Terabit death. Potential cyber attacks on virtual servers. US Department of Defense under threat

On January 11, 2018, the head of the US Department of Defense Information Systems Protection Agency said that at present the Department of Defense global networks are under constant threat, besides cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated and the technology of attacks often used against virtual servers in the VPS provider’s common infrastructure is improving. .

Lieutenant-General of the US Army, Alan R. Lynn, who in addition is the commander of the Joint Forces Headquarters of the US Department of Defense Information Systems Protection Agency, spoke about some interesting and unexpected discoveries that he noted during his work, starting with his appointment to this post 2015

Lynn said in Washington that the Department of Information Systems of the Ministry of Defense copes with defense, providing a high degree of reliability at all levels, however, the attacks that the agency had to face were so sophisticated that it really amazes and continues to amaze how well thought out, sophisticated and carefully crafted become cyber attacks.
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New attack "Terabit of death"

It's too late to ask the question “will it happen?”, It's time to think about the question “when will this happen?”.

A few years ago, a huge event was a 1GB or 2GB attack on an Internet access point - any website or VPS server would be disconnected instantly. Then it even became some kind of commonplace and now you can face 600GB / s attacks and other unique attacks and methods of attack that were previously difficult to imagine. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense is strengthening its defensive positions, because larger attacks are also expected.

Lynn said that the new type of attack, which is almost knocking on the doors of the American department, has already received its name - the terabit of death. Also, the lieutenant general assured that they are fully prepared to repel any attack, even so large-scale, because they are well aware that sooner or later they will face this, it’s just a matter of time.

Scale of US Department of Defense Networks

Another discovery that became for the lieutenant-general during his service was the span of the networks of the US Department of Defense. In his statements, he describes them as a “massive” network of 3.2 million people. And you have to find any way to protect or help each of them. After all, if we consider everything on a global scale, then something happens and happens every second of every minute, so behind everything that happens you need an eye and an eye.

He noted that the department needs flexible systems for the operational-tactical level of management in order to be ahead of the enemy, which is developing in a super-fast mode and does not have permanent deployment. According to him, there are some problems with finding solutions that could be scaled for the information networks of the Ministry of Defense. Commercial solutions that do an excellent job with small operations and problems may not always be suitable and effective across the global networks of the Ministry of Defense.

The Defense Information Systems Agency of the United States of America is primarily a combat support agency responsible for a multitude of networks. Examples include networks between unmanned aerial vehicles and pilots of unmanned aerial vehicles, or the F-35 fighter bomber (also called the “flying megacomputer”), which requires a huge amount of data and developed logical functions.

According to Lynn, the Agency for the Protection of Information Systems tirelessly introduces new IT development and features in order to always be on guard and have preventive measures to protect its users. After all, speaking of cyber attacks, one should not forget about the possible consequences of delay, which can have deplorable, and in some cases lethal results for some areas.

Are they afraid of Russia?

So far, there have been no comments from the Russian authorities about a new type of cyber attack. Maybe terabit of death is not terrible for us, and all this is the machinations of Americans to raise a wave of panic.

Nevertheless, we will not have false hopes, because cybersecurity in the Russian Federation is in its infancy. It is clear that the market for cybersecurity experts is stingy and is not in a hurry to develop on the scale in which cybercriminals are developing. The resonant attacks of WannaCry, ExPetr and BadRabbit left a deep imprint in the memory of users and were able to suspend the operation of huge companies, which caused millions in losses.

However, there are some shifts that may bring positive aspects in the development of Russian cyber security systems. Recall that Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the FSB to ensure the country's cybersecurity. The corresponding decree signed by the head of state was published on December 22, 2017 on the official Internet portal of legal information and entered into force on January 1, 2018. According to this document, the FSB of Russia has been entrusted with the functions of ensuring the functioning of the state system for detecting, preventing and eliminating the consequences of computer attacks on information resources of Russia - information systems, information and telecommunication networks and automated control systems located in Russia, in diplomatic missions and consulates of Russia .