WaPo releases details on US offensive cyber-ops

[John Young]

Bart,

An et al asks:

How cyber ops physically take place, the architecture and
engineering of the cyber architecture Snowden alludes to.
Computers and networks are small pieces compared to
where they housed, bunkered, trenched, drowned, aired,
emitted, lofted, arrayed, hidden. Those structures of the
infrastructure are as costly as the human power and
much greater in scope and necessity -- and immensely
targetable thanks to ostentatious appurtenances of antennas,
fences, barriers, sensors, stand-offs, chopper pads,
cafes, health and environmental inspections, power lines
and sub-stations, and not least loose lips of contractors
and disaffected employees.

We know the location of some of the principal offices and
HQs, but those are misleading icons, as much ruses as
as leaked budget tables, congrats for those teasing
leads BTW.

Specifics may be withheld to "protect operations and lives"
but that also leaves out how these systems function beyond
stupidly idiotic slides and dissimulative photoshops, which
may thrill and placate with top classification markings
governmental overseers reading public but are ridiculously
simple-minded to techies who are obliged to seance
dot connections of mouse to LAN to WAN to Internet
to hubs to hotels to White House to SE-WE-ME.

Care to share those kind docs we architects can
de-blueprint for you?


At 08:23 PM 9/2/2013, you wrote:
>Greg, et al -- I'm going to keep digging on US cyber operations, and 
>particularly on "computer network exploitation" and "computer 
>network attack." I'd be interested in theories, questions or 
>suggestions from the smart folks here as I think about my reporting 
>strategy. --Bart
>
>-----------------
>Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 12:44:04 -0500
>From: Gregory Foster <gfoster at entersection.org>
>Subject: WaPo releases details on US offensive cyber-ops
>
>Washington Post (Aug 30) - "U.S. spy agencies mounted 231 offensive
>cyber-operations in 2011, documents show" by @BartonGellman & @nakashimae:
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-spy-agencies-mounted-231-offensive-cyber-operations-in-2011-documents-show/2013/08/30/d090a6ae-119e-11e3-b4cb-fd7ce041d814_story.html
>
> > under an extensive effort code-named GENIE, U.S. computer
> > specialists break into foreign networks so that they can be put
> > under surreptitious U.S. control. Budget documents say the $652
> > million project has placed ?covert implants,? sophisticated
> > malware transmitted from far away, in computers, routers and
> > firewalls on tens of thousands of machines every year, with plans
> > to expand those numbers into the millions.