China can jam our satellites

[Martin]

http://today.reuters.com/misc/Printe...ARMS-SPACE.xml

China jamming test sparks U.S. satellite concerns
Thu Oct 5, 2006 12:47 PM ET

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China has beamed a ground-based laser at U.S. spy satellites over its territory, a U.S. agency said, in an action that exposed the potential vulnerability of space systems that provide crucial data to American troops and consumers around the world.

The Defense Department remains tight-lipped about details, including which satellite was involved or when it occurred.

The Pentagon's National Reconnaissance Office Director Donald Kerr last week acknowledged the incident, first reported by Defense News, but said it did not materially damage the U.S. satellite's ability to collect information.

"It makes us think," Kerr told reporters.

The issue looms large, given that U.S. military operations have rapidly grown more reliant on satellite data for everything from targeting bombs to relaying communications to spying on enemy nations.

Critical U.S. space assets include a constellation of 30 Global Positioning Satellites that help target bombs and find enemy locations. This system is also widely used in commercial applications, ranging from car navigation systems to automatic teller machines.

The Pentagon also depends on communications satellites that relay sensitive messages to battlefield commanders, and satellites that track weather in critical areas so U.S. troops can plan their missions.

"Space is a much bigger part of our military posture than it used to be, so any effort by the Chinese or anybody else to jam our satellites is potentially a big deal," said Loren Thompson, defense analyst with the Virginia-based Lexington Institute.

FRESH CONCERNS

Clearly, the incident sparked fresh concerns among U.S. officials and watchdog groups about the U.S. ability to determine if satellite problems are caused by malfunctions, weather anomalies like solar flares, or targeted attacks.

Air Force Space Commander Gen. Kevin Chilton said it was often difficult to know exactly what happened to satellites orbiting from 125 to 22,400 miles above the earth.

"We're at a point where the technology's out there and the capability for people to do things to our satellites is there. I'm focused on it beyond any single event," Chilton said.

Satellites are also vulnerable to man-made and natural events affecting their ground stations and the links between the station and the satellite, he told reporters last week.

Theresa Hitchens of the Center for Defense Information cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the Chinese incident.

Beijing may have been testing its capability to track satellites, not damage them, Hitchens said. "We don't know their intent, and we don't have the capability to know."

Hitchens also noted current technology made it difficult to identify anything smaller than a baseball in the orbits where spy satellites fly, a capability that needed to be improved.

At the same time, she said, the Pentagon would be prudent to use lower-cost and lower-risk systems closer to earth to do some critical tasks like surveillance and communications.

ANTI-SATELLITE WEAPONS?

Hitchens also emphasized that it would be extremely difficult to disable a satellite with a laser -- and even U.S. scientists had not developed a system to do that.

But there is growing concern among lawmakers about U.S. efforts to develop such anti-satellite weapons.

House of Representatives lawmakers tried to block a planned test of Starfire, a satellite and star tracking program, for fiscal 2007 after learning it could also be used as an anti-satellite weapon. The funds were reinstated only after the Air Force assured lawmakers it would be used only for tracking.

The Chinese incident also underscored the need to develop an international code of conduct for space. Currently, there are no specific rules or treaties governing behavior of the 40 countries that operate satellites, and about a dozen countries that have launch capability, Hitchens said.

[waltky]

Further assessment of Chinese anti-satellite technology...

United States military sees China threat in satellites
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - China may be just three years away from being able to disrupt U.S. military satellites in a regional conflict, a senior U.S. military leader said Tuesday, citing a recent anti-satellite test and other advances.

The warning came amid calls at a conference in Huntsville, Alabama for intensified efforts to ensure U.S. "space superiority" in the wake of China's shoot-down January 11 of one of its own satellites with a ballistic missile. "It is not inconceivable that within about three years we can be challenged at a near peer level in a region," said Lieutenant General Kevin Campbell, head of the U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command.

"That means taking out a number of communications capabilities over a theater of war," he added in a speech to defense contractors. Campbell later told reporters that while a number of countries have some capabilities to interfere with satellite communications, China is the one he is most worried about. He said its anti-satellite test in January was a clear demonstration of its ability to destroy an orbiting satellite.

But China also is developing satellite jamming capabilities and has made advances in computer network attack skills that point to a comprehensive approach to denying the U.S. military access to space in a conflict, he said. "It starts to add up that they'll have multi-dimensional capabilities to attack various systems that are in orbit today," he said.

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[waltky]

China and Russia spying on us...

Spy Chief: China, Russia Spying on US
WASHINGTON Sep 18, 2007 - China and Russia are spying on the United States nearly as much as they did during the Cold War, according to the top U.S. intelligence official.

Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, says in testimony prepared for a Tuesday congressional hearing that a law passed last month expanding the U.S. government's eavesdropping power is needed to protect not just against terrorists but also against more traditional potential adversaries, such as those two Cold War foes.

"China and Russia's foreign intelligence services are among the most aggressive in collecting against sensitive and protected U.S. systems, facilities and development projects, and their efforts are approaching Cold War levels," McConnell says in his testimony. "Foreign intelligence information concerning the plans, activities and intentions of foreign powers and their agents is critical to protect the nation and preserve our security."

The new law will also enable the intelligence agencies to identify "sleeper cells" of terrorists in the United States, according to McConnell's statement to the House Judiciary Committee. Congress last month hastily adopted the Protect America Act just before it went on summer vacation, propelled by McConnell's warnings of a need to close a dangerous gap in U.S. intelligence law.

More My Way News - Spy Chief: China, Russia Spying on US

[waltky]

Chinese espionage on the increase...

China 'pursuing aggressive spy program'
Washington November 16, 2007 - CHINA is pursuing an aggressive spying program to acquire critical American know-how for beefing up its military and industrial might, posing the biggest threat to US technology, a US Congress-appointed commission warned overnight.

"Chinese espionage in the United States, which now comprises the single greatest threat to US technology, is straining the US counterintelligence establishment," the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in a report to Congress. To underline the seriousness of the espionage problem, the panel called for immediate steps to determine the country of origin of every US weapon system components and a "full assessment" of US intelligence capabilities related to China's military. "The commission recommends that Congress require the Department of Defence to prepare a complete list of the country of origin of each component in every US weapon system to the bottom tier," the report said. The commission also asked Congress to consider providing additional funding for US export control enforcement and counterintelligence efforts, specifically those tasked with preventing "illicit" technology transfers" to China and its "state-sponsored industrial espionage operations".

Industrial espionage "significantly contributes to China's military modernisation and acquisition of new capabilities," the report said. Commission vice-chairman Dan Blumenthal said the panel found that the pace of military modernisation in China had exceeded official US estimates. China's defence industry, he said, was producing new generations of weapon systems with impressive speed and quality, in part because China had developed the capacity to integrate commercial technologies into military systems. "In addition, industrial espionage has given Chinese companies an added source of new technologies," he said at a news conference where the report was released. The commission also called for tightening of measures to protect critical American computer networks and sensitive information from damage caused by cyber attacks.

"Chinese military strategists have embraced disruptive warfare techniques, including the use of cyber attacks (which) if carried out strategically on a large scale, could have catastrophic effects on the target country's critical infrastructure," it said. A report earlier this year said China's military had successfully hacked into the US military computer network. The Chinese military's cyber-attack was carried out in June following months of efforts, the London-based Financial Times reported, citing unnamed current and former US officials. Officials had told the paper the attack was by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and that it led to the shutdown of a computer system serving the office of Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The report overnight also charged that China's "control and manipulation of information" made it difficult or impossible for officials responsible for product safety in the United States and other nations to identify potential safety problems in Chinese imports on a timely basis. Dangerous exports from China ranging from toys to seafood have sparked a wave of global bans and recalls in recent months and severely tarnished the made-in-China label. Beijing has taken various steps to contain the problem, and in July executed the former head of its food and drug safety watchdog for corruption.

China 'pursuing aggressive spy program' | NEWS.com.au

[waltky]

Thwarting Chinese cyber attacks...

Report Cites China's Cyber-Warfare Plans
November 20, 2007: Experts disagree on the potential effect of attacks on U.S. government agencies and private companies.

If the United States and China were to find themselves in an armed conflict, China is likely to launch cyber attacks on American regional bases in Japan and South Korea, and might even include cyber attacks on the U.S. homeland that target financial, economic, energy and communications infrastructures. According to Gen. James Cartwright, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, China is already actively engaging in cyber-reconnaissance through the probing of computer networks of U.S. government agencies and private companies.

Cartwright said the data collected from these reconnaissance probes can be used for many purposes, including identifying network weak points, understanding how U.S. leaders think, discovering the communication patterns of government agencies and private companies, and gaining valuable information stored throughout the networks. Cartwright's comments are part of the annual report submitted to Congress Nov. 15 by the U.S.-China Economic Review Commission.

"I think that we should start to consider that regret factors associated with a cyber-attack could, in fact, be in the magnitude of a weapon of mass destruction," Cartwright told the Commission, referring to the psychological effects that would be generated by the sense of disruption and chaos caused by a cyber-attack. However, James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the panel that cyber-attacks are more likely to strengthen the resolve of the targeted population than to cause real damage.

More Report Cites China's Cyber-Warfare Plans

[waltky]

Cyber war on the `net...

Government-Sponsored Cyberattacks on the Rise
Nov 29, 2007 : Governments and allied groups worldwide are using the Internet to spy and launch cyberattacks on their enemies, according to McAfee's annual report on cybersecurity.

Governments and allied groups worldwide are using the Internet to spy and launch cyberattacks on their enemies, targeting critical systems including electricity, air traffic control, financial markets and government computer networks, according to McAfee's annual report examining global cybersecurity.

This year, China has been accused of launching attacks against the United States, India, Germany and Australia, but the Chinese are not alone: 120 countries including the United States are said to be launching Web espionage operations, according to McAfee's Virtual Criminology Report, issued today and developed with input from NATO, the FBI, the United Kingdom's Serious Organized Crime Agency, and various groups and universities.

"Cyber assaults have become more sophisticated in their nature, designed to specifically slip under the radar of government cyber defenses," McAfee states. "Attacks have progressed from initial curiosity probes to well-funded and well-organized operations for political, military, economic and technical espionage." One attack against Estonia, allegedly carried out by Russia, disrupted government, news and bank servers for several weeks in April, McAfee notes. In the United States, a Pentagon computer network allegedly was hacked by China-based perpetrators in June, the McAfee report states.

The Internet is simply a great tool for gathering intelligence, both for world powers like the United States and China and small countries with limited resources, says David Marcus, security research and communications manager at McAfee Avert Labs.

More PC World - Government-Sponsored Cyberattacks on the Rise

[waltky]

Granny says dey up t' sumpin' sneaky...

Pentagon Says China’s Boost to Space Plan Poses a Threat
March 4, 2008 - China is developing the ability to limit or prevent the use of satellites by potential adversaries, the Pentagon said Monday in a report to Congress.

The report, the latest annual assessment of China’s military power, highlights developments in China’s commercial space program and asserts that some of it can be of military use. It says Chinese leaders have been silent on the question of a military motivation for their space programs. The report said “writings” by the Chinese military “emphasize the necessity of ‘destroying, damaging and interfering with the enemy’s reconnaissance/observation and communications satellites.’ ” Such writings suggest that those satellites, and navigation and early-warning satellites, “could be among initial targets of attack to blind and deafen the enemy,” it said.

China also appears to be developing cyberwarfare ability, according to the report. More broadly, the Pentagon report asserted that Beijing’s reluctance to share details about its military buildup posed a risk to stability in Asia. It said the international community had limited knowledge of the motivations, decision-making and capabilities of China’s military modernization. That ignorance includes a lack of clarity about China’s defense spending. Washington contends that Beijing understates military spending by tens of billions of dollars.

“The lack of transparency in China’s military and security affairs poses risks to stability by increasing the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation,” the report said. “This situation will naturally and understandably lead to hedging against the unknown.” The report places increased emphasis on concern about China’s space programs and potential for space warfare. It also said China was improving its own satellite capability, including construction of a new satellite launching complex on Hainan Island.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/wo....html?ref=asia

See also:

China Says Budget Will Go Up by 17.6 Pct
Mar 3, `08 - China said Tuesday that spending on its military this year will jump by 17.6 percent compared with 2007.

The increase follows a similar one last year. China has had double-digit increases in military spending every year since the early 1990s. Most of the increase will go to boosting salaries and to pay for higher oil prices, with moderate increased spending for armaments, said Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the National People's Congress.

He said spending would total $59 billion in 2008. Other countries say China vastly underestimates how much it spends on its military and the real figure could be three times as much as the publicly released figure. China has said spending grew 17.8 percent during 2007, to nearly $45 billion. It was the largest annual increase in more than a decade.

The 2007 figure put China roughly in the same neighborhood as Japan, Russia and Britain in defense spending, although it spends less than one-tenth of what the U.S. military costs. The Pentagon says China's real defense spending may be much more, because the official budget doesn't include major weapons purchases and other items.

My Way News - China Says Budget Will Go Up by 17.6 Pct

[waltky]

Our geeks fightin' back...

US reveals plans to hit back at cyberthreats
April 4, 2008 - The U.S. Air Force Cyber Command is developing capabilities to inflict denial of service, confidential data loss, data manipulation, and system integrity loss on its adversaries, and to combine these with physical attacks, according to a senior U.S. general.

Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYBER), a U.S. military unit set up in September 2007 to fight in cyberspace, is due to become fully operational in the autumn under the aegis of the U.S. Eighth Air Force. Lieutenant general Robert J. Elder Jr., who commands the Eighth Air Force's Barksdale base, told ZDNet.co.uk at the Cyber Warfare Conference 2008 that Air Force is interested in developing its capabilities to attack enemy forces as well as defend critical national infrastructure.

"Offensive cyberattacks in network warfare make kinetic attacks more effective, (for example) if we take out an adversary's integrated defense systems or weapons systems," Elder said. "This is exploiting cyber to achieve our objectives." However, this is a double-edged sword, as adversaries will also attempt to develop similar capabilities, especially considering the U.S. military's heavy use of technology, said Elder.

"Terrorists and criminals are doing the same thing. We depend so heavily as a military on the use of cyber, we have to be cautious about it," Elder said. "Cyber gives us a huge advantage, but adversaries look at our capabilities and see areas they can undermine. We need to protect our asymmetric advantage--on the one hand by having people further exploit cyber, and on the other by having mission assurance."

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[waltky]

Granny says dey in cahoots, dey gonna gang up on us...

Sino-Russia To Play Major Role In World Security, Medvedev Says
May 24, 2008 : Russia's new President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that the world cannot ignore his country's relationship with China.

Speaking on the last day of a visit to China at Peking University, Medvedev said on his first foreign trip as president that Moscow and Beijing are going to work together to shape global security. "Russian-Chinese cooperation has today emerged as a key factor in international security, without which it is impossible for the international community to take major decisions," Medvedev was quoted saying by AFP news agency.

"Maybe not everybody likes the strategic cooperation between our two countries, but we understand that this cooperation is in the interest of our people and we will boost it whether or not it pleases some people," he added. Medvedev, who was sworn in on May 7 this year, made a statement after he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday and issued a joint statement condemning U.S. missile defense plans.

China and Russia, who were rivals during the Cold war-era, have forged ties at different levels including political, military and commercial in the wake of single power dominance by the U.S. after the Soviet Union collapsed. To bolster ties between Sino-Russia, Moscow signed a $1 billion deal to build a fuel enrichment facility and supply uranium with China, providing a major boost to the country's emerging nuclear power industry

On the other hand, China is also important to Russia economically as the political analysts have projected the bilateral trade between the two countries to reach 80 billion by 2010. Meanwhile, Chinese President Hu Jintao has reportedly accepted Russian President Medvedev's invitation to visit Russia in the year 2009.

Sino-Russia To Play Major Role In World Security, Medvedev Says | AHN | May 24, 2008