Hackers Crack Canadian
Defense
Department
By Jim
Bronskill
Canadian Press
7-15-4
- Ottawa -- Determined computer hackers broke through
federal firewalls several times last year, gaining access to Defense
Department networks.
-
- A newly obtained report on security breaches at the
department in 2003 also reveals dozens of internal lapses.
-
- Computer security has become a high-profile concern in
federal circles in light of cyber-terrorism, operations mounted by
foreign intelligence services and, more often, the sloppy practices of
employees.
-
- The Defense Department's Computer Incident Response
Team tracked a total of 160 events � from digital break-ins to dodgy
e-mail procedures � last year.
-
- Located in Ottawa at the Canadian Forces network
operations centre, the team defends department computers by monitoring
intrusion detection systems, zeroing in on threats and issuing
alerts.
-
- A declassified version of the team's report was
released to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information
Act.
-
- It provides an indication of the difficulties faced by
federal agencies such as the Defense Department in keeping their
sprawling information holdings secure from interlopers.
-
- The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has warned
that it is almost impossible to eliminate network vulnerabilities
entirely because computer systems and attack tools are in a constant
state of evolution.
-
- Other documents released by Defense underscore the
high degree of confidentiality attached to such issues. Many of the
records are classified top secret, with much of the information withheld
from release due to its perceived sensitivity.
-
- The response team's report notes five instances of
�unauthorized privileged access� to Defense networks, considered the
most serious of seven categories of breaches.
-
- They also logged five cases of �unauthorized limited
access� and 35 instances of �malicious logic� � the attempted
introduction of viruses, worms or other unwanted programs into a
computer system.
-
- There were 110 cases of �poor security practice� on
the part of employees, by far the most common problem last year. Of
these, the majority involved concerns about the security of e-mail
transmissions.
-
- Others stemmed from use of Internet Relay Chat
messaging and the popular KaZaa file-sharing service, inappropriate
storage of materials, and unauthorized Web postings. Another case
involved improper access to a network.
-
- No one from the Defense Department was available
Tuesday to discuss the security cases.
-
- Several of the documents released by Defense were
prepared by the Communications Security Establishment, the highly
secretive federal agency with the dual role of electronic spy service
and protector of federal computer systems.
-
- The records indicate CSE focused on issues including
the potential exploitation of wireless communication networks,
suspicious probes of systems and the general methods employed by
hackers.
-
- It appears CSE also undertook an analysis of the
so-called Blaster worm that infected computers last August.
-
- � Copyright 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All
Rights Reserved.
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