« It is possible to paralyse the operation of the entire Internet in less than an hour »
Christophe Casalegno is director of Digital Network's security division, where he manages a team of specialists (application security, security policy, penetration testing, cryptography, reverse engineering, security monitoring, information warfare, etc). A consultant specialising in network, computer and telecoms security himself, he mainly works with large organisations seeking to assess their actual level of security.
Last year, the Internet's 13 root servers were attacked in the USA. It was actually only a test: experts observed that those behind the attack had stopped it when it was 98% complete. Should we fear more tests like this in the near future?
That is very likely indeed. However, that attack was not particularly well organised. There are faster ways of paralysing the operation of the entire Internet.
Who is capable of carrying out attacks on such a scale today?<
The resources needed to carry out such an attack are relatively limited. A small, well-organised and motivated group is perfectly capable of seeing attacks like these through. Success depends more on technical skill than on financial resources.
Win Schwartau, the father of information warfare, said, "Give me computers and the ten best hackers, and I will paralyse an entire nation for you." Is that really possible?
Absolutely. Today, much of the way businesses and public administrations operate depends on their information systems and telecommunications infrastructure. A small team of motivated people is perfectly capable of not only paralysing these systems but also altering how they work in various ways. The consequences could become disastrous within a few hours. The Internet relies on relatively fragile backbones. Attacking that backbone is enough to cripple the entire Internet. At present, I estimate that it is possible to paralyse the operation of the entire Internet in less than an hour, without even targeting those famous DNS root servers…
Do you think we will soon see even smarter and stealthier viruses?
Certainly, particularly through artificial intelligence applied to worms and viruses, with the whole thing capable of being completely distributed and stealthy. Today, the vast majority of worms and viruses are not designed to be truly discreet. Quite the opposite… A virus designed to be truly invisible and to perform a specific task would be far more dangerous…
Cyberwar, real cyberwar, not website attacks, DDOS and other scripts. The kind that can erase every digital archive, disable even the smallest component and affect our world forever: reality or fiction?
Cyberwar is not fiction at all. It involves attacking not only the target's information and communication systems, but also the information itself. Transmitting false information can have far more serious consequences than having no information…
What tools make cyberwar effective?
The investment in equipment is negligible. The indispensable requirement is a good team with a solid command of both the technical aspects (network, computer and telecoms security) and the human factor (social engineering).
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