Flame

Cyber Intel: Iran Sues; My Lawyer is Bigger Than Your Lawyer

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The head of Iran’s Presidential Center for International Legal Affairs has announced that Iran plans to bring legal action against those that launched cyber attacks against their uranium enrichment equipment in a move that promises to raise the stakes for the U.S. cybersecurity policy officials.

Majid Jafarzadeh made the announcement this week after consulting Iranian and foreign legal experts, saying Iran has decided to file a lawsuit against the “cyber terrorists” who have attacked the country’s nuclear enrichment infrastructure. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 15, 2012 at 12:29 PM

Mutual Annihilation: If Cyber War Was Only That Easy

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In the wake of Flame, there have been many interesting headlines bubbling up over the past several weeks regarding policy development of cyber “offensive” measures and the future of overall worldwide cyberwar policy. Perspectives vary greatly as to the future of cyber offensive measures, with one author going so far as to say that the world will be a better place when war strategies shift from the physical to the cyber realm.

One thing is clear – discussions of ‘striking back’ at an entity that has just hacked a government system or retaliating when a breach is identified signals a significant change in the traditional US Government mindset and combat philosophy in general. Will the change from a primarily defensive strategy in securing government systems to an “offense” mentality improve our national security posture? Likely so. Are we prepared to engage? It appears we are even willing to make a first strike. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 10, 2012 at 12:00 PM

Deciphering Flame: An Intelligence Officer’s Perspective

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The discovery of the Stuxnet computer worm in 2010 and the more recent spyware attack known as Flame – both of which specifically targeted the Iranian nuclear development program – has led to wild speculation by subject matter experts from almost every discipline imaginable.

But the common thread that binds the analysis of these experts together (in a not-so-flattering way) has been the conclusion that the great “cyber wars” of the 21st century have begun. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 15, 2012 at 4:00 PM

Cyber Intelligence: The Flame Intensifies

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In a move that suggests the incendiary impact of malicious software, Iran has now publicly threatened the United States over the Flame malware incident that has gained worldwide attention in recent days.

Flame has been dubbed the “utlimate spy” and for good reason. Iran was the country hit the hardest by the state-of-the-art piece of malware. Keep reading →

 /  Published May 31, 2012 at 8:01 AM