TWP on CIA Info Gears

[jya@pipeline.com (John Young)]

   The latter part of this article elaborates the NYT report 
   today. 
 
 
   The Washington Post, June 26, 1996, p. A19. 
 
 
   CIA Gears Up to Thwart 'Information Attacks' 
 
      Deutch Lists Computer Break-Ins, Terrorism as 
      High-Priority Potential Threats to National Security 
 
   By R. Jeffrey Smith 
 
 
   CIA director John M. Deutch warned yesterday that the 
   country is likely to experience some a very large and 
   uncomfortable" disruptions of vital computer systems at the 
   hands of foreign terrorists or hostile nations in coming 
   years, but pledged a major new U.S. effort to detect and 
   combat the threat of computer break-ins. 
 
   "We have evidence that a number of countries around the 
   world are developing the doctrine, strategies, and tools to 
   conduct information attacks" on military-related computers, 
   Deutch told a hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee 
   on Investigations, while declining to name these nations. 
 
   Deutch added that he is convinced that foreigners are 
   becoming increasingly aware "that advanced societies, 
   especially the United States, are increasingly dependent on 
   open and potentially vulnerable" computers to control 
   electric power, airplane traffic, telecommunications and 
   financial operations -- posing an attractive target for 
   virtually "any nation or foreign terrorist organization." 
   Emphasizing that the Clinton administration has just begun 
   to grasp the dangers involved and begin working on the 
   problem, Deutch said "we are not well-organized as a 
   government to address these issues" and cautioned that 
   making vital computers much less vulnerable to attack may 
   take decades. 
 
   "The electron is the ultimate precision-guided weapon," 
   Deutch said, but "it is not [a problem about] which it's 
   absolutely apparent ... the best way to proceed." 
 
   Deutch said he nonetheless had already drawn up plans to 
   create an office at the National Security Agency to be 
   called the Information Warfare Technology Center, which 
   will focus on analyzing the risks that foreign hackers pose 
   to U.S. computers and help create new methods of 
   investigating and defending the U.S. against electronic 
   break-ins. 
 
   Deutch also said that he supports creating a "real-time 
   response center" for any major domestic or foreign attacks 
   against civilian computers under the supervision of the 
   Justice Department, as well as a separate, Defense 
   Department center for responding to attacks on 
   military-related computers. 
 
   Deutch disclosed that the intelligence community conducted 
   an extensive survey last year of the risks of an attack on 
   computers controlling U.S. telephones, the electric power 
   grid, oil refineries and other utilities. He said the 
   results are classified, but added that a new, broader 
   estimate of the threat is to be completed by December. 
 
   He also said the intelligence community has begun to hunt 
   more diligently for evidence of any foreign intent to 
   attack U.S. computers, any sign of foreign sponsorship for 
   U.S.-based computer hacking activities, and for any 
   indication that foreign organized crime figures are 
   becoming involved in attacks on computers at U.S. financial 
   institutions. 
 
   The Defense Intelligence Agency, moreover, is trying to 
   develop a way to predict a major "information warfare 
   attack" against the United States, Deutch said. 
 
   One obstacle is that banks and other private institutions 
   have been reluctant to divulge any evidence of computer 
   intrusions for fear that it will leak and erode the 
   confidence of their customers. Deutch said "the situation 
   is improving" but that more cooperation was needed from 
   major corporations, and said the CIA remains willing to 
   share information with such firms about the risks they 
   might face. 
 
   Although he declined to cite any specific examples of 
   computer warfare, Deutch said he would list it as the 
   second most worrisome threat to U.S. national security -- 
   just below the threat posed by foreign chemical, nuclear, 
   and biological arms. 
 
   In answer to a question from Senator Sam Nunn (D Ga.) about 
   whether the government was aware of the danger, Deutch 
   said, "I don't know whether we will face an electronic 
   Pearl Harbor, but we will have, I'm sure, some very 
   unpleasant circumstances in this area or our allies 
   will.... I'm certainly prepared to predict some very, very 
   large and uncomfortable incidents in this area." 
 
   [End]  
 
 
   Final notice:  Wash Post on the Web at: 
 
        http://www.washingtonpost.com