- 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. http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.
20040713.wfedhack0713/BNStory/Technology/
|
