Pegasus Research Consortium

Quote
A microchip used by the US military and manufactured
in China contains a secret "backdoor" that means it can
be set off or reprogrammed without the user knowing,
according to researchers at Cambridge University's
Computing Laboratory.

The unnamed chip, which the researchers claim is widely
used in military and industrial applications, is "wide open to
intellectual property theft, fraud and reverse engineering
of the design to allow the introduction of a backdoor or
Trojan", they said.   http://www.information-age.com/channels/security-and-continuity/news/2105468/security-backdoor-found-in-chinamade-us-military-chip.thtml

Cambridge University researcher
Sergei Skorobogatov and Quo Vadis Labs research Christopher Woods research
found here: 
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~sps32/sec_news.html#Assurance

I am confounded!!! Why in the hello would we be buying any type of chip to be used in any significant way, from China, or any place outside of America. If we are doing that, then someone is just plain stupid, or involved in unlawful convenience with a foreign government.  There is no acceptable reason to buy this type of device from  any place outside this country. There are just too many potential issues, and this is just a perfect example.

Doesn't anyone in Government know by now that China (and everyone else) takes every opportunity to gain design and technical knowledge where ever and whose ever it is?? Haven't we seen evidence of that time and time gain?

The U.S. Government should bring China to task for allowing espionage capability and terroristic processes to be incorporated in their chip products. And the U.S. Government should do that with "significant and compelling communication", to include recourse, if China does not respond with absolute payment for resulting losses - same type of problem/loses as with the BP Gulf oil leak. Could cost millions and billions of dollars to correct, and it is China's fault!!

Just an "idiot squared" thing to do. Well, if that works for us, lets buy some chips from Russia too, and also North Korea!!Then maybe some fromIran too, while we are at it. Certainly, whatever information China may have gotten, they would be sharing it with the rest of those guys anyway!!!!!!!

rdunk, it's business as usual.  TPTB don't care and are TRYING to bring the US of A down.  Why?  Retribution for WWII.  They're Nazis (and satanists).  It's Their big get even.

So...  We just have to implement a solution post haste.

I went out to read the article attached and also the posts below it. The military uses chips right off the shelf all the time. It all depends on which projects they go into. As far as it being made in China. So are a lot of things. What we need is a company name and location. Most companies like this are foreign owned. American, Japanese, German, Taiwan and so on. Do a check on fortune 500 companies in China. If you want to see them, take a visit.

Any country that would be stupid enough to put anything foreign into a top secrete military grade weapon or software should get a check up. Even if purchased whole like they sell planes should be very suspect. Would you not install a shut off switch? You don't want to get taken out by your own weapons. I would make it part of the plane like they do low jack.

Deuem

Just as we did in WW2 with our nuke program, we need to keep everything in house and make our own semiconductors and such. Why do you think China is so rich with American money?

We keep paying them to build everything for us, and it usually falls apart within a year!

If we pulled just the semiconductor market out from under their feet, we would owe them half the money we do by next year!

Stop making this stuff in the enemy state, and when we consider China as that type of state, itll be too late for them as the money will have stopped flowing by then.

Bring the manufacturing back home, and thats the only solution for the US and our sad state of affairs now. We gave it away for good when the first Honda/Toyota cars came over, and theyve been sucking at the US teet ever since.

Sorry China and taiwan, that teet is dry now, so stop sucking!

Littleenki

Quote from: deuem on May 29, 2012, 01:41:28 PM
I went out to read the article attached and also the posts below it. The military uses chips right off the shelf all the time. It all depends on which projects they go into. As far as it being made in China. So are a lot of things. What we need is a company name and location. Most companies like this are foreign owned. American, Japanese, German, Taiwan and so on. Do a check on fortune 500 companies in China. If you want to see them, take a visit.

Any country that would be stupid enough to put anything foreign into a top secret military grade weapon or software should get a check up. Even if purchased whole like they sell planes should be very suspect. Would you not install a shut off switch? You don't want to get taken out by your own weapons. I would make it part of the plane like they do Lowjack.

Deuem

Greetings:

QuoteAny country that would be stupid enough to put anything foreign into a top secret military grade weapon or software should get a check up.

Now there, friend Deuem, why would China even want to have a 'back door' that might enable them to 'affect' potential enemy planes, missiles, ICBM's... anything with one of these suspect chips in the mix?

How about those chips being used in, say, water delivery systems?

Or critical aspects of major switching hubs of the electrical grid?


Of course, stories like this have absolutely nothing to do with anything.

'Huge threat to power grid' (http://www.wnd.com/2009/10/111629/)
Homeland Security official admits vulnerability
Published: 2 October 2009 at 1:00 AM

QuoteWASHINGTON – Department of Homeland Security official John Verrico admitted that a Chinese researcher had detailed precisely how vulnerable the U.S. electric grid is to a cyber-terrorist attack.

The disclosure reveals the government's familiarity with a report released more than six months ago, in which Jian-Wei Wang used publicly available data to explain exactly how the United States' West Coast grid was connected and how the computers that control the grid could be easily sabotaged.

QuoteOfficial reports immediately denied any possibility of terrorism, but a Wall Street Journal report in April of 2009 revealed that hackers from China and Russia have twice breached the national security grid and may have left software programs behind that could be used to remotely crash the system. The same type of hackers successfully compromised a water treatment facility in Australia and caused 200,000 gallons of sewage to flood a city.

The hackers actually compromised the computers that control the valves that control the water flow, something apparently easy to do in 'unprotected' situations such as water and sewage treatment facilities, water supply to cities (think Los Angeles Aqueduct), computers controlling oil and gas pipelines, the entire electrical grid...

QuoteSome experts believe the 2003 blackout was in fact caused by a hacker – a software bug within an operating system responsible for managing alarm systems led operators to believe systems were functioning normally when, in fact, they were on the verge of collapse. The "worm" inside the computer system at just one facility contributed to the scale of the catastrophe.

Threats to the grid are not limited only to terrorist attacks or hackers.

As Newt Gingrich pointed out in a recent speech, a nuclear weapon detonated in the atmosphere above a U.S. city could act as an Electromagnetic Pulse device, destroying the electrical circuitry that powers every computer in the city.

His claims are based on the Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack (http://www.wnd.com/2008/07/69280/) from April 2008.

QuoteThe scariest and most threatening kind of EMP attack is initiated by the detonation of a nuclear weapon at high altitude in the range of 25 to 250 miles above the Earth's surface.

The immediate effects of EMP are disruption of, and damage to, electronic systems and electrical infrastructure. Such a detonation over the middle of the continental U.S. "has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures that support the fabric of U.S. society and the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power," said Graham.

In other words, a fait accompli - in one blow, we be toast, and back to the 1800's overnight.

Without electricity, many critical infrastructure systems will begin to fail in in a matter of hours, and in the days and weeks after an EMP, major critical systems - such as the cooling systems on the 104 commercial nuclear reactors - not to mention the SPF's (Spent Fuel Pools) which have become de facto long-term storage for the most dangerous stuff known to man - will run out of diesel for the backup generators and the cooling systems will fail... 104 Fukushima's in our back yard.


(http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/yo4fc4ee17.jpg) (http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2011/05/28/letter-from-a-fukushima-mother/)

QuoteNatural disasters can also wreak havoc on our relatively fragile infrastructure, as was the case in New Orleans after Katrina, after the blizzard of 2006 that dumped 26 inches on New York City, and after floods in north Georgia in September of 2009.

Citizens who sit back and expect the government to help them may be shocked to find that getting the power turned back on is not always easy and is rarely a priority for officials. In some cases it takes weeks before all the power facilities are back on line and lines are connected.

And in the case of an EMP, we are speaking of years... there are certain critical generators that take many month's to build that are in very short supply and when they all fail simultaneously...


(http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/pf4fc4dc3e.jpg)


We think solar generators are something everyone should consider, as solar and hydro will become the main sources of immediate energy while rebuilding the grid - or not. This is not necessarily a plug for this particular company, but more to just getting you started on your solar future.

QuoteIn response to the growing threat, many consumers are turning to alternatives, such as the one offered by Solutions from Science (http://www.solutionsfromscience.com/), an Illinois-based company that sells a solar-powered generator. Bill Heid, the chief executive officer of the company, explained how the solar power generator works.

"The solar powered generator harnesses free energy from the sun, stores it and then delivers it cleanly and quietly whenever you need it," explains Heid.

Unlike traditional gasoline powered generators, the solar powered generator uses entirely free energy from the sun, and emits no fumes and makes no noise.

QuoteIn the book, "Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security," author Amory Lovins makes the case that the U.S. energy infrastructure is even more susceptible to disruption, by accident or through malice than even imported oil.

It is this growing danger of blackouts that has driven many consumers to prepare for the worst, while praying that day never comes. Other consumers cite a desire for peace of mind, recognizing that without electricity, even the best-prepared family will suffer many hardships that could be avoided.


(http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/pe4fc4dde0.jpg)


The rather minor glitch that led to the blackout in the northeast in 2003 disrupted water service, communication, transportation and even contributed to the deaths of more than a dozen people. Some consumers were without power for days. A few citizens remained calm and confident in their homes, despite the chaos outside, because of their preparations.

As Heid says, "Having a solar generator is like having a secret power plant hidden in your home ... with clean, quiet, permanent electrical power at your fingertips." (http://www.mysolarbackup.com/)


And now, for something completely different - or not...

(http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/po4fc4f02c.jpg)

Caren Firouz  /  REUTERS
A computer engineer checks equipment at an internet service provider in Tehran on Feb. 15, 2011.

Interesting that the new "Flame' super-virus is found only in Iran.
Powerful 'Flame' Computer Virus Found in Middle East (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47590214/ns/technology_and_science-security/?ocid=ansmsnbc11)

QuoteBy Jim Finkle

Updated 5/28/2012 11:45:31 AM ET

Security experts have discovered a highly sophisticated computer virus in Iran and other Middle East countries that they believe was deployed at least five years ago to engage in state-sponsored cyber espionage.

Evidence suggest that the virus, dubbed "Flame," may have been built on behalf of the same nation or nations that commissioned the Stuxnet worm that attacked Iran's nuclear program in 2010, according to Kaspersky Lab, the Russian cyber security software maker that claimed responsibility for discovering the virus.

Egad!

Peace Love Light
tfw
Liberty & Equality or Revolution

@ Littleenki, Have you ever been here?

It was not Chi nas idea to suck the US A dry, It is your greedy bosses that wanted to make more profit. Why build something in the states with union labor and EPA rules and Gov red tape when you can out source it for 100th the money and make the same profit. I would suggest you take a trip and find out what is really going on. How USA bosses after bosses is taking their own country down the drain to make money. See how they live it up here. See the drinking, girls and parties while they layoff hundreds at home. And brag about it!

Chi na was just sitting here all poor and in the red until the business started flowing. At first all companies were regulated in special camps with fenced in guard dogs. I can take you to one big one. Then over time more money flowed in so fast, the camps came down and they were allowed inland a little. Now most anywhere. I can go any where I want now. ( maybe not everywhere )

Your companies are here finding anyway to squeeze the last tenth of a penny out of every thing so they can put it in their pocket. They want it to wear out so you buy again. And again and again. It is/was 10 times cheaper here than Mexico or other areas near the USA. How long did it take them to decide how to make more money?

Now that Chi na has more money than the US A every one is upset that they are spending it wisely. Talk to your government, why do they let this happen at the sacrifice of your work force? The problem is internal not external. Hey, if you gave me so much money I could not spend it all in my life time, I would let you set up any factory you wanted. Note: All property is owned by the gov and just leased. 50 years for factories. So I accept your money, you train my people, I take in more talent, machines and your tech, I make money and you lose jobs. And they say who is stupid here. I am in the trenches and you are not seeing this the way I do.

Someone at your home has decided to drain you dry. It is not only Chi na that is reaping the money. It is only a very small portion of it. 15% to 25% in tax. Where does the rest of the profit go?  Chi na is nothing like I thought it would be, other wise I would have only stayed a few days. I have more rights than you have and a better cash to living expence for sure. Like it was in the 50ties. Everyone had money then and the good times rolled................

Now the local censors are either going to ban me or give me a metal, I don't know.

Deuem

@thorfourwinds,  As I thought I was bounced off the net within 15 seconds or so after that post. I should learn to keep my fingers tied. As far as other reasons like you posted, yea, I agree, anything else is possible and might even do more damage than a plane going down.

I wonder, why do all of these people keep all this information on line so people can hack into it? That never made sense that they had to tie all the workings into the internet. why not just stay off line with the vital info. Or develop a cross path that can not be broken into.

Deuem

Quote from: deuem on May 29, 2012, 05:21:20 PM
@ Littleenki, Have you ever been here?

It was not Chi nas idea to suck the US A dry, It is your greedy bosses that wanted to make more profit. Why build something in the states with union labor and EPA rules and Gov red tape when you can out source it for 100th the money and make the same profit. I would suggest you take a trip and find out what is really going on.

How USA bosses after bosses is taking their own country down the drain to make money. See how they live it up here. See the drinking, girls and parties while they layoff hundreds at home. And brag about it!

Chi na was just sitting here all poor and in the red until the business started flowing. At first all companies were regulated in special camps with fenced in guard dogs. I can take you to one big one. Then over time more money flowed in so fast, the camps came down and they were allowed inland a little. Now most anywhere. I can go any where I want now. ( maybe not everywhere )

Your companies are here finding anyway to squeeze the last tenth of a penny out of every thing so they can put it in their pocket. They want it to wear out so you buy again. And again and again. It is/was 10 times cheaper here than Mexico or other areas near the USA. How long did it take them to decide how to make more money?

Now that Chi na has more money than the US A every one is upset that they are spending it wisely. Talk to your government, why do they let this happen at the sacrifice of your work force? The problem is internal not external.

Hey, if you gave me so much money I could not spend it all in my life time, I would let you set up any factory you wanted. Note: All property is owned by the gov and just leased. 50 years for factories. So I accept your money, you train my people, I take in more talent, machines and your tech, I make money and you lose jobs. And they say who is stupid here. I am in the trenches and you are not seeing this the way I do.

Someone at your home has decided to drain you dry. It is not only Chi na that is reaping the money. It is only a very small portion of it. 15% to 25% in tax. Where does the rest of the profit go?  Chi na is nothing like I thought it would be, other wise I would have only stayed a few days.

I have more rights than you have and a better cash to living expence for sure. Like it was in the 50ties. Everyone had money then and the good times rolled................

Now the local censors are either going to ban me or give me a metal, I don't know.

Deuem

Greetings:

Not sure who 'the local censors' are, but we here in America appreciate that you have the intestinal fortitude to tell the truth, period, as the MSM is not to be trusted with anything that is 'reported' by the Machine.

Check this out:

QuoteThis is all part of the workings of the unspeakably ghastly agenda that is being played out on Earth by the coldly calculating Machine that has this planet and the human race in thrall.

There are sinister forces on this planet who plan to stage false flag nuclear attacks as a means of waging "totalitarian nuclear warfare." Certainly any and all nuclear power plants and any and all nuclear powered naval vessels are vulnerable to being used in this way, while the real perpetrators hide their hands.

We are up against something really ugly and nasty. Raise your level of understanding, because it wants to physically annihilate you.

We are still investigating some of the other things and will be back to you.

Peace Love Light
Thor

Local means here, there is a clearing house with say 5,000 workers that read everything international. Some is done by machine, some is by hand, like watching moves on line. If I write the wrong words, it shoots a feed to my router and takes it off line instantly. If I atempt to open any blog, I am gone faster than a bug in a zapper. It is something we live with.

Started about 5 or so years ago when YT people staring making movies about the PTB. Not funny. UT zap, next FB, zap. google zap, all blogs, zap. ATS, zap. tlm, zap, mention a wrong word or location in a move, zap. image search, zap. I have a lot of dead bugs below my router.

You can put a scope on the line and see it. zap. The local internet guy was even taken by this until he confirmed it. zap.  Restart computer(s) and router. zap fixed. sweep away dead bugs...

Other than that my internet connection in country is faster than anything I ever had before. Almost instant. No zaps.... You guys/gals with no bug zappers are missing all the fun. Don't worry, you still have time....

Yes I have to work around all of this. It is 2am and I am very late for going home.

Deuem

Dueum, its just addicts vs enablers,eh?

the scary part,,
im ass u ming that this un-named Chip,,
when teamed up with,,
windows     7   or is it   8 i forget,,

can turn off,,,,and ON

shut shutdown

ie physical..
cut the juice at the tower,,not wall,,ie on/off button,,

at the,,,,, BIOS,,,,address,,, level.
thats on/off access.

yup.

Quote from: rdunk on May 29, 2012, 05:14:44 AM
Well, if that works for us, lets buy some chips from Russia too, and also North Korea!!Then maybe some fromIran too, while we are at it. Certainly, whatever information China may have gotten, they would be sharing it with the rest of those guys anyway!!!!!!!

Right you are Rdunk.

I was following up on this news this morning...found a little more info.

Apparently, the research is on going, and a full "report" will be published
in September.

QuoteTheir complete findings will be published in September, in a paper called "Breakthrough silicon scanning discovers backdoor in military chip," which Skorobogatov says "will expose some serious security issues in the devices, which are supposed to be unbreakable."

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/chinese-regime-has-backdoor-access-to-us-systems-244137.html

The implications of these findings are unfathomable.

Former U.S. counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke:

Quote"Every major company in the United States has already been penetrated by China," Clarke told Smithsonian Magazine.

Just off the top of my brain for instance, think about the wide spread power
outage a while back, if they have access to information, do they also
have control?   :o

Hello BTS! Yes, just unfathomable, regarding the implications, of fixing the problem, or of not fixing the problem! The problems may be so broad that it it actually not possible to fix them all mechanically. I would make a guess that if the systemic problem is "specifically isolated" to the functions of a specific chip, then there are probably "smart guys" in the field that can fix/disable, and block invasive/terroristic
attempts with software/chip reprogramming.

But in the real world, trashing the chip, and replacing one with known absolute security would be my direction, and it could be a time of DANGER, as long as the "traffic routes" remain open!

However this happened - - - I would have steps in place quickly to make sure this never happened again, with foreign procurement, no matter the visible parts cost!!!!!!

Quote from: rdunk on June 02, 2012, 06:38:14 PM
The problems may be so broad that it it actually not possible to fix them all mechanically.

Yes! To find them all - mind boggling.

The perfect horribleness of it. There most likely would not be
one "earth shattering" event that would have a level of impact
- driving home the realization that this must be corrected...
more likely ongoing....thousands of serious but smaller events
with a cumulative affect...

Which is that perfect horribleness, at least for the private sector.
Lets hope that in the MIC they do find a way to identify, and disable.

Yet if this is operating at the BIOS level, that may not be possible,
?

Yes, "The perfect horribleness of it" = The perfect storm"!

Of course, there are probably so many different ways that the typical chip in this country can be compromised, including EMP. There will always be possibilities in screwing with digital, that were no so prevalent in "hard-wired" stuff.

Quote from: rdunk on June 02, 2012, 07:09:08 PM
EMP

True. This seems to shed a whole new light on the idea of an EMP
"attack". This is war...a very modern Trojan Horse.

I see the idea, why destroy when you can use and control? 

Ah, I work for a day when there are no "enemies."  When every Human is equal in power and freedom.  When there is no profit motive, there is no need to spy, there is no gain in bad work and only the BEST pays off.

[sigh]  It will happen!

Russian Hackers – a Threat to Power Companies (http://anonhq.com/russian-hackers-a-threat-to-power-companies/)

July 14th, 2014 | by hqanon
?


Monday July 14, 2014
Written by: Captain Planet

The group most recently known as Energetic Bear (http://www.newser.com/story/189278/energetic-bear-is-attacking-our-energy-sector.html), previously called Dragonfly, are using malware to infiltrate the industrial control systems of Western energy companies. Over recent months they have targeted petroleum pipeline operators, grid operators, major electricity generation firms and other strategically important energy companies.

Security firm Symantec believe that the Russian government may be backing Dragonfly, explaining "Dragonfly bears the hallmarks of a state-sponsored operation, displaying a high degree of technical capability."

Attacking Monday to Friday between the hours of 9am and 6pm, Dragonfly is thought to have compromised more than 1,000 company's computer systems to spy on them – they have not yet attempted sabotage. If they were to, they could cause serious disruption to energy supplies.


The hackers infiltrated three top manufacturers of industrial control systems and inserted their malware into the software updates those companies' clients used; upon download, the clients' systems were infected. While there's no evidence the hackers intend to do physical damage, "the potential for sabotage is there," says a Symantec director.



The attacks have gone on for 18 months, the worst seeing remote-access type Trojans used on numerous industrial control systems. Dragonfly seems to be using similar tactics to those used in Stuxnet attacks, which are believed to have infiltrated Iran's uranium enrichment facility. It is believed the US were to blame for the 2010 attacks, which temporarily disabled 1,000 centrifuges that were being used to enrich uranium by Iran.

It is believed that Dragonfly use traps set on 'watering hole' sites, sites that are trusted by the company targeted and therefore likely to be frequented, to infect the energy companies. This form of cyber-attack is associated with espionage attacks.

 
The FBI discovered a Chinese hacker, called UglyGorilla, seeking access to parts of a U.S. utility company's systems that would let him cut off heat or damage pipelines. He and others working for the Chinese People's Liberation Army were indicted by a U.S. grand jury in May for computer fraud and economic espionage.


Dragonfly have been known to be operating since 2011, when they were targeting defense and aviation companies in the US and Canada. In 2013 they began to attack US and European energy firms, receiving the newer name of Energetic Bear.

?

Pie Chart: Countries that have been effected by Energetic Bear's attacks

Although there is, of course, a future risk of sabotage, so far it seems that the malware is being used to spy, rather than sabotage. The Russian government aren't strangers to cyber spying, with FAPSI (Russia's Federal Agency of Governmental Communications and Information) being the equivalent of America's National Security Agency.

Part of it is Microsoft's fault for sharing source code with Russia/China. The latest PC mag article I found dated 2012: Microsoft finds new PCs in China preinstalled with malware.