Cyber Attacks Target White House, Pentagon and South Korean Government Agencies

Cyber Attacks Target White House, Pentagon and South Korean Government AgenciesJuly 09, 2009   A sustained wave of Internet attacks over the past week hobbled key U.S. and South Korean government agency networks, including computers at the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department. Other U.S. agencies affected included the National Security Agency and the Homeland Security Department. Some private sites – such as the Nasdaq stock market and the New York Stock Exchange – were also attacked, according to news reports by the Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post. South Korea's presidential and defense ministry sites, and some banking sites were also hacked. South Korean intelligence officials say they suspect the source of the attacks was either North Korea or pro-Pyongyang hackers. But experts caution that it is too early to tell where the attacks originated. More often than not, it is nearly impossible to tell where such attacks arise because it is easy to electronically mask or falsify a location, experts told the Wharton Aerospace & Defense Report in a recent article. Security experts say this is one of the most widespread and focused attacks in recent years. Still, the attacks were considered fairly unsophisticated Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks, in which a massive number of personal computers are secretly commandeered to make repeated requests of targeted systems. Those networks, unable to respond to the large number of requests, simply fail. While many of the targeted networks were able to repel the attacks, some, including at the U.S. Treasury Department, were brought down for varying periods. All government agencies stressed that although their sites might have gone down, the institutions were still fully functional. While the public may not have been able to access the sites, agency workers were still able to send and receive emails, according to news reports. The Associated Press reported that it does not appear that the attacks targeted internal or classified files or networks. More insidious, or sophisticated, attackers are more likely to try to infiltrate systems to steal cutting-edge research and designs for the technology that give America a strategic advantage economically and militarily, the Wharton Aerospace & Defense Report article noted.

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