In 2013, U.S. Sen. John Kerry called the new cybertechnologies
the “21st-century nuclear weapons equivalent.”
[Russia]
JUNE 21 Russian Cyberattacks on Power Grids
https://www.thetrumpet.com/15949-experts-warn-of-possible-russian-cyberattacks-on-power-grids
A suspected Russian cyberweapon might be capable of disrupting virtually any power grid in the world.
The attacks in Ukraine were the world’s first-ever cyberattacks on electric-grid operations. Yet experts believe that both attacks were mere practice sessions for more serious attacks—if not blatant scare tactics.
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Dragos’s report, titled “CrashOverride—Analysis of the Threat to Electric Grid Operations,” said the virus “leverages knowledge of grid operations and network communications to cause impact; in that way, it can be immediately repurposed in Europe and portions of the Middle East and Asia. CrashOverride is extensible and with a small amount of tailoring, [it] would also be effective in the North American grid.”
https://dragos.com/blog/crashoverride/CrashOverride-01.pdf
Unsurprisingly, Russia denies any involvement in cyberwarfare, just like it has denied hacking the Democratic National Convention and attempting to manipulate the U.S. presidential elections. But there is overwhelming evidence that incriminates Russia. Consider: On June 13, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan bill to expand sanctions on Russia “in response to the violation of the territorial integrity of the Ukraine and Crimea, its brazen cyberattacks and interference in elections, and its continuing aggression in Syria.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin even conceded on June 1 that Russians with
“patriotic leanings” could unilaterally execute cyberattacks.
His comment, whether truth or casual deflection of guilt, brings little comfort to security experts who say the malware no longer requires state-level resources to modify; a computer science graduate student, they say, could easily repurpose the malware to attack U.S. grids.
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[United States]
June 13, 2017 Senators Announce Agreement on Russia Sanctions
https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/ranking/release/senators-announce-agreement-on-russia-sanctions
The amendment to the underlying Iran sanctions bill maintains and substantially expands sanctions against the government of Russia in response to the violation of the territorial integrity of the Ukraine and Crimea, its brazen cyber-attacks and interference in elections, and its continuing aggression in Syria.
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Malware discovered that could threaten electrical grid
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...red-could-threaten-electrical-grid/102775998/
U.S. military satellites in crisis as foreign weapons advance and proliferate
Foreign weapons create military satellite crisis - Washington Times
July 20, 2015 -Electromagnetic attack could claim 9 of 10 American lives
https://glblgeopolitics.wordpress.c...ic-attack-could-claim-9-of-10-american-lives/
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[Germany]
July 2017 Germany Prepares for the War of the Future
https://www.thetrumpet.com/15834-germany-prepares-for-the-war-of-the-future
Berlin has created a new military branch to take the lead in high-tech hybrid war.
Hundreds of thousands of targets around the world were struck by dangerous weapons in May. These weapons were not kinetic, biological, chemical or nuclear; they were electronic. The targets were computers across 150 countries, including an estimated 70,000 devices inside Britain’s National Health Service such as computers, scanners and storage equipment. The attack also struck FedEx, Deutsche Bahn, Telefónica, Taiwan Power Co., investment firms, insurance companies and numerous other companies, organizations and individuals.
The weapons were variations of a cyberattack called WannaCry. The malicious software accesses computer files, encrypts them, and holds them ransom, demanding payments of $300 to $600 per computer in exchange for returning the files to their unencrypted state. Europol called the attack unprecedented.
Wanna Cry is the latest reminder that the world has entered a new age that was formerly only science fiction. Cyberwar is no longer a movie fantasy but rather a real-world reality that threatens entire nations. A new arms race has begun, not for warships, planes, tanks or even nukes, but for cyberweapons.
And Germany has just lurched forward in the race, in a big way.
On April 1, the German military launched its biggest venture to combat cyberthreats, establishing a new sixth branch: Cyber and Information Space Command. The command will operate on the same level as the Army, Air Force and Navy.
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen appointed Lt. Gen. Ludwig Leinhos to be Germany’s first cybergeneral. Leinhos will eventually head a team of 13,500 computer specialists, many of whom are already employed by the Bundeswehr in various locations. This is a huge force. The staff comes close in number to that of the German Navy.
Germany wants to take this massive cybermilitary and train it not just to defend against
attacks like WannaCry, but also to launch its own cyberattacks.
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