CYBER SECURITY: Coast Guard Commandant Discusses Cyber Strategy

Cyber Hygiene.

U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command Seal

In a world where North Korea can hack a movie production company’s internal communication and employee data as an act of revenge and diplomatic pique and U.S. authorities are looking into cyber spying on a Major League Baseball team — possibly by another team — it should come as no surprise that another U.S. government agency is upping its cyber defense game.

The U.S. Coast Guard has developed a cyber strategy to guide its priorities over the next 10 years. Those priorities include: defending U.S. cyberspace and the Coast Guard’s network; recognizing cyberspace as an operational domain and defend the Coast Guard’s information and communication networks while developing capabilities to detect, deter and defeat malicious activity in cyberspace; protecting the information system infrastructure that the national Maritime Transportation System relies on, which has economic and national security implications.

Admiral Paul Zukunft, the Coast Guard’s commandant, outlined the strategy this week at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank. He noted that all aspects of modern life have been enhanced – but often made dependent — on information technology from mobile phones to data storage facilities. And that has made numerous entities, including the nation’s Maritime Transportation System vulnerable to a wide range of cyber attacks by adversaries ranging from terrorists and hostile nation states to transnational organized crime cartels and disaffected or sloppy IT workers.

A key defense, Zukunft said several times  was “cyber hygiene,” following safety practices when using government, corporate or personal computer systems. That includes not sharing passwords or using easily corruptible devices like thumb drives.

Zukunft noted that the nation’s security and prosperity is critically reliant on a safe and secure maritime domain, which, in turn is dependent on safe and reliable communications and digital networks. But the Coast Guard faces a daunting task. The two-year-old Coast Guard Cyber Command has just 70 members compared to the thousands at the Defense Department’s cyber unit. The cyber strategy notes that a recent report to Congress indicates an 1,121-percent rise in cybersecurity incidents reported to government agencies from 2006 to 2014. The report, by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) cites a significant rise in the compromise of sensitive information which could adversely affect national security, public health and safety.

AROUND AFRICA: Chad bombings; Nigeria booby-trap bomb

27 Dead in Chad Suicide Bombings.

Chad’s location in Africa
(CIA World Factbook)

Suicide bombers killed more than 20 people in the capital city of Chad, N’Djamena, on Monday (June 15) and authorities say it appeared to be retaliation for Chad’s leading role in the campaign against the violent extremist Islamic group Boko Haram, Reuters reports.

At least 100 people were injured in two simultaneous attacks on a police headquarters and a police cadet training school. The government, which said that four Boko Haram fighters were among the 27 dead, announced a number of measures to tighten security in the capital which serves as the headquarters for a 3,000-strong French military mission fighting militant extremists in he region.

Among the security measures being imposed: a ban from wearing a full-face veil, the BBC reported Wednesday (June 17). Chad’s prime minister said the veil was used as “camouflage” by militants, adding that security forces will burn all full-face veils (that cover everything but the eyes) sold in markets.

Boko Haram has not commented on the attack but has previously threatened to attack Chad, after its forces started to help Nigeria. N’Djamena is headquarters for a regional taskforce tofight Boko Haram with troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin.

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Boko Haram Explosion.

At least 23 people were killed in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Monguno after a Boko Haram bomb confiscated by vigilantes exploded, the BBC reports.

The vigilantes were celebrating a successful operation with the military against the Islamist militants when the improvised explosive device (IED) went off killing and injuring people gathered around the celebrations.

The BBC reports the blast was believed to be an accidental explosion. But Al Jazeera reports that the Nigerian military believe it was some sort of booby trap set by Boko Haram before they were killed or fled.

Nigerian fighters routinely use improvised explosive devices in their attacks. Despite losing territory this year, Boko Haram still controls a few areas.

Nigeria
(CIA World factbook)

Bombings and hit-and-run attacks continue. Suspected Boko Haram gunmen last week killed 37 people in raids on five villages around Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, a military source and a local village defense group told Al Jazeera.