However, GAO reported in 2018 that DOD was routinely finding cyber vulnerabilities late in its development process. As the 2017 National Security Strategy notes, deterrence today is significantly more complex to achieve than during the Cold War. large versionFigure 12: Peer utility links. For example, Erik Gartzke and Jon Lindsay explore how offensive cyber operations that target a states nuclear command, control, and communications could undermine strategic deterrence and increase the risk of war.32 Similarly, Austin Long notes potential pathways from offensive cyber operations to inadvertent escalation (which is by definition a failure of deterrence) if attacks on even nonmilitary critical systems (for example, power supplies) could impact military capabilities or stoke fears that military networks had likewise been compromised.33. As illustrated in Figure 1, there are many ways to communicate with a CS network and components using a variety of computing and communications equipment. By inserting commands into the command stream the attacker can issue arbitrary or targeted commands. Connectivity, automation, exquisite situational awareness, and precision are core components of DOD military capabilities; however, they also present numerous vulnerabilities and access points for cyber intrusions and attacks. Holding DOD personnel and third-party contractors more accountable for slip-ups. Once inside, the intruder could steal data or alter the network. 2 (2016), 6673; Nye, Deterrence and Dissuasion, 4471; Martin C. Libicki, Cyberspace in Peace and War (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2016); Aaron F. Brantly, The Cyber Deterrence Problem, in 2018 10th International Conference on Cyber Conflict, ed. Most control system networks are no longer directly accessible remotely from the Internet. The business LAN is protected from the Internet by a firewall and the control system LAN is protected from the business LAN by a separate firewall. The business firewall is administered by the corporate IT staff and the control system firewall is administered by the control system staff. An official website of the United States government Here's how you know. 23 For some illustrative examples, see Robert Jervis, Some Thoughts on Deterrence in the Cyber Era, Journal of Information Warfare 15, no. Threat-hunting entails proactively searching for cyber threats on assets and networks. What we know from past experience is that information about U.S. weapons is sought after. Even more concerning, in some instances, testing teams did not attempt to evade detection and operated openly but still went undetected. 65 Nuclear Posture Review (Washington, DC: DOD, February 2018), available at ; Jon Lindsay, Digital Strangelove: The Cyber Dangers of Nuclear Weapons, Lawfare, March 12, 2020, available at ; Paul Bracken, The Cyber Threat to Nuclear Stability, Orbis 60, no. KSAT ID. However, the credibility conundrum manifests itself differently today. 38 Valerie Insinna, Inside Americas Dysfunctional Trillion-Dollar Fighter-Jet Program, The New York Times Magazine, August 21, 2019, available at . Moreover, some DOD operators did not even know the system had been compromised: [U]nexplained crashes were normal for the system, and even when intrusion detection systems issued alerts, [this] did not improve users awareness of test team activities because . Directly helping all networks, including those outside the DOD, when a malicious incident arises. An attacker could also chain several exploits together . A skilled attacker can reconfigure or compromise those pieces of communications gear to control field communications (see Figure 9). It may appear counter-intuitive to alter a solution that works for business processes. 32 Erik Gartzke and Jon R. Lindsay, Thermonuclear Cyberwar, Journal of Cybersecurity 3, no. Most PLCs, protocol converters, or data acquisition servers lack even basic authentication. large versionFigure 7: Dial-up access to the RTUs. Joint Force Quarterly 102. In the FY21 NDAA, Congress incorporated elements of this recommendation, directing the Secretary of Defense to institutionalize a recurring process for cybersecurity vulnerability assessments that take[s] into account upgrades or other modifications to systems and changes in the threat landscape.61 Importantly, Congress recommended that DOD assign a senior official responsibilities for overseeing and managing this processa critical step given the decentralization of oversight detailed hereinthus clarifying the National Security Agencys Cybersecurity Directorates role in supporting this program.62 In a different section of the FY21 NDAA, Congress updated language describing the Principal Cyber Advisors role within DOD as the coordinating authority for cybersecurity issues relating to the defense industrial base, with specific responsibility to synchronize, harmonize, de-conflict, and coordinate all policies and programs germane to defense industrial base cybersecurity, including acquisitions and contract enforcement on matters pertaining to cybersecurity.63. Veteran owned company dedicated to safeguarding your business and strengthening your security posture while maintaining compliance with cost-effect result-driven solutions. For example, China is the second-largest spender on research and development (R&D) after the United States, accounting for 21 percent of the worlds total R&D spending in 2015. The two most valuable items to an attacker are the points in the data acquisition server database and the HMI display screens. The Defense Department is in the stages of improving the cyber security of the weapon systems it develops and the vulnerabilities of these systems are made worse due to their complexity, warns a new report by congressional auditors. Specifically, DOD could develop a campaign plan for a threat-hunting capability that takes a risk-based approach to analyzing threat intelligence and assessing likely U.S. and allied targets of adversary interest. 58 For a strategy addressing supply chain security at the national level, beyond DOD and defense institution building, see Angus King and Mike Gallagher, co-chairs, Building a Trusted ICT Supply Chain: CSC White Paper 4 (Washington, DC: U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, October 2020), available at . Simply put, ensuring your systems are compliant, and setting up control in place are often the best efforts a company can make to protect its systems from cyberattacks. The literature on nuclear deterrence theory is extensive. Cyber criminals consistently target businesses in an attempt to weaken our nation's supply chain, threaten our national security, and endanger the American way of life. Hall, eds., The Limits of Coercive Diplomacy (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994), for a more extensive list of success criteria. All of the above 4. Koch and Golling, Weapons Systems and Cyber Security, 191. For example, as a complement to institutionalizing a continuous process for DOD to assess the cyber vulnerabilities of weapons systems, the department could formalize a capacity for continuously seeking out and remediating cyber threats across the entire enterprise. The commission proposed Congress amend Section 1647 of the FY16 NDAA (which, as noted, was amended in the FY20 NDAA) to include a requirement for DOD to annually assess major weapons systems vulnerabilities. The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. Therefore, while technologically advanced U.S. military capabilities form the bedrock of its military advantage, they also create cyber vulnerabilities that adversaries can and will undoubtedly use to their strategic advantage. This article recommends the DoD adopt an economic strategy called the vulnerability market, or the market for zero-day exploits, to enhance system Information Assurance. 41 Weapon Systems Cybersecurity: DOD Just Beginning to Grapple with Scale of Vulnerabilities, GAO-19-128 (Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office, 2018), available at . . Nearly all modern databases allow this type of attack if not configured properly to block it. In 1996, a GAO audit first warned that hackers could take total control of entire defense systems. ; Erica D. Borghard and Shawn W. Lonergan, The Logic of Coercion in Cyberspace,. If cybersecurity requirements are tacked on late in the process, or after a weapons system has already been deployed, the requirements are far more difficult and costly to address and much less likely to succeed.53 In 2016, DOD updated the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS), establishing cybersecurity requirements for defense contractors based on standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. By far the most common architecture is the two-firewall architecture (see Figure 3). Actionable information includes potential system vulnerabilities, demonstrated means of exploitation of those vulnerabilities . Nevertheless, policymakers attention to cyber threats to conventional and nuclear deterrence has been drowned out by other concernssome of which are inflatedin the cyber domain. Often it is the responsibility of the corporate IT department to negotiate and maintain long-distance communication lines. Heartbleed came from community-sourced code. Managing Clandestine Military Capabilities in Peacetime Competition, International Security 44, no. The objective would be to improve the overall resilience of the systems as well as to identify secondary and tertiary dependencies, with a focus on rapid remediation of identified vulnerabilities. Given the extraordinarily high consequence of a successful adversary cyber-enabled information operation against nuclear command and control decisionmaking processes, DOD should consider developing a comprehensive training and educational requirement for relevant personnel to identify and report potential activity. CISA and its partners, through the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, are responding to active, widespread exploitation of a critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability ( CVE-2021-44228) in Apache's Log4j software library, versions 2.0-beta9 to 2.14.1, known as "Log4Shell." (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990); Richard K. Betts. Around 68% of companies have been said to experience at least one endpoint attack that compromised their data or infrastructure. See James D. Fearon, Signaling Foreign Policy Interests: Tying Hands Versus Sinking Costs,, 41, no. The Government Accountability Office warned in a report issued today that the Defense Department "faces mounting challenges in protecting its weapons systems from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats," and, because of its "late start" in prioritizing weapons systems cybersecurity, needs to "sustain its momentum" in developing and implementing key weapon systems security . Such devices should contain software designed to both notify and protect systems in case of an attack. Streamlining public-private information-sharing. Dorothy E. Denning, Rethinking the Cyber Domain and Deterrence,, Jacquelyn G. Schneider, Deterrence in and Through Cyberspace, in. National Defense University In addition to congressional action through the NDAA, DOD could take a number of steps to reinforce legislative efforts to improve the cybersecurity of key weapons systems and functions. large versionFigure 15: Changing the database. Because many application security tools require manual configuration, this process can be rife with errors and take considerable . 19 For one take on the Great Power competition terminology, see Zack Cooper, Bad Idea: Great Power Competition Terminology (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, December 1, 2020), available at . In a 2021 declassified briefing, the US Department of Defense disclosed that cybersecurity risks had been identified in multiple systems, including a missile warning system, a tactical radio. Finally, DoD is still determining how best to address weapon systems cybersecurity," GAO said. JFQ. Automation and large-scale data analytics will help identify cyberattacks and make sure our systems are still effective. Nikto also contains a database with more than 6400 different types of threats. Furthermore, with networks becoming more cumbersome, there is a dire need to actively manage cyber security vulnerabilities. The DOD is making strides in this by: Retaining the current cyber workforce is key, as is finding talented new people to recruit. Tomas Minarik, Raik Jakschis, and Lauri Lindstrom (Tallinn: NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, https://ccdcoe.org/uploads/2018/10/Art-02-The-Cyber-Deterrence-Problem.pdf, Michael P. Fischerkeller and Richard J. Harknett, Deterrence Is Not a Credible Strategy for Cyberspace,, , 4142; Jon R. Lindsay, Tipping the Scales: The Attribution Problem and the Feasibility of Deterrence Against Cyberattack,. They generally accept any properly formatted command. 3 John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, Pub. Therefore, a fundamental issue is that both individual weapons programs already under development and fielded systems in the sustainment phase of the acquisition life cycle are beset by vulnerabilities. Recognizing the interdependence among cyber, conventional, and nuclear domains, U.S. policymakers must prioritize efforts to reduce the cyber vulnerabilities of conventional and nuclear capabilities and ensure they are resilient to adversary action in cyberspace. Essentially, Design Interactive discovered their team lacked both the expertise and confidence to effectively enhance their cybersecurity. Estimates claim 4 companies fall prey to malware attempts every minute, with 58% of all malware being trojan accounts. Cyber threat activity recommended to be submitted as a voluntary report includes but is not limited to: Suspected Advance Persistent Threat (APT) activity; Compromise not impacting DoD information Cyber vulnerabilities in the private sector pose a serious threat to national security, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said., Often firewalls are poorly configured due to historical or political reasons. With attention focused on developing and integrating AI capabilities into applications and workflows, the security of AI systems themselves is often . Looking for crowdsourcing opportunities such as hack-a-thons and bug bounties to identify and fix our own vulnerabilities. Misconfigurations are the single largest threat to both cloud and app security. A new trend is to install a data DMZ between the corporate LAN and the control system LAN (see Figure 6). But given the interdependent and networked nature of multiple independent weapons systems, merely assessing individual platforms misses crucial potential vulnerabilities that may arise when platforms interact with one another. There are three common architectures found in most control systems. large versionFigure 1: Communications access to control systems. An engineering workstation provides a means to monitor and troubleshoot various aspects of the system operation, install and update program elements, recover from failures, and miscellaneous tasks associated with system administration. This articles discussion of credibility focuses on how cyber operations could undermine the credibility of conventional and nuclear deterrence, rather than the challenge of how to establish credible deterrence using cyber capabilities. 34 See, for example, Emily O. Goldman and Michael Warner, Why a Digital Pearl Harbor Makes Sense . The added strength of a data DMZ is dependent on the specifics of how it is implemented. Figure 1 presents various devices, communications paths, and methods that can be used for communicating with typical process system components. These applications can result in real-time operational control adjustments, reports, alarms and events, calculated data source for the master database server archival, or support of real-time analysis work being performed from the engineering workstation or other interface computers. The Department of Defense (DOD) strategic concept of defend forward and U.S. Cyber Commands concept of persistent engagement are largely directed toward this latter challenge. 54 For gaps in and industry reaction to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, see, for example, National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Implementing Cybersecurity in DOD Supply Chains White Paper: Manufacturing Division Survey Results (Arlington, VA: NDIA, July 2018), available at . The operator will see a "voodoo mouse" clicking around on the screen unless the attacker blanks the screen. Most Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) identify themselves and the vendor who made them. 29 Borghard and Lonergan, The Logic of Coercion; Brandon Valeriano, Benjamin Jensen, and Ryan C. Maness, Cyber Strategy: The Evolving Character of Power and Coercion (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018); An Interview with Paul M. Nakasone, 4. 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