In a coded reference to China, the US Defence Intelligence Agency
has enlisted the help of the security firm Veridian in its efforts
to identify the potential threat to Department of Defence networks
"from computers located in a particular foreign country".
Former intelligence officials, who wished to remain anonymous, said
the contract with Veridian to analyse intrusion data and produce a
list of potentially threatening IP addresses was an effort to
determine the "level of activity" of China's information warfare
programme.
"They want to see if they can target a specific country and
determine if the intrusions are kids using China as a jumping-off
point or a government programme," said one former official.
At least 20 countries, including Russia and China, are known to be
developing information warfare strategies specifically targeting US
military and private sector data networks, according to recent DIA
and CIA estimates. However, officials say China has been
particularly active. The fear is that computer viruses and worms
unleashed by foreign hackers could wreak havoc on the US
infrastructure in the event of a military conflict.
One former official said the Department of Energy witnessed a
tenfold increase in intrusion attempts originating from China
during the recent espionage investigation into the Chinese-American
physicist Wen Ho Lee. Part of the Veridian contract calls for the
company to correlate hacking incidents with particular world
events.
The contract also calls for Veridian to study intrusion data from
"computers that show evidence of being under the control of people
in that country [China], who range from hackers to government
personnel".
The US Defence Department recorded over 24,000 network intrusions
last year, compared with 22,144 in 1999 and 5,844 in 1998. It is
thought, however, that most incidents remain unreported.
A report carried out by the Defence Science Board estimated that
the US government suffered a 2.5% slump in GDP as a result of
viruses during 2000. It is thought that Chinese information warfare
experts have recommended the use of viruses and worms as a means to
wreak havoc on the US infrastructure in the event of a military
conflict.
According to several former US government officials, the US
intelligence community is still some way from developing what is
known as the "cyberintelligence preparation of the battlefield".