(image via kokatu)
President-elect Barack Obama hinted on the campaign trail in Indiana where is defense credentials were being questioned by Senator Clinton that he would appoint a cyber-czar to focus on cyber threats and "strengthen our cyber defenses in the 21st century." That would be a good idea considering his die-hard supporters in Silicon Alley, which are a resource he could tap. Also, Newsweek reports, ominously, that both the Obama and McCain campaigns were hacked this summer by a "foreign entity." From Newsweek:
"At the Obama headquarters in midsummer, technology experts detected what they initially thought was a computer virus—a case of 'phishing,' a form of hacking often employed to steal passwords or credit-card numbers. But by the next day, both the FBI and the Secret Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: 'You have a problem way bigger than what you understand,' an agent told Obama's team. 'You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system.' The following day, Obama campaign chief David Plouffe heard from White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, to the same effect: 'You have a real problem ... and you have to deal with it.' The Feds told Obama's aides in late August that the McCain campaign's computer system had been similarly compromised. A top McCain official confirmed to NEWSWEEK that the campaign's computer system had been hacked and that the FBI had become involved."
Who would do such a thing? Russia, in their soft war against Estonia last May, employed cyberwarfare, their novel innovation. Obama technical experts think the "foreign entity" was either Russian or Chinese. Remember "Titan Rain"? That referred to the Chinese hackers that stole, in 2005, U.S. military secrets, including aviation specifications and flight-planning software. The hackers, believed to be based in the Chinese province of Guangdong, presumably gave the information to the Chinese government.
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