power supplies) could impact military capabilities or stoke fears that military networks had likewise been compromised.33. This could take place in positive or negative formsin other words, perpetrating information as a means to induce operations to erroneously make a decision to employ a capability or to refrain from carrying out a lawful order. 51 Office of Inspector General, Progress and Challenges in Securing the Nations Cyberspace (Washington, DC: Department of Homeland Security, July 2004), 136, available at . The HMI provides graphical displays for presentation of status of devices, alarms and events, system health, and other information relevant to the system. They make threat outcomes possible and potentially even more dangerous. Therefore, DOD must also evaluate how a cyber intrusion or attack on one system could affect the entire missionin other words, DOD must assess vulnerabilities at a systemic level. Each control system LAN typically has its own firewall protecting it from the business network and encryption protects the process communication as it travels across the business LAN. He reiterated . Falcon 9 Starlink L24 rocket successfully launches from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, April 28, 2021 (U.S. Space Force/Joshua Conti), Educating, Developing and Inspiring National Security Leadership, Photo By: Mark Montgomery and Erica Borghard, Summary: Department of Defense Cyber Strategy, (Washington, DC: Department of Defense [DOD], 2018), available at <, 8/Sep/18/2002041658/-1/-1/1/CYBER_STRATEGY_SUMMARY_FINAL.PDF, Achieve and Maintain Cyberspace Superiority: Command Vision for U.S. Cyber Command, (Washington, DC: U.S. Cyber Command, 2018), available at <, https://www.cybercom.mil/Portals/56/Documents/USCYBERCOM%20Vision%20April%202018.pdf?ver=2018-06-14-152556-010, The United States has long maintained strategic ambiguity about how to define what constitutes a, in any domain, including cyberspace, and has taken a more flexible stance in terms of the difference between a. as defined in the United Nations charter. Large DCS often need to use portions of the business network as a route between multiple control system LANs (see Figure 5). The DoD has further directed that cyber security technology must be integrated into systems because it is too expensive and impractical to secure a system after it has been designed The design of security for an embedded system is challenging because security requirements are rarely accurately identified at the start of the design process. Once inside, the intruder could steal data or alter the network. 114-92, 20152016, available at <, https://www.congress.gov/114/plaws/publ92/PLAW-114publ92.pdf, William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 202. The department is expanding its Vulnerability Disclosure Program to include all publicly accessible DOD information systems. Search KSATs. Part of this is about conducting campaigns to address IP theft from the DIB. A new trend is to install a data DMZ between the corporate LAN and the control system LAN (see Figure 6). By Mark Montgomery and Erica Borghard ; Erica D. Borghard and Shawn W. Lonergan, The Logic of Coercion in Cyberspace,. , Version 2.0 (Washington, DC: Headquarters Department of the Navy, November 6, 2006), 3. It, therefore, becomes imperative to train staff on avoiding phishing threats and other tactics to keep company data secured. 4 (Spring 1980), 6. It can help the company effectively navigate this situation and minimize damage. 42 Lubold and Volz, Navy, Industry Partners Are Under Cyber Siege.. Inevitably, there is an inherent tension between Congresss efforts to act in an oversight capacity and create additional requirements for DOD, and the latters desire for greater autonomy. Another pathway through which adversaries can exploit vulnerabilities in weapons systems is the security of the DOD supply chainthe global constellation of components and processes that form the production of DOD capabilitieswhich is shaped by DODs acquisitions strategy, regulations, and requirements. "These weapons are essential to maintaining our nation . - Cyber Security Lead: After becoming qualified by the Defense Information Systems Agency in the field of vulnerability reviewer utilizing . 41 Weapon Systems Cybersecurity: DOD Just Beginning to Grapple with Scale of Vulnerabilities, GAO-19-128 (Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office, 2018), available at . In addition to assessing fielded systems vulnerabilities, DOD should enforce cybersecurity requirements for systems that are in development early in the acquisition life cycle, ensuring they remain an essential part of the front end of this process and are not bolted on later.64 Doing so would essentially create a requirement for DOD to institutionalize a continuous assessment process of weapons systems cyber vulnerabilities and annually report on these vulnerabilities, thereby sustaining its momentum in implementing key initiatives. Around 68% of companies have been said to experience at least one endpoint attack that compromised their data or infrastructure. Most RTUs require no authentication or a password for authentication. Given the extraordinarily high consequence of a successful adversary cyber-enabled information operation against nuclear command and control decisionmaking processes, DOD should consider developing a comprehensive training and educational requirement for relevant personnel to identify and report potential activity. Conducts deep-dive investigations on computer-based crimes establishing documentary or physical evidence, to include digital media and logs associated with cyber intrusion incidents.
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