Hacker in chief: Obama given right to launch 'preemptive' cyberattacks
RT,
4
February, 2013
A
secret review has concluded that US President Obama has the authority
to launch a preemptive cyber attack on any country on the basis that
they are considered a ‘cyber threat’ – even if there is no
concrete evidence of this threat.
It
may not be long before the US conducts crippling attacks on foreign
soil with little more than a mouse click, thereby sparing itself the
effort of sending its military oversees or declaring war.
The
Obama administration is currently drawing up a set of rules about how
the US military can defend against or conduct cyberattacks, the New
York Times reports. The Obama administration is also allowing
intelligence agencies to declare potential threats. But even if these
threats are nothing more than a suspicion without evidence, the
military now has the authority to attack foreign nations, regardless
of whether or not the US is involved in a conflict with them.
This
would not only spare the US from sending its own troops overseas, but
it would also allow the administration to make decisions without the
deliberation that usually occurs before sending Americans into a
conflict zone. And if the administration conducts an attack based on
false premises, it would be saved the embarrassment that occurred
when President George W. Bush sent thousands of US troops into a war
with Iraq that lasted nearly 9 years, based on the false premise that
Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and was a security threat.
With
no overseas deployments necessary to conduct a cyberattack, the
administration would have nothing to lose by anonymously targeting
and destroying infrastructure based on its own suspicions of a
threat. The administration’s new rules would also allow the
military to operate domestically, the thought of which has always
made many people uncomfortable. The White House in
October signed a
presidential policy directive that aims to “finalize
new rules of engagement that would guide commanders when and how the
military can go outside government networks to prevent a cyberattack
that could cause significant destruction or casualties.”
A
senior administration official told the Times that the US has so far
kept its cyber capabilities restrained and that the new rules could
allow the administration to exercise its full potential.
“There
are levels of cyberwarfare that are far more aggressive than anything
that has been used or recommended to be done,” the
official said.
The
administration has already used computer worms to cripple other
countries’ infrastructure, including a series of attacks against
Iran’s nuclear power plants, one of which took out nearly 1,000 of
the 5,000 centrifuges of the Natanz plant. The attack was controlled
from inside the Pentagon, which now has a new Cyber Command and a
growing budget that would allow it to conduct more extensive
cyberattacks.
The
Pentagon’s foundation of such an office demonstrates the
administration’s preparation for cyberwarfare, in which both the US
and terrorists can strike each other by taking down power grids,
financial systems and communications networks. The Cyber Command
office is experiencing a growing budget, while the Department of
Defense is preparing for spending cuts and is slashing budgets for
other Pentagon departments, indicating the importance of its work to
the administration.
The
rules have been in development for nearly two years, but they were
leaked to the Times at a convenient moment for the administration:
The New York Times, Bloomberg L.P., the Wall Street Journal and the
Washington Post all claim that their computers have been penetrated
by Chinese hackers and had been targeted for years. The computer
security company Mandiant also alleged that Chinese hackers had
stolen contacts, information and files from more than 30 US newspaper
journalists and executives, many of which had written about Chinese
leaders and political and legal issues in China.
But
the Chinese Ministry of National Defense has denied that its people
had anything to do with the suspected attacks, stating that “Chinese
laws prohibit any action including hacking that damages Internet
security.” The
ministry also expressed anger about the accusations, stating that “to
accuse the Chinese military of launching cyberattacks without solid
proof is unprofessional and baseless.”
“We
have seen over the last years an increase in not only the hacking
attempts on government institutions but also nongovernmental ones,”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters on Thursday,
emphasizing that the Chinese “are
not the only people who are hacking us.”
The
administration has also recently announced that an unnamed American
power station was crippled for weeks by cyberattacks, without
releasing details about the location of the plant. With little proof
about the alleged cyberattacks and the suspected threats, the White
House now reserves the right to make major cyberwarfare decisions,
despite Congress’ long-standing disapproval.
“The
[National Security Administration’s] cyber security operations have
been kept very, very secret, and because of that it has been
impossible for the public to react to them,” said
Electronic Privacy Information Center attorney Arnie Stepanovich in
November. “[That
makes it] very difficult, we believe, for Congress to legislate in
this area.”
The
Obama administration has long pushed for Congress to pass the Cyber
Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which would grant the
government greater access to the Internet and cybersecurity
information from the private sector. US Homeland Security Secretary
Janet Napolitano, claims it
is necessary to prevent a “cyber 9/11” attack that would knock
out water, electricity and gas, causing destruction similar to that
left behind by Hurricane Sandy.
But
privacy advocates have long expressed concern that this measure would
give the government access to Americans’ personal e-mails, online
chat conversations, and other personal information that only private
companies and servers might have access too, prompting Congress to
reject the measure.
Alongside
privacy concerns, the Obama administration’s increasing access to
cybersecurity information and cyberwarfare capabilities provides the
president with an unknown amount of power to conduct anonymous
attacks on foreign infrastructure.
While
using this technology to attack military objects, such as
anti-aircraft or missile defense radars in war zones, would not
surprise anyone, the US now also reserves the right to attack other
countries with which it has not declared war.
With
the US ranking first in a 2012 study that drew up a “Cyber
Power Index”, other nations whose conduct conflicts with US wishes
could become more vulnerable than ever – especially since
International Law allows countries to defend themselves against
foreign threats, and these “threats” can now be concluded based
on vague intelligence analysis of a 'potential' cyber attack.
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