DETROIT – A September ?Time? magazine article provides a startling glimpse into a world few of us are aware of, and yet one that potentially will effect us all. If I want to gain instant access to aviation-mission-planning systems for Army helicopters, or get a copy of Falconview 3.2, the flight planning software used by the Army and Air Force, I no longer need a top secret security clearance ? it can be picked up off servers in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Republic of China ? home to a shadowy criminal group known by the moniker Titan Rain.
And because of our current justice systems, with their checks and balances, we have effectively tied the hands of the FBI, so that they are unable to assist us in solving the problem.
The article, titled,?The Invasion of the Chinese CYBERSPIES (and the man who tried to stop them),? shows that if you want to help out in America today to stop those that can do the most harm to us over the Internet, you do so in violation of several laws and the public position politicians and those in power will take on the issue. Not too much incentive there for good Samaritans.
For his selfless (and curiosity satisfying) efforts to track down a group that had infiltrated Sandia National Laboratories, home of the US Nuclear Arsenal design center, Shawn Carpenter was eventually fired, when it had been discovered that he had been successful in tracking down those that had broken in and shared the information with the FBI.
Why a firing offense? By following the paths of the criminals, he knowingly violated laws that make it illegal for US citizens to trespass on computer systems outside the United States without their knowledge. He hacked his way along the path that his attackers took, gaining valuable information that he was then able to pass along to the FBI, who in turn used it in more than eight open cases they had.
During initial conversations, the FBI assured Shawn that the information was valuable, but because of the illegality of his method of attaining it, distance was put between the FBI and Shawn.
All this is fascinating on it?s own, but the real question we should all be asking ourselves is this: How much of our security, our intellectual rights, and the safety of our citizens are we willing to put at risk in order to make sure we are always obeying the letter of laws that were designed for protection of the very things being compromised by adherence to the laws? If change to our legal system is needed, how long should we wait to make those changes?
Titan Rain has been preying on a variety of high security US government and supplier systems since at least 2003, and we seem to be no closer to stopping them today than we were two years ago. Much of this is because there is no international cooperation from China, a country that is believed to be sanctioning the activity in its laser-focused pursuit of economic world domination.
Why develop what one can simply steal? The country is indisputably the greatest source of opportunity to capitalists around the world in the next decade, so a blind eye has frequently been turned from this copyright infringement capital of the world. This same attitude of ?possession is 9/10ths of the law? apparently serves well in all manner of intellectual capital ? especially what can be purloined over the web, the greatest gift to information thieves since magnetic storage.
Short of the legal adjustments that are necessary for our system to allow people to legally pursue criminals across jurisdictional cyberspace lines, what else can be done to remedy the situation we find ourselves in? This is an area where cooperation between the private sector and the FBI could be of inestimable value, yet one that has to be entered into, shall we say, ?delicately??
Let me know your thoughts on this issue, and what actions you believe are appropriate.
Hans Erickson is CIO for the Detroit Regional Chamber and a member of Michigan InfraGard. To send him an email, click on [email protected]
