U.S. "under widespread attack in cyberspace"

WASHINGTON — While U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan engage the enemy with guns, tanks, airplanes and missiles, the Pentagon is quietly fighting a much different kind of war on a new front — cyberspace.

Military officials say that a cyber-attack by foreign enemies or terrorist groups could result in "an electronic Pearl Harbor" that would shut down electricity, banking systems, cellphones and other tools of day-to-day life.

A report issued Thursday by security-software firm McAfee said government-affiliated hackers in China are at the forefront of a brewing "cyber Cold War" still in its infancy.

Within two decades, according to McAfee, the scuffle could erupt into a worldwide conflict involving hundreds of countries attacking one another's online networks with sophisticated software.

McAfee said about 120 countries are developing cyber-attack strategies and most are merely testing them to determine the risks involved in certain tactics — though devastating international attacks could come one day.

Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of more limited cyber-assaults are already bombarding the firewalls of government computer systems daily, prompting U.S. officials and military leaders to declare the United States is already at war on the cyberfront.

"America is under widespread attack in cyberspace," Gen. James Cartwright, then-commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees the military's computer grid, told Congress in March. "Our freedom to use cyberspace is threatened by the actions of criminals, terrorists and nations alike."

As a result, the U.S. military is aggressively incorporating cybertechnology into its war-fighting arsenal in the same sort of evolutionary pattern that saw air power emerge from the early biplanes of the past century. All branches of the military have cyber-operations, and the Air Force is moving to set up a full-fledged cybercommand that will have the same stature as its other commands.

U.S. officials acknowledge that the computer-dependent military and federal government are threatened by virtually every malevolent concept of the cyber-age, from worms and viruses that aim to cripple or shut down networks to illegal intrusions that attempt to steal classified information.

"We're vulnerable every day," said Greg Garcia, the assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at the Department of Homeland Security, which is charged with overseeing cyberprotection for the federal government and the private sector. "Everybody is seeing some form of intrusion or attack."

The department received 37,000 reports of attempted breaches on government and private systems in fiscal 2007, which ended Sept. 30, compared with 24,000 the previous year. Assaults on federal agencies increased 152 percent during that period, from 5,143 to 12,986.

A worst-case attack could shut down computer command-and-control systems that run banking, water and sewer systems, traffic lights, oil and gas networks and nearly every other element of the public infrastructure.

The roster of adversaries in cyberspace includes foreign militaries and intelligence services, hackers who could be working in league with foreign governments, and "hacktivists" — hackers with political agendas. Terrorists, thus far, are considered only a limited threat, but they could become more dangerous as technically proficient younger members join the ranks, the Government Accountability Office said in September, citing the CIA.

The United States, with its multilayered systems and advanced firewalls, has avoided the type of extensive attack that caused widespread disruptions throughout government agencies and institutions in Estonia this spring. But it's not for lack of trying. Numerous assaults, most of them harmless, pound U.S. military and government computers once every several seconds, experts say.

"The Pentagon is probably one of the most attacked networks in the world," said Matt Richard, the director of the rapid-response team for VeriSign iDefense, a California-based firm that specializes in cybersecurity.

A limited attack on an unclassified system in the Pentagon this summer was traced to China, according to news accounts, but the Chinese government vehemently denied any involvement.

Some of the most adept hackers are based in Russia, Asia and Eastern Europe, Richard said. A freelance group known as NCPH is based in China and reputedly has at least loose ties to the government. A prolific group of hackers in St. Petersburg, Russia, which uses the name of a legitimate Russian business network, allegedly has ties to the Russian mob.

China has steadfastly denied it is engaged in any cybercrime and said its networks, too, have been targeted.

"China has also been attacked by hackers of some countries, so the Chinese government attaches great importance to and participates in the international law-enforcement cooperation in this area," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a briefing Thursday.

Liu declined to reveal which countries were targeting China.

The McAfee report, which included the company's research and input from security experts with NATO, the FBI and other intelligence outfits, said hackers in China are believed responsible for four out of five major cyber-attacks on government targets in 2007.

The biggest intrusions appear to have targeted a Pentagon computer network and government agencies in Germany, India, Australia and New Zealand.

"The Chinese have publicly stated that they are pursuing activities in cyber espionage ... they speak of technology being a large part of war in the future," the McAfee report read.

McAfee said there were more attacks reported on critical national infrastructure in 2007 than ever before. Targets included financial markets, utilities and air traffic control machinery, and the attacks were thought to have been launched by governments or government-allied groups.

Information about the McAfee report is from The Associated Press.