http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080423/NEWS03/804230360/ By Ben Rubin The Journal News April 23, 2008 WEST POINT - A crew of about 30 cadets in fatigues huddled around banks of computer screens in a command center at Thayer Hall. Camouflage netting lined one wall of the room. For four days this week, starting on Monday, the cadets would need to protect a computer network of their own creation from the National Security Agency's Red Team, professional hackers working at the Fort Meade Army post in Maryland. Cadets would work day and night to keep their network running, as part of the seventh annual Cyber Defense Exercise, which pitted them against techies from the four other service academies. The academy most effective in protecting their network against the Red Team would win the exercise. "It's kind of an awesome experience," said senior Andy Wolfe, 24, who served as a cadet public affairs liaison. "The fact that we're here, we've established all the knowledge we have and we're standing up against one of the most professional and experienced teams in the world." The cadets won the exercise, known as CDX, last year and hoped that all their efforts would result in a repeat victory. As added motivation, the exercise award was put at the front of the command center so everyone knew what they were fighting for. "We did repeat in '01 and '02, so we're looking to repeat again," said Lt. Col. Joe Adams, director of the Information Assurance course. The scene at Thayer yesterday was a techie's dream. The room was well-stocked with Crunch 'n Munch, Mini Oreos and Smartfood Popcorn. Laptops and computer screens were lined up on long tables, with clusters of cadets working to protect different aspects of the network. A row of green bars on a projector screen at the front of the room indicated that the network was fully operational. Seniors John Trimble, 21, and Bruce Barnes, 22, were busy poring over data, looking for suspicious files and trying to maintain the network's active directory. "Right now, we have someone trying to log on and bypass our security system," Trimble said. "Right now, they've got their tentacles out and feeling where our weaknesses are." Soon after, the NSA operatives initiated a sudden multipronged strike against the network, and the cadets whipped into a flurry of activity. NSA hackers went after a weak link in the network they exploited on Monday, while they tried to sneak into the cadets' network at a few other locations. Within minutes, the cadets repelled the attack and breathed a collective sigh of relief, readying for the next fusillade. The first few hours of the day proved tougher than Monday's exercise, with the NSA hackers making much more aggressive moves against the cadets. "It started off pretty hot and heavy. They had a pretty good defense going," said Maj. Anthony Vitello, a Red Team hacker working as a mediator at the command center. "They're doing a real good job. They're on top of their game." The exercise goes on from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. After the NSA attacks stop in the afternoon, team members slave through the night - some even sleeping on cots at the command center - working to put the network back in shape to take another beating the next day. "I was here for 13 to 14 hours yesterday, and I was one of the ones that cut out early," Trimble said. Because most of the cadets are glued to their computers for much of the day, one or two cadets are sent out for a food run at lunch, or some just wait until dinnertime for foods that don't end in the letters I-T-O-S. "We're doing pretty well. We haven't lost service yet. We only got one breach," Wolfe said. "This kind of situation is exactly what we're facing overseas," he added. "So it's very good practice." _______________________________________________ Subscribe to the InfoSec News RSS Feed http://www.infosecnews.org/isn.rss
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