The United States Air Force Cyber Command is dedicated to preparation for a war that will be fought in the electromagnetic spectrum, and that must defend against destructive use of computers used as military weapons. Terrorists and enemy combatants can use GPS and SATCOM, conduct Internet financial transactions, use radar and navigational jamming, and attack computer servers as a method of causing destruction and disruption of critical infrastructure: communications, transportation, finance, utilities, etc.

In Internet attacks, computer networks are hijacked to form botnets that bombard targets with random packets of data in huge streams, which bring down Web sites and entire corporate networks. These distributed denial of service, or DDOS, attacks are now routinely used during political and military conflicts, as in Estonia in 2007 during political fighting with Russia, and in the Georgian-Russian war last summer. DDOS attacks are also being used in blackmail schemes and political conflicts.

DDOS attacks in a worst case scenario could affect military communications, data transfer and the proper functioning of SCADA systems (systems that remotely monitor data and control devices).

A survey of 70 of the largest Internet operators in North America, South America, Europe and Asia found that malicious attacks were rising sharply and that the individual attacks were growing more powerful and sophisticated, according to the Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report.

The report shows that the largest attacks have grown steadily in size to over 40 gigabits, from less than half a megabit, over the last seven years. The largest network connections generally available today carry 10 gigabits of data, meaning that they can be overwhelmed by the most powerful attackers.

The Arbor Networks researchers said a 40-gigabit (typically the among the largest) attack took place this year when two rival criminal cybergangs began quarreling over control of an online Ponzi scheme —  a fraudulent investment operation that involves promising or paying abnormally high returns (“profits”) to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from net revenues generated by any real product or business.

Attacks on e-commerce sites are up. “Most enterprises are connected to the Internet with a one-gigabit connection or less. Even a two-gigabit DDOS attack will take them offline.”

Large network operators that run the backbone of the Internet have tried to avoid the problem by building excess capacity into their networks.

According to the Arbor Networks report, network operators said the largest botnets — which in some cases encompass millions of usurped computers — continue to “outpace containment efforts and infrastructure investment.”

Over all, the ISP’s reported they were growing more able to respond to DDOS attacks because of improved collaboration among service providers. Percentage of Internet attacks referred to law enforcement authorities has declined.

58 percent of the ISP’s had referred no instances to law enforcement in the last 12 months.
29 percent said law enforcement had limited capabilities to respond to cyberattacks
26 percent said they expected their customers to report illegal activities
17 percent said there was “little or no utility” in reporting attacks.

The Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report is produced annually by Arbor Networks, a company in Lexington, Massachusetts, that provides tools for monitoring the performance of networks.

More info …
Air Force Cyber Command — afcyber.af.mil
Worldwide Infrastructure Security Research Report — arbornetworks.com/report

Attached garage fire and house fire: Video of the fire scene on the 3000 block of North Kennicott Avenue.

Arlington Heights Police and Fire personnel responded to a house fire in the 3000 block of North Kennicott Avenue immediately after the 9-1-1 center received several calls of a fully-involved garage and house fire at 3:35 a.m. Sunday. Arlington Heights Police officers arrived within two minutes to help with evacuation of residents, but all five residents — two adults and three grandchildren made it out of the house safely. When police first arrived they were alarmed because of the extent of the fire and the realization they did not see any of the occupants of the house outside. They soon realized the residents were coming around from the backyard.

Flames were blowing out the windows in the garage and starting to extend to the second floor by the time the police and fire department arrived. The fire was so severe that a defensive attack with a delayed interior attack was necessary. Because of the extreme heat and flying embers in a northwest wind, neighboring homes were protected from exposure by crews from Palatine Fire Department, while Arlington Heights Fire Department firefighters fought the fire. Palatine firefighters, along with firefighters from Buffalo Grove and Long Grove also assisted with the interior and exterior attack of the fire. The fire was able to get through the roof of the living area of the home, but was knocked down in good time without the need of water from Buffalo Grove’s Tower Ladder Truck. The ladder-tower was extended in case overhead water was needed and was also used as a vantage point to monitor the extension and suppression of the fire. Long Grove Squad 55 supplied water to Buffalo Grove Tower 25. The fire eventually moved toward the rear of the house in the attic over the kitchen and broke through the roof of the house and directly over the door the family had exited previously. The heavy fire took about 20 to 30 minutes to knock down with another crew attacking the fire from the rear door and rear roof. Firefighters also pulled down the ceiling in the kitchen and rear eave with pike poles to expose the fire and completely knock it down.

At the start of the emergency, the homeowner happened to wake up to a popping noise and went to check on his grandchildren. He saw an unusual light toward the front of the house by the front door and realized there was a fire. He went to awaken his wife and grandchildren and decided all five had to evacuate out a back door of the house because flames and heat prevented an exit from the front door. The garage and one car inside was already fully involved and eventually the garage was totally destroyed, except for an east and south wall. The homeowner had the sense to move a car on the driveway out of the way, and then go wake up one of his neighbors — he was worried that his neighbor’s cedar siding exposed by the fire would ignite.

Simultaneously, another neighbor awoke to a popping noise and thought that someone was breaking in his own garage. He went to the window and saw the house next door consumed by a blazing fire. He also called 9-1-1 immediately.

No injuries were reported. The house fire was a dangerous fire to the residents and to firefighters. The severity of the fire increased the risk of collapse of walls and roof structures. The fire woke many neighbors who came outside in cold weather and were very concerned about the safety of their neighbor.

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