Kevin G. Coleman

 

Posts by Kevin G. Coleman

Cyber Intelligence: House Bill Giant Step In The Right Direction

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Cyber intelligence has emerged as the single most critical element in cyber defense. The private sector owns and operates the vast majority of the U.S. critical infrastructure which has become a high value target for those who wish to harm the United States. In addition, the private sector produces a substantive portion of the technology used to defend the nation, which if compromised could be very damaging.

On Dec. 1, 2011 the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers introduced what is being called a ground-breaking piece of legislation. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 12, 2011 at 9:16 AM

Cyber Intelligence: Bring It On – Iran Says They Are Ready!

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Ever since the discovery of the Stuxnet cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and the assignation of Iran’s chief Stuxnet Investigator, Iran has been hell-bent on developing offensive and defensive cyber capabilities.

Over this past year or so numerous comments about the cyber domain that have come out of Tehran and recently the leader of Iran’s Cyber Defense Organization, Brigadier General Gholam-Reza Jalali stated that Iranian computer experts are adequately prepared to defend the country against any possible cyber attack. Based on open sources they seem to have put cyber intelligence secondary to attack and defensive capabilities. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 5, 2011 at 7:29 AM

Cyber Intelligence: British Intelligence Picks Up Cyber Attack Chatter

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Terrorist groups have primarily used physical attack modalities in their efforts to undermine society. Those methods now include cyber attacks.

International sources have released information that British intelligence services have intercepted communications–that they term chatter–that suggest terrorist may be planning a cyber attack on British infrastructure.

As Britain has modernized over the years they have become much more reliant on computer, digital communications and networks. That reliance is very tempting to adversaries. The face of terrorism has continued to change year after year. They adapt, innovate and morph their strategies and tactics. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 28, 2011 at 10:02 AM

Cyber Intelligence: Not One, But Two Worrisome Cyber Events In Past Week

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Last week word began filtering out about a suspected cyber attack on a water treatment system in Illinois. After a preliminary investigation into a pump failure, the issue quickly became a cyber incident.

Further analysis suggests that the actual breach and malicious activities began a couple of months ago. Workers at the water treatment facility determined the system had been hacked and the IP address used to carry out the cyber sabotage was tracked back to a computer in Russia. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 21, 2011 at 10:52 AM

Cyber Intelligence: Meeting The Challenge Of Cyber Defense

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Day after day the threats we are exposed to in cyber space grow. Just recently Panda Security announced they processed their 200 millionth malware file. Just think about that for a moment, 200 million individual pieces of malware.

The company went on to say that cyber intelligence automatically detects, analyzes and classifies more than 73,000 new malware strains a day. That clearly illustrates the continuous change that goes on in the cyber threat environment. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 14, 2011 at 7:38 AM

Cyber Intelligence: American’s Innovation And Creativity Under Cyber Attack

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Report after report has been generated and multiple warnings have been issued about the threat to the U.S. economy from intellectual property theft.

One recent report, from a publication published last month by the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive suggests that the economic dollar losses for research and development data theft could be as high as $398 billion. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 7, 2011 at 12:26 PM

Cyber Intelligence: Cyber Attack Mitigation – Rapid Intervention Teams

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The level of threat from cyber attacks has been the subject of controversy for years. However, just recently, multiple officials who are in the know have publically stated that the threat posed by cyber attacks is very real and went on to state that such an attack could potentially be not that far away.

In my most recent blogs, I made the distinction that cyber attacks are much more serious than cyber threats. If someone puts a piece of code on your system that exfiltrates data or information, disrupts, destroys or otherwise harms your computer, device, network, applications or data–that would be considered an attack. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 1, 2011 at 11:04 AM

Cyber Intelligence: A Very Dangerous Attitude Part 2

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As discussed in last week’s blog I continue to come across what I believe are two very dangerous attitudes about cyber aggression.

The first issue one, discussed last week, is about the importance of distinguishing between a cyber intrusion and a cyber attack. This week, I want to address the comment I hear too often that “we know for a fact” who are behind the cyber attacks.


I called a CISO (chief information security officer) of a critical infrastructure and a subject matter expert that worked with three-letter agencies on cyber event investigations. I barely finished relating the statement when he replied “That’s bulls**t and went on to talk about cyber break-in investigations that went on for “years” without identifying who was behind the attack. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 24, 2011 at 9:48 AM

Cyber Intelligence: A Very Dangerous Attitude

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COMMENTARY:
Writing, blogging and speaking at conferences exposes you to a very broad base of viewpoints and also opens you up for non-constructive criticism.

Recently, I received some feedback on a position I have consistently taken on the subject of cyber attack and cyber attribution. This week I will address one of the two issues. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 18, 2011 at 7:01 AM

International Effort to Stop China’s Acts of Cyber Espionage

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COMMENTARY: The history of espionage activities, both for and against the United States goes back to early formative stages of the country. The tools and techniques associated with the tradecraft of spying have changed over time and kept up with modern society.

Today, China’s espionage activities/targets go far beyond government and military targets and now include leading private sector technology companies. Acts of espionage that have been attributed to China are said to have reached new “intolerable levels”. Representative Mike Rogers of Michigan, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said that “Beijing is waging a massive trade war on us all, and we should band together to pressure them to stop.” He went on to pretty much DEMAND the FBI provide answers! Keep reading →

 /  Published October 10, 2011 at 3:00 PM
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