超限战 – “Warfare without Bounds”; China’s Hacking of the US February 24, 2020
Posted by Chris Mark in cyberespionage, cybersecurity, Politics, weapons and tactics.Tags: AT&T, china, Chris Mark, cybercrime, espionage, hacking, PLA, Unlimited, Unrestricted, Warfare
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“Pleased to meet you…hope you guessed my name…But what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game.”
– The Rolling Stones; Sympathy for the Devil
UPDATE: On Feb 10, 2020 The US Government charged 4 Chinese Military Officers with hacking in the 2017 Equifax breach. On January 28th, the FBI arrested a Harvard professor of lying about ties to a Chinese recruitment effort and receiving payment from the US Government. The attacks, subterfuge and efforts continue against the US. Why? Read the original post form 2016 and learn about Unlimited Warfare.
Original post from 2016: More recently, the With the recent US Government’s acknowledgement of China’s hacking of numerous government websites and networks, many are likely wondering why China would have an interest in stealing employee data? To answer this question, we need to look back at the 1991 Gulf War. You can read my 2013 Article (WorldCyberwar) in the Counter Terrorist Magazine on this subject.
In 1991, a coalition led by the United States invaded Iraq in defense of Kuwait. At the time Iraq had the 5th largest standing army in the world. The US led coalition defeated the Iraqi army in resounding fashion in only 96 hours. For those in the United States the victory was impressive but the average American civilian did not have an appreciation for how this victory was accomplished.
The Gulf War was the first real use of what is known as C4I. In short, C4I is an acronym for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence. The Gulf War was the first use of a new technology known as Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The Battle of Medina Ridge was a decisive tank battle in Iraq fought on February 26, 1991 and the first to use GPS. In this 40 minute battle, the US 1st Armored Division fought the 2nd Brigade of the Iraqi Republican Guard and won decisively. While the US lost 4 tanks and had 2 people killed, the Iraqis suffered a loss of 186 tanks, 127 Infantry Fighting Vehicles and 839 soldiers captured. The Chinese watched the Gulf War closely and came away with an understanding that a conventional ‘linear’ war against the United States was unwinnable.
After the Gulf War the Chinese People’s Liberation Army tasked two PLA colonels (Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui) with redefining the concept of warfare. From this effort came a new model of Warfare that is published in the book “Unrestricted Warfare” or “Warfare without Bounds”. Unrestricted Warfare is just what it sound like. The idea that ‘pseudo-wars’ can be fought against an enemy. Information warfare, PR efforts and other tactics are used to undermine and enemy without engaging in kinetic, linear battle. Below is a quote from the book:
“If we acknowledge that the new principles of war are no longer “using armed force to compel the enemy to submit to one’s will,” but rather are “using all means including armed force and non-armed force, military and non-military, lethal and non-lethal means to compel the enemy to accept one’s interests.”
“As we see it, a single man-made stock-market crash, a single computer virus invasion, or a single rumor or scandal that results in a fluctuation in the enemy country’s exchange rates or exposes the leaders of an enemy country on the Internet, all can be included in the ranks of new-concept weapons.”
It further stated: “… a single rumor or scandal that results in fluctuation in the enemy country’s exchange rates…can be included in the ranks of new concept weapons.”
On April 15, 2011, the US Congressional Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations conducted a hearing on Chinese cyber-espionage. The hearing revealed the US government’s awareness of Chinese cyberattacks. In describing the situation in his opening remarks, subcommittee chairperman Dana Rohrbacher* astutely stated:
“[The]United States is under attack.”
“The Communist Chinese Government has defined us as the enemy. It is buying, building and stealing whatever it takes to contain and destroy us. Again, the Chinese Government has defined us as the enemy.”
Given the Chinese perspective on Unlimited Warfare, it becomes much more clear that what we are seeing with the compromises are examples of ‘pseudo wars’ being fought by the Chinese. It will be interesting to see how or if the US responds.
*thank you to the reader who corrected my referencing Mr. Rohrbacher as a female. My apologies to Chairman Rohrbacher!
HR 4036, the “Hack Back Bill”; Understanding Active & Passive Deterrence and the Escalation of Force Continuum. May 24, 2018
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A post on deterrence theory that is applicable to today’s environment and discussion on guns and school security
I wrote this original post several years ago but it seems to be more relevant now. As CNN reports HR4036…”…formerly called the Active Cyber Defense Certainty (ACDC) Act and informally called the hack-back bill – was introduced as an amendment to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) last week. Its backers are US Representatives Tom Graves, a Georgia Republican, and Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat.”
This is a bill that is sound in theory and terrible in practice. According to the Bill, (named ACDC) it would enable a company to take “..active defensive measures..” to access an attacker’s computer. This is only applicable in the US…Think about this for a minute. What is the evidence that I was the attacker of company A? Maybe (quite possibly…almost certainly) a hackers is using my system as a proxy. So some company can now attack my personal computer? What happened to “due…
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UPDATE; Enhanced Interrogation – and new CIA Director Gina Haspel March 14, 2018
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: 911, bin laden, CIA, EIT, Enhanced Interrogation, Gina Haskel, James Mitchell, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, KSM, Torture, waterboarding
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With the newly announced nomination of Gina Haspel as the country’s first female CIA director, there are some questions about her role in overseeing the ‘black sites’ where enhanced interrogation was applied to terrorists. There are also pundits from all sides (including Senator John McCain) coming out with strong words against Ms. Haspel. I would recommend that anyone with an interest in this country and this situation read the book Enhanced Interrogation by the man who actually designed, delivered and managed enhanced interrogation. It changed my view.
Like most Americans I was horrified at the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks that killed over 3,000 people. In the aftermath of the attacks, the US Government embarked on a mission to kill or capture terrorist leaders and stop another attack. One of the most controversial measures approved to gain information was called ‘Enhanced Interrogation’ and included, specifically, waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and physical coercion. When knowledge of this program broke, it caused an uproar in the US. In fact, the US Senate Intelligence Committee put out a report that called the process torture.
With the publication of Dr. James Mitchell’s (PhD) book Enhanced Interrogation, the reader finally gets a first hand look at the who, what, where, why, and when of the EI program. Before I purchased and read the book, I had some very pointed views on the idea of EI and waterboarding. Reading the book caused me to really think about what I knew about the program and people involved. The writing was great and the story was really insightful. I think Dr. Mitchell did a great job on this book and telling a very difficult story. Here is a great interview with Dr. Mitchell. If you have any interest in this subject, you need to pick up this book!
Into Infamy: A Marine Sniper’s War – Book Review (UPDATE on Joe Chamblin) November 15, 2017
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: Afganistan, Court Martial, Dead, Joe Chamblin, Marine, Rob Richards, sniper, Taliban, Urinate
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I know Joe Chamblin. He is a very, very solid man and a truly skilled Sniper. His ‘conviction’ was felt my most to be BS and the result of a POS Commandant that had never even attended OCS, or Bootcamp…that is right..he was a ‘transfer’ from the Naval Academy. Finally, some degree of justice was given! Joe’s conviction was ‘overturned’. Unfortunately, it cost him his career in the USMC but he is getting closer to justice….for those who don’t know..Joe is one of the Marines who famously (not infamously) urinated on dead terrorists…who would not want to do that!?
In 2012 a video was released that showed US Marine Snipers urinating on dead Taliban fighters. This 30 second video changed the lives of numerous Marines and was met with “outrage” from the Commandant of the Marine Corps as well as the Sgt Major of the Marine Corps (who was also a Sniper). One of those Marines, Sgt. Rob Richards died in 2015. Into Infamy is book written by the very platoon commander who was also one of those profiled in the video. Joe Chamblin is a combat veteran US Marine Sniper. This book does not talk about the event but talks about the tour that these Marines served in Afghanistan. Most people likely cannot imagine the courage, skill and training it takes to operate as a Marine Sniper. This book is as raw as it gets. You will understand first hand what these Marines dealt with on a daily basis and the toll it took on them physically, emotionally, and psychologically. This book gives a first hand account of the violence and carnage of warfare and the atrocities committed by the Taliban. For those who rush to judgement on these Marines…read this book. I would challenge any reader to honestly believe they may not have done the same thing. This book is NOT an attempt to justify any actions and doesn’t spend any time on the actual event. When you read about the war they were fighting it becomes much more real and understandable how the actions could happen. Overall….4.5 out of 5 stars! You can buy at www.IntoInfamy.com or on Amazon.com.
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