Ciberguerra

The headquarters of Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. Photo: Getty Images.

InternacionalONU, ,

The recent revelations about the cyberattacks conducted by Russian military intelligence (GRU) in several countries did not come as a surprise. The UK and its allies have been calling for public attribution of cyberattacks coupled with, when appropriate, a series of diplomatic and economic responses, and even retaliation-in-kind. The thinking behind this is that attribution, coupled with sanctions initiated by a united front of like-minded states, could create a deterring effect.

However, these revelations also play into wrangling over cyber regulation at the UN level. Russia is planning to submit two UN resolutions later this month, one on a code of conduct to regulate states behaviour in cyberspace and one on a new UN cybercrime convention.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

Dirigentes políticos como Leon Panetta (ex secretario de defensa de los Estados Unidos) llevan años advirtiendo del peligro de un “Pearl Harbor cibernético”. Sabemos hace algún tiempo que posibles adversarios han instalado software malicioso en nuestra red eléctrica. Existe la posibilidad de un corte de energía repentino que afecte a grandes regiones, causando trastornos económicos, caos y muertes. Rusia usó un ataque de ese tipo en diciembre de 2015 como parte de su guerra híbrida contra Ucrania, aunque sólo duró unas pocas horas. Antes de eso, en 2008, ya había usado ciberataques para obstaculizar los intentos de defensa del gobierno de Georgia contra tropas rusas.…  Seguir leyendo »

La urgencia de tomar previsiones ante posibles ciberataques

InternacionalTerrorismo Internacional

Si te preocupa el terrorismo, he aquí una amenaza más grande para perder el sueño: un ciberataque generalizado. De pronto, la oficina se queda sin electricidad. Las redes de telefonía celular y el internet también se apagan, junto con los metros y los trenes.

Los caminos están atascados porque no funcionan las luces de los semáforos. Las tarjetas de crédito son tan solo unos trozos inservibles de plástico y los cajeros automáticos no son nada más que grandes pedazos de metal. Las gasolineras no pueden bombear combustible.

Los bancos perdieron los registros de las cuentas de los depositantes. Las puertas de las presas se abren misteriosamente.…  Seguir leyendo »

Internacional,

It is not a matter of if you will be attacked, but when. No organization, be those international institutions, government agencies or small businesses can ever be 100 per cent cyberattack proof, as several examples have recently indicated. Therefore preparedness, in the form of testing cybersecurity structure via different tools for any potential attacks, is vital for minimizing cyber risks. This is as true for the maritime sector and any other, since the outcomes of such an attack may vary from loss of revenue to environmental disaster and loss of life.

Testing, as a feedback process, is required for two reasons.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa, ,

Until 1994, GCHQ, the British signals intelligence agency, didn’t officially exist. Now, it has emerged out of the shadows to take a very public role at the heart of British cybersecurity.

Public accountability for intelligence services is crucial to any democracy but, as the recent WannaCry ransomware attack showed, there are inevitable conflicts of interest between the role of intelligence services and network safety.

The past seven years have seen a dramatic change in profile for GCHQ. While the number of police officers has been cut by 14 per cent since 2010, GCHQ’s staff numbers – according to the Home Office – have grown by more than ten per cent in the same period.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

Le monde est en guerre. Avec 5 millions d’attaques quotidiennes répertoriées, des millions de nouveaux combattants qui se bousculent sur le front chaque semaine, l’ampleur du conflit s’avère immense. Il s’agit bien sûr de cyberattaques et de virus informatiques mais, comme la technologie structure désormais nos sociétés, l’enjeu devient vital. La vigilance doit même être augmentée au moment où la voiture autonome – susceptible d’être hackée, elle aussi – va envahir nos routes. Si un pays s’est imposé comme leader dans le secteur, c’est Israël, où prospèrent plus de 400 entreprises spécialisées, un chiffre énorme rapporté à la taille du pays.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

While the specifics of Russia’s interference in the 2016 American election remain unclear, no one doubts that Moscow has built a robust technological arsenal for waging cyberattacks. And as tensions between the two countries rise, there’s a good chance President Vladimir Putin will consider using them against American interests — if he hasn’t already.

A cyberwar could quickly become a real war, with real weapons and casualties. And yet for all the destructive potential of cyberwarfare, there are precious few norms regarding how such conflict should be conducted — or better yet, avoided.

Cyberweapons won’t go away and their spread can’t be controlled.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

En una reciente encuesta a profesionales de ciberseguridad, durante su conferencia anual celebrada en Las Vegas y denominada ‘BlackHat’, el 60% de los encuestados dijeron que creían que Estados Unidos en los próximos dos años iba a sufrir un ataque exitoso contra su infraestructura de importancia crítica. Además, la política estadounidense continúa convulsionada a causa de las secuelas de la ciberinferencia rusa en las elecciones del año 2016. En este contexto se plantea la siguiente pregunta: ¿serán los ataques cibernéticos la tendencia inevitable que sobrevendrá en el futuro, o existe la posibilidad de desarrollar normas para controlar los conflictos cibernéticos internacionales?…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica del Norte,

Si hay alguna lección que debamos aprender de los sucesos del año pasado, podría ser esta: los hackers son gente peligrosa. Interfieren en nuestras elecciones, ponen de rodillas a corporaciones gigantes y roban contraseñas y números de tarjetas de crédito por montones. Ignoran los límites. Se deleitan al provocar caos.

Pero ¿qué tal si esa es la conclusión equivocada? ¿Y si estamos ignorando a un grupo distinto de piratas informáticos que no son renegados anárquicos, sino ciudadanos patrióticos y solidarios con el público que quieren utilizar sus habilidades técnicas para proteger a su país de ciberataques, pero que son obstaculizados por leyes obsoletas e instituciones excesivamente proteccionistas?…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

Reports this month that the United Arab Emirates orchestrated the hacking of a Qatari news agency, helping to incite a crisis in the Middle East, are as unsurprising as they are unwelcome. For years, countries — in particular Russia — have used cyberattacks and the dissemination of disinformation through social media and news outlets to provoke protests, sway elections and undermine trust in institutions. It was only a matter of time before smaller states tried their hand at these tactics.

With few accepted rules of behavior in cyberspace, countries as big as China or as small as Bahrain can be expected to use these kinds of attacks.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

The recent “ransomware” events created headaches and headlines — but also masked a greater cyber-issue: chaos and disruption on the Internet as the new normal. Earlier this week, in fact, the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a new effort headed by former U.S. national security officials, formed as a separate, nongovernmental program to investigate Russian cyber-meddling.

Previous cyber-incidents focused on information acquisition, network infiltration or precision strikes to sabotage the opposition. What are we seeing now are disruptive cyber-actions — with the apparent goals of signaling capability, disrupting normal systems and demonstrating the instability of Western democratic models.

Ransom is not the issue

A number of analysts described the Petya/NotPetya incident of June and the WannaCry event in May as ransom attacks, aimed at gaining as much bitcoin as possible.…  Seguir leyendo »

Internacional,
Tema

Los retos en materia de ciberseguridad demandan la adaptación del marco legislativo y la efectiva implantación de las medidas operativas establecidas en los Planes Estratégicos.

Resumen

Ciudadanos, empresas y Estados afrontan en la actualidad notables retos de ciberseguridad. Las ciberamenazas y ciberataques tienen efectos directos en la seguridad de las personas, la economía y las propias tecnologías de la información. Los gobiernos han desarrollado estrategias, políticas y legislación diseñadas para un contexto tecnológico y de seguridad que está cambiando muy deprisa.

Este análisis estudia la primera generación de medidas adoptadas para hacer frente a los retos del ciberespacio, su implantación y la evolución del marco legal europeo y nacional en materia de ciberseguridad actualmente en desarrollo, con el propósito de reforzar la confianza digital a ciudadanos y empresas, así como garantizar la seguridad de los Estados.…  Seguir leyendo »

Internacional

The three most important initials in the world of information are C, I and A. Not for the Central Intelligence Agency, whose abilities in both collecting and managing information are both legendary and overrated, but for confidentiality, integrity and availability.

We spend a lot of time worrying, quite rightly, about the first of these. Our medical data, financial records and log-in credentials are all vulnerable to theft and exploitation, chiefly by criminals. We need to be thriftier in providing immutable personal data (you will never get another mother’s maiden name, fingerprint or date of birth). And we should hold custodians of our details to much higher standards, especially in encrypting databases properly, and notifying us promptly when things go wrong.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo, , ,

U.S. investigators claim Russians might be behind some the hacking of the Qatar News Agency that prompted a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, but that seems unlikely given current GCC tensions and the homegrown nature of the cyber battle leading up to the spat. While the recent diplomatic breakdown between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors exposes the political differences between the Gulf Cooperation Council member states, it also highlights the emergence of new types of cyber and information warfare. Instead of the Gulf states simply turning their methods of surveillance and propaganda inward to their citizens, they could now be using these methods against one another.…  Seguir leyendo »

Internacional

A few weeks ago, organizations in more than 150 countries were victims of an unprecedented cyberattack which used the ransomware Wannacry, disrupting thousands of businesses and public institutions around the world. The global scope of the attack meant that in order to identify and catch the culprits a complex international investigation is needed. However, the existing international legal framework for cooperation on cybercrime is a fragmented one, with no single governance architecture, which complicates investigations and risks leaving the perpetrators at large.

Normally, perpetrators seek refuge in countries that provide safe havens where there are no, or insufficient, cybercrime laws to implement an extradition request.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

Diversos episodios ocurridos en los últimos años (entre ellos, las intrusiones electrónicas de Rusia para inclinar la elección presidencial de 2016 en los Estados Unidos en favor de Donald Trump, los ciberataques anónimos que en 2015 afectaron el sistema eléctrico de Ucrania y el virus “Stuxnet” que destruyó un millar de centrífugas iraníes) incrementaron el temor a la posibilidad de conflictos en el ciberespacio. En la Conferencia de Seguridad de Múnich celebrada el mes pasado, el ministro de asuntos exteriores holandés, Bert Koenders, anunció la formación de una nueva comisión global no gubernamental sobre la estabilidad del ciberespacio que complementará el trabajo del Grupo de Expertos Gubernamentales (GEG) de la ONU.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial,

“When sorrows come they come not single spies but in battalions“. Nunca tan apropiada la cita de Shakespeare. Las desgracias -y los espías- cuando llegan, no llegan solos. Cuando todavía estamos en plena digestión del mayúsculo escándalo que supone la atribución por parte de la comunidad de inteligencia de Estados Unidos de una indubitada responsabilidad a Rusia y a su presidente en los ciberataques que han tratado de perturbar la pureza del proceso electoral en las elecciones presidenciales de 2016, conocemos la noticia de que las autoridades de los Países Bajos han optado por volver al recuento manual de votos en las elecciones legislativas del próximo 15 de marzo para evitar el riesgo de ciberataques.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica del NorteEuropa, , ,

On Friday, we learned that we are witnessing new versions of what U.S. statesman George Kennan, in a then-classified 1948 memo, called political warfare: coercion short of war, involving a mix of overt propaganda and covert psychological warfare efforts.

That’s what we can take away from the U.S. intelligence service’s release of an unclassified report, “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections.” In it, the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA), collectively referring to themselves as the “intelligence community,” concluded that Kremlin operatives used cyber methods to achieve a clear objective: “to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.” The Washington Post and other news outlets have already covered details of the report, including the 11 key lines.…  Seguir leyendo »

Internacional

The recent malware attack on Saudi Arabia’s transport sector and other government agencies shows yet again that, despite high investment in sophisticated cybersecurity measures, cybercrime remains a major threat for the GCC governments and businesses alike. And with high mobile penetration rates, a large and growing number of internet-linked devices, and the governments’ supposed prioritization of “the digital economy”, this is a threat which is only more likely to escalate.

Coincidentally, just a few days after the Saudi attack was revealed, an international coordinated operation managed to successfully dismantle a global cyber-criminal network known as “Avalanche”. This was the result of four years of investigation and cooperation between police in 30 countries and agencies such as FBI, Europol, Eurojust.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica del NorteEuropa, ,

Last summer, cyber investigators plowing through the thousands of leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee uncovered a clue.

A user named “Феликс Эдмундович” modified one of the documents using settings in the Russian language. Translated, his name was Felix Edmundovich, a pseudonym referring to Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, the chief of the Soviet Union’s first secret-police organization, the Cheka.

It was one more link in the chain of evidence pointing to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the man ultimately behind the operation.

During the Cold War, when Soviet intelligence was headquartered in Dzerzhinsky Square in Moscow, Putin was a KGB officer assigned to the First Chief Directorate.…  Seguir leyendo »