[ISN] E-games to test infrastructure security

From: InfoSec News (alerts@private)
Date: Thu Mar 06 2008 - 22:18:10 PST


http://news.theage.com.au/egames-to-test-infrastructure-security/20080306-1xnn.html

The Age
March 6, 2008

Australia will join global counter-terrorism war games to test the 
security of vital resources including dams, power stations, telephone 
exchanges and banks.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland will announce the federal 
government's involvement in Cyberstorm II.

"Governments that take national security seriously can't turn a blind 
eye to the threat of cyber-terrorism," Mr McClelland said.

Cyberstorm II will run from March 10 for five days and will also involve 
security officials and businesses from the US, UK, Canada and New 
Zealand.

"The exercise will be useful in identifying areas in Australia's 
national security architecture that may require further development," Mr 
McClelland said.

Confirmation of Australia's involvement in Cyberstorm II comes as the US 
Department of Defence ratchets up its concerns about cyber-terrorism.

"Cyber warfare is already here," Deputy Defence Secretary Gordon England 
said earlier this week.

"It's one of our major challenges."

"I think cyber attacks are probably analogous to the first time, way 
back when people had bows and arrows and spears, and somebody showed up 
with gunpowder and everybody said, 'Wow. What was that?'"

The first Cyberstorm drill in 2006 forced a host of international 
intelligence agencies to face multiple fictitious attacks at one time.

Washington's subway trains shut down. Seaport computers in New York went 
dark and a mysterious liquid was found on London's Tube.

The laundry list of fictional catastrophes, which included hundreds of 
people on "No Fly" lists arriving suddenly at US airport ticket 
counters, is significant because it suggests what kind of real-world 
trouble keeps allied security forces awake at night.

The $US3 million ($A3.22 million), invitation-only war game simulated 
what the US described as plausible attacks over five days in February 
2006 against the technology industry, transportation lines and energy 
utilities by anti-globalisation hackers.

Copyright 2008 AAP


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