Homeland Security Issues
Warning about Potential Cyber-attacks and Civil
Protests
Cyber-hacking groups have gotten the attention
of the Department of Homeland Security, which recently
issued a warning about potential cyber-attacks
and civil protests from the hacking group known
as “Anonymous.”
The bulletin from the DHS National Cyber-Security
and Communications Integration Center warned
financial services companies to be aware of attackers
operating under the Anonymous agenda to “solicit
ideologically dissatisfied, sympathetic employees” to
the cause.
The group recently went on Twitter to persuade
employees within the financial sector to hand
over information and access to enterprise networks.
Though it seems such attempts may not have been
unsuccessful, the DHS bulletin warned, “unwilling
coercion through embarrassment or blackmail may
be a risk to personnel.”
The first attack, titled “Occupy Wall
Street,” is scheduled for September 17
and hopes to get 20,000 individuals to gather
on Wall Street to protest various U.S. government
policies.
The call for protest, issued through an Anonymous
video on YouTube, asked followers to “flood
into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens,
peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street
for a few months.” Similar rallies targeting
other financial districts are planned for Madrid,
Milan, London, Paris and San Francisco.
The DHS warning cited another protest may
be planned for October on the National Mall
in Washington to mark the 10th anniversary
of the American invasion of Afghanistan.
That protest, DHS said, may be followed by
Operation Facebook on November 11 in protest
of the social media company’s alleged
privacy violations, and by Project Mayhem,
which could bring physical disruptions and
cyber-attacks, scheduled for December 21,
2012.
The unclassified DHS document was addressed
mainly to those in charge of cyber security
and critical infrastructure protection and
warns that Anonymous brags to use new tools
in launching future cyber-attacks. One piece
of software that has caught the attention
of the information security community is
called #RefRef, which is said to be capable
of using a server’s resources and processing
power to conduct a denial of service attack
against itself, paralyzing the network.
SecurityOrb.com advises those who are in
charge of cyber security and critical infrastructure
protection to verify the integrity of their
organization’s security controls and
to increase logging capabilities with an
emphasis on analytic analysis.
Conducting security awareness training to
inform users of the situation, of their responsibilities
and of the appropriate use of company equipment
is also helpful
Cyber-hacking groups have gotten the attention
of the Department of Homeland Security, which recently
issued a warning about potential cyber-attacks
and civil protests from the hacking group known
as “Anonymous.”