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Obama Computers Hacked

Hackers broke into the computer systems of the Barack Obama and John McCain campaign teams during the US presidential race and stole a ‘’serious amount of files” in an operation that US government cyber experts believe originated from China.

The Secret Service and FBI warned Obama and McCain earlier this year that their computer networks had been infiltrated by foreign hackers who downloaded large quantities of information from the campaign networks. “You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system,” an FBI agent said, according to a report in Newsweek magazine.
The report went on to say that technical experts speculated the hackers were Russian or Chinese. The FBI apparently told Obama the attack had not been carried out by political opponents.
US officials said they discovered that the cyber attacks originated in China but do not yet know if they were government-sponsored or from an unaffiliated source.
The incident was first revealed in a Newsweek report that said the FBI and Secret Service told the Obama team of the attack in the summer.
According to the article, Josh Bolten, the White House chief of staff, called David Plouffe, who was Obama’s campaign manager, saying: “You have a real problem … you have to deal with it.”

It is understood the campaigns then hired private cyber security companies to look into the breaches.

The Secret Service and the McCain and Obama campaign teams have made no comment on the alleged attacks.

Ironically, exiting president George W. Bush had just announced hours before in a speech that enemies of the United States could be working on a plan targeting the country as it makes the transition from one administration to another. It’s not certain if that was just a coincidental jab at the incoming Democrats or if Mr. Bush and his team are aware that a real threat is brewing.

Regardless, it seems Barack Obama, just days after being confirmed as the next president of the United States, has already been given a rude welcome.

Tags: chinese hackers, computer security, fbi, hacker, mccain, obama, russian hacker, russian hackers

Busted Hacker May Get Job With Cops

Nine months ago Whitianga teenager Owen Walker faced the possibility of extradition by the FBI for cyber crime. Yesterday he walked free from the High Court in Hamilton with the prospect of a career with the New Zealand police or an overseas computer company before him. In an extraordinary move backed by police, Justice Judith Potter discharged the 18-year-old without conviction on some of the most sophisticated cyber crime seen in New Zealand. Walker’s solemn, nervous expression gave way to a delighted smile as he heard the decision, while the small group of family and friends who accompanied him to court looked thrilled and relieved. Outside the court, Walker and his supporters had little to say about the decision and his future, but his mother, Shell Moxham-Whyte said she hoped he would remain in New Zealand.

The decision follows months of international investigation and the first prosecution of its kind in New Zealand. Prosecutions in the United States and the Netherlands have also resulted.

In April Walker pleaded guilty to six charges including accessing a computer for dishonest purpose, damaging or interfering with a computer system, possessing software for committing crime, and accessing a computer system without authorization. The crimes carry maximum sentences of up to seven years’ imprisonment.

Crown prosecutor Ross Douch acknowledged in court that Walker had gained limited financial benefit from his activities and although he had the ability to use his botnet for fraudulent activity, he had not done so.

He raised the prospect of a discharge without conviction in court and disclosed that the police were interested in using his skills.

Walker’s lawyer Tony Balme said a discharge would enable Walker to offer his very considerable talents to law enforcement agencies.

“If he has a clean record, he would be able to engage in that activity on the right side of the law - a poacher turned gamekeeper scenario.”

Through family encouragement, Walker had made considerable gains in terms of socialisation and maturity in recent months, he said. A psychologist confirmed that he suffered from mild Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism, but some of those symptoms had recently disappeared.

Justice Potter referred to an affidavit received from Walker yesterday in which he said he had received approaches about employment from large overseas companies and interest from the New Zealand police.

Walker’s offending was serious but fortunately stopped before it went too far, she said. He was not motivated by criminal intent or maliciousness but by his intense interest in computers and his ability to achieve amazing things. He had an outstanding future and a conviction would stand in his way.

Ordering him to pay his share of the damage to Pennsylvania University’s computer system of $9526, relinquish computer-related assets to the police and pay costs of $5000 at a minimum of $400 a month, she discharged him and wished him well.

Later Waikato crime services manager Detective Inspector Peter Devoy welcomed the sentence as a positive outcome and was unconcerned about the possible lack of deterrent. He declined to elaborate on any plans to employ Walker. It was a matter of potential interest rather than actual interest, he said.

National manager of the police’s e-crime laboratory Maarten Kleinjtes said Walker had some unique ability and was at the top of his Game.

Tags: computers, cyber terror, cybercrime, cyberwarfare, hacker, new zealand, owen walker

Government Web Hackers Arrested

Spanish police have arrested five young computer hackers who allegedly disabled Internet pages run by government agencies in the U.S., Latin America and Asia, authorities said Saturday.

The National Police described the suspects as belonging to one of the most active hacker groups on the Internet and said two of the suspects are only 16 years old. The others are 19 or 20.

On the Internet, the group calls itself D.O.M Team, police said.

One of the group’s techniques was to infiltrate Web sites and insert a page of its own, police said. A Google search turns up several hits with pages that fit this description.

The group attacked some 21,000 Web pages over the last two years, police said in a statement. The five were arrested this week in Barcelona, Burgos, Malaga and Valencia.

The statement did not identify which government Web sites the suspects are accused of tampering with.

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported in March that the group had infiltrated NASA’s Web page, but a police official said Saturday she could not confirm this. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department rules.

The group also hacked the Venezuelan national telephone company’s page, and that of the Spanish telephone operator Jazztel, among others, the paper said.

El Mundo said it had contacted the group and it described itself not as a bunch of delinquents, but computer-lovers that raid Web sites to show system administrators the pages’ vulnerabilities.

The Spanish investigation began in March after the Web page of a Spanish political party, Izquierda Unida, was disabled shortly after Spain’s general election March 9.

The five suspects did not know each other personally, but rather just over the Internet. They were in contact with other members of the hacking group, mainly in Latin America, police said.

Tags: computer hacker, computer security, crime, hacker, hacking, web hacker

Air Force Seeks Complete Computer Control

The Air Force wants a suite of hacker tools, to give it “access” to — and “full control” of — any kind of computer there is. And once the info warriors are in, the Air Force wants them to keep tabs on their “adversaries’ information infrastructure completely undetected.”

The government is growing increasingly interested in waging war online. The Air Force recently put together a “Cyberspace Command,” with a charter to rule networks the way its fighter jets rule the skies. The Department of Homeland Security, Darpa, and other agencies are teaming up for a five-year, $30 billion “national cybersecurity initiative.” That includes an electronic test range, where federally-funded hackers can test out the latest electronic attacks. “You used to need an army to wage a war,” a recent Air Force commercial notes. “Now, all you need is an Internet connection.”

On Monday, the Air Force Research Laboratory introduced a two-year, $11 million effort to put together hardware and software tools for “Dominant Cyber Offensive Engagement.” “Of interest are any and all techniques to enable user and/or root level access,” a request for proposals notes, “to both fixed (PC) or mobile computing platforms… any and all operating systems, patch levels, applications and hardware.” This isn’t just some computer science study, mind you; “research efforts under this program are expected to result in complete functional capabilities.”

Unlike an Air Force colonel’s proposal, to knock down enemy websites with military botnets, the Research Lab is encouraging a sneaky, “low and slow” approach. The preferred attack consists of lying quiet, and then “stealthily exfiltrat[ing] information” from adversaries’ networks.

But, in the end, the Air Force wants to see all kinds of “techniques and technologies” to “Deceive, Deny, Disrupt, Degrade, [or] Destroy” hostile systems. And “in addition to these main concepts,” the Research Lab would like to see studies into “Proactive Botnet Defense Technology Development,” the “reinvent[ion of] the network protocol stack” and new antennas, based on carbon nanotubes.

raditionally, the military has been extremely reluctant to talk much about offensive operations online. Instead, the focus has normally been on protecting against electronic attacks. But in the last year or so, the tone has changed — and become more bellicose. “Cyber, as a warfighting domain . . . like air, favors the offense,” said Lani Kass, a special assistant to the Air Force Chief of Staff who previously headed up the service’s Cyberspace Task Force. “If you’re defending in cyber, you’re already too late.”

“We want to go in and knock them out in the first round,” added Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, commander of the 8th Air Force, which focuses on network issues.

“An adversary needs to know that the U.S. possesses powerful hard and soft-kill (cyberwarfare) means for attacking adversary information and command and support systems at all levels,” a recent Defense Department report notes. “Every potential adversary, from nation states to rogue individuals… should be compelled to consider… an attack on U.S. systems resulting in highly undesireable consequences to their own security.”

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Tags: air force, computer control, control, cyber warfare, cyberwar, hacker, hacking, information awareness