DHS Asked Gas Pipeline Firms To Let Attackers Lurk Inside Networks 114
wiredmikey writes "According to reports, which were confirmed Friday by ICS-CERT (PDF), there has been an active cyber attack campaign targeting the natural gas industry. However, it's the advice from the DHS that should raise some red flags. 'There are several intriguing and unusual aspects of the attacks and the U.S. response to them not described in Friday's public notice,' Mark Clayton wrote. 'One is the greater level of detail in these alerts than in past alerts. Another is the unusual if not unprecedented request to leave the cyber spies alone for a little while.' According to the source, the companies were 'specifically requested in a March 29 alert not to take action to remove the cyber spies if discovered on their networks, but to instead allow them to persist as long as company operations did not appear to be endangered.' While the main motive behind the request is likely to gain information on the attackers, letting them stay close to critical systems is dangerous. The problem lies in the complexities of our critical infrastructures and the many highly specialized embedded systems that comprise them."
Wrong reason? (Score:4, Interesting)
Sounds like Fast & Furious (Score:2, Interesting)
"Don't check your customers for IDs. Just sell them and we'll track the criminals across the Mexican border." - This policy resulted in many, many deaths that could have been prevented by not encouraging stores to break gun laws and sell to criminals.
Now it sounds like DHS is trying the same stupid strategy. Read more here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2011/09/28/fast-and-furious-just-might-be-president-obamas-watergate/ [forbes.com]
Two possible source of attackers (Score:2, Interesting)
1. Attackers who are from abroad, or hired by foreign governments, seeking information on how to disrupt/destroy gas distribution networks in USA, in order to destroy USA.
2. Attackers sent by DHS itself, seeking ways to destroy/disrupt gas distribution networks in USA, in order to justify EVEN MORE URGENT FUNDINGS from the congress