No Worries? Here In Mesa > AZ Cyber Warfare Range

A simple definition of Cyber Warfare would be ‘ the use of hacking or other unethical methods to attack a specific target on the internet, with an aim to cause disruption or damage’ but the vast scope of this topic cannot be restricted to this simple sentence because it makes it rather problematic. The ethical standpoints? How can one become a target in a virtual world? What damages are we talking about?

The internet, like any society, is characterized by political rivalry – which is perhaps the largest area of Cyberwarfare.
It is marked by the actions and reactions of a nation-state or an international organization, who are at constant rivalry and attempt to disrupt and damage each other’s networks
just take a look at the incredible amount or records leaked in 2016 in this chart: 3.1 billion records leaked in data breaches and cyber attacks in 2016
Source: https://infogr.am/
This was a news story six days ago on KJZZ
Hackers Take Aim At The Arizona Cyber Warfare Range

By  Matthew Casey 

Published: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 - 5:00am

Updated: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 - 2:13pm

Source: KJZZ

Budding hackers huddle in a secure, windowless room as they gulp energy drinks and munch on pizza. Their job is to unleash cyber attacks on the millions of dollars worth of computer equipment at the Arizona Cyber Warfare Range. The goal is to break the gear, so they can learn how to protect it.

“In order to defend yourself from cyber attacks, you need to know the methods and techniques that cybercriminals are utilizing in programs to help defend yourself,” said Joshua Harp, who’s volunteered for years at the Range.

• Russian hackers tried to influence the 2016 presidential election.
• The Chinese may have stolen millions of Social Security numbers.
• Experts warn incidents like these show the United States is losing the cyberwar.

The Arizona Cyber Warfare Range is a Mesa-based nonprofit seeking to turn the tide by training warriors to defend against hacks. 
Operational Partners include AZ Labs leased from and owned by the City of Mesa, ACTRA AZ and several more coming soon.
On June 23, 2011, the Mesa, AZ City Council approved an Interim Lease with the United States Air Force for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and a property management/business assistance agreement with Alion Science and Technology. 
AZ Labs retains the security protocols of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, in Mesa, AZ.
AZ Labs can support a broad range of sensitive projects, including conferences, workshops, experiments, prototype evaluations, distributed test and training with access to a highly skilled, DoD-focused workforce. AZ Labs the freedom to innovate in privacy.
Privacy is provided in the form of secure workspaces with access to restricted airspace, ideally positioned to accommodate the sensitive research programs.                

AZ Labs can support a broad range of sensitive projects, including conferences, workshops, experiments, prototype evaluations, distributed test and training with access to a highly skilled, DoD-focused workforce.

- Dane Mullenix, Director on http://www.azlabs.org/

AZ Labs is managed by Alion Science and Technology for the City of Mesa, AZ.
Alion is a technology solution company delivering technical expertise & operational support to the Department of Defense, civilian government agencies & commercial customers.
Visit the Alion website for more details - www.alionscience.com

LOCATION
Adjacent to Arizona State University Polytechnic campus, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, & Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Mesa.
Close proximity to existing restricted airspace, & Military Operation Areas
Three 10,000-plus ft. runways, taxiways, parking aprons, & DoD fueling station within half mile

 

 

 

 

 

 

Features and Capabilities

The Arizona Laboratories for Security and Defense Research (AZLabs) is a full-service research facility, well suited for hosting sensitive research projects.
Encompassing 92,000 sq. ft., AZLabs can support a broad range of sensitive projects, including conferences, workshops, experiments, prototype evaluations, distributed test & training with access to a highly skilled DoD-focused workforce.
FACILITY FEATURES

• Engineered to the highest security standards
• Fabrication & welding shops onsite
• Access to robust fiber infrastructure that is secured, has high-bandwidth voice & data communications
• 24/7 onsite security
• Office furnishings
• Housekeeping, groundskeeping, maintenance
• Space for 250 scientists/researchers

AZ Labs has the potential to be the economic center of security and defense research not only for the East Valley but for the entire State of Arizona.

Now back to the KJZZ where it continues
But laws, like the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, make learning how to hack risky, Harp said.
The Range, with its cyber targets, gives people a place to gain these skills without threat of prosecution. It’s an educational environment.
“If I was doing what I did here, without the sanctions that I receive through here, it would mean prison time for me,” Harp said to KLZZ's reporter.

Cyberwar adversaries have a different approach to hackers, Harp said. They encourage them.
“Russians want to go to prison for the cybercrimes they commit because that means the Russian government will come to them with a job offer,” Harp said. “In China, if you show aptitude with computers, then you show aptitude to be part of their hacking team."
The Arizona Cyber Warfare Range works with about 5,000 hackers. Their skill levels vary from beginner to Jedi. A good cyberwarrior is a problem-solver and an adaptive thinker, said Range co-founder, Brett L. Scott. [seen on the right]

“Even though everybody says, ‘Oh my God hackers, big scary monster.’ The bottom line is we are an unclassified entity that allows people to come in and learn critical skill sets,” Scott said.
Scott started programming computers when he was 6 years old. His career path eventually led him into cybersecurity, and it wasn’t long before the FBI and Secret Service started coming to his lectures.
“I began assisting Uncle Sam with complex questions that they were not able to obtain answers to, but I had first-hand knowledge of,” Scott said.
By outlawing hacking, Scott said the government keeps cybersecurity professionals from understanding the weapons used against them. He warns that future generations face competition against technology that was invented here but may be stolen by other countries. 
“We are doomed if we do not very quickly generate a capable set of cyberwarriors to change our destiny,” Scott said.

The mood inside the Range doesn’t always reflect the high stakes Scott described. Inappropriate jokes are common. Sometimes the hackers act more like rowdy frat boys than stereotypical computer nerds.
Volunteer Joyce Vogt is one of the few women around. She puts up with this behavior because, at the Range, she can let her skillset shine.

“These guys are cowboys, right? For me, it’s really reinforced that I really like going into environments that are lacking in civility and lacking in structure," Vogt said. "And then standing up structure as part of my work."
There are lots of ways to hack a government, and public-private partnerships are particularly vulnerable, said Vogt, who owns a data analytics firm and a cybersecurity company, which grew out of her work at the Range.
“I think there is just a general attitude of, ‘It hasn’t happened to me. Who am I? Who’s going to want to hack into my network?’” Vogt said.
Cyberdefense is typically reactive. Yet the Range’s founders have compiled a list of global cyberthreats and built a proactive defense network. Vogt and her team plan to bring that to market. Because they think it’s the cybersecurity model that will play out in the next three to five years.
“Any traffic that’s accessing a network — we can run that against the larger database to be able to determine, ‘Is this already a known threat?' 'Cause if it is, we should stop them at the door,” Vogt said.

On Twitter > https://twitter.com/azcwr
Website: http://azcwr.org/
On Google+ https://plus.google.com/communities/109709683526296474584

Cyber Warfare in 2017

PART 1 of 3: The invisible Global Wild West

A Story in The Making

If you look back at the greatest inventions made in the last few decades, none becomes as significant as the internet.

Originally developed to help the progress of computer technology, the internet has since then, crossed numerous milestones of information and resource availability, communication, commerce, entertainment and globalization as a whole.

What if this online space is turned into a battleground, a space for aggressive attack and damage, misused by different players as a part of rivalry?

 

Techno Thirst