NATO calls in Verizon to secure networks

CYBER WARS

Cybersecurity risks in taking work home
Government officials who mix business and pleasure at home risk compromising cybersecurity as viruses picked up on entertainment sites can easily infiltrate secure workplace environments, a Pentagon official warned. The warning comes amid nationwide observance of National Cybersecurity Awareness month proclaimed by President Barack Obama. Obama's proclamation has triggered copycat measures by governments abroad that are alarmed by the rise in cybercrime aimed at government and financial computer systems worldwide. Pentagon officials stress that no matter what computer is being used, those using it need to take cybersecurity into account.

The Defense Department is one of the largest computer users in the world. Navy Capt. Sandra Jamshidi, director of the department's Information Assurance Program, said that if everyone did their part for cybersecurity, it would "filter out the low-level hacker type of attacks" and enable security experts to concentrate on professional hackers who pose a greater threat and "do the most harm to us." She specifically referred to people who use gambling, music-sharing or adult sites at home to beware of risks from malicious code infiltrating their computers and then ending up in workplaces. Everyone needs to take precautions, but computer users often inadvertently carry viruses back and forth between home and work computers, the captain said. Users of home systems need to have firewalls, anti-spyware and anti-virus programs up and running, and they need to constantly update the defenses, Jamshidi said. She said users have a better chance of detecting something unusual on their computers and understanding what is normal for the computer and the software they use.

"If we raise awareness of what could happen, then maybe we're raising the awareness of detection," she said. Computer users need to understand that nothing remains static in cyberspace. "The threats change, the software changes, the sophistication of the threat changes," she said. "We also change the way we defend. It's a persistent threat, and (hackers) will look for other ways to attack. If you had computer defenses that worked two years ago, they won't work today." She likened the Internet to a large city, overall a safe area but safest on the main street. "But any city has dark streets and back alleys," she said. "If you are going to be out in the riskier parts of the Internet, then you have to have better defenses on your computer," she said. Better yet, she added, stay out of those parts of town. Obama in his proclamation called the digital infrastructure a strategic national asset. "Protecting this infrastructure is a national security priority, and in the process, we will ensure that these networks are comprehensive, trustworthy and resilient," he said. (AFP Report)

by Staff Writers
Ashburn, Va. (UPI) Oct 20, 2009
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has called in Verizon Business to strengthen the security of its sprawling international networks amid rising concerns throughout the Western Hemisphere over cybercrime and amateur and organized hacking of sensitive computer systems.

NATO granted Verizon Business a $5 million contract to start work on securing its vast and complex networks that radiate from the organization headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, across Europe and North America and many points beyond.

NATO networks have been expanding since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 right across what used to the Warsaw Pact region.

More recently, NATO networks have expanded to Asian geographical regions, including countries the organization considers suspect or hostile, because of NATO's involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

The Obama administration declared October a Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but European attitudes to cybercrime show few signs of a practical or comprehensive response to cybercrime, analysts said.

Numerous publicized examples of neglectful loss of sensitive data, financial fraud and identity theft throughout the NATO region point to serious underlying problems the military security establishment seems reluctant to discuss, analysts said.

The Verizon contract is for a two-year period, open to extension for another year, and will be carried out with focus on helping the NATO Command, Control and Communications Agency strengthen NATO's network security. As part of the deal, NC3A has been promised a package of networking and security services, Verizon said.

The C3 agency provides the alliance with consulting, command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance -- operations that require extensive online interaction.

The work will be carried out mainly by Verizon Cybertrust Security in Belgium, a Verizon unit, and will involve establishing "a highly resilient virtual private network for approximately 30 locations on the agency's existing network," Verizon said.

The company will provide secure gateways to and from the Internet as well as the Public Key Infrastructure encryption for users on the network.

NATO was founded 50 years ago to fulfill the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty and now includes 28 countries in North America and Europe. The treaty, signed in Washington on April 4, 1949, aims "to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization" of member countries, even when the mission extends beyond European borders, as in the case of Afghanistan.

"Because of its international makeup and special mission, NATO has a unique set of security requirements," said Susan Zeleniak, group president of Verizon Federal.

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications, based in Ashburn, Va., provides managed security services to governments around the world and is the largest provider of communications services to the U.S. government.

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CYBER WARS

US commander urges 'aggressive' steps against cyber attacks
Seoul (AFP) Oct 19, 2009
The United States and South Korea must take "aggressive steps" to safeguard their military computer networks from increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks, a US commander said Monday. Even a brief loss of digital connectivity could prove devastating in the event of conflict, Lieutenant General Jeffrey Remington, commander of the US air force in South Korea, told a forum in Seoul. ... read more

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