Is the government of Turkey leveraging its hacker population to build a regional power base?
Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 November 2009 05:26 Written by Jeffreycarr Tuesday, 10 November 2009 05:26
This is the topic for this week’s IntelFusion FLASH Traffic weekly brief. An abstract follows:
The increasing frequency of Turkish hacker crews attacking SCADA-related systems is seen by GreyLogic investigators as an emerging global threat, particularly when combined with two geopolitical events:
One. On October 10, 2009, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu signs a historic agreement to work towards restoring diplomatic ties with Armenia. Such an action, according to Henri Barkey of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC, is necessary if Turkey wants to become an important player in the region.
“With their strong military and economy they have the hard power, but what they are trying to do now is build up their soft power.”
Two. In July, 2009 the World Bank agreed to fund Turkey’s Smart Grid project; the World Bank’s first advent into clean energy; thereby elevating Turkey’s status in the region.
Turkey has the second largest Army in NATO and has 8 countries on its borders creating a strategic presence for itself that hasn’t been seen since the Ottoman Empire. The one thing that Turkish military generals are not speaking about is a Turkish cyber warfare or Information Operations program. The absence of such a component in Turkey’s military arsenal is suspicious at best considering its leadership role in the region. In 2003, Turkey launched its Information Security initiatives to protect its networks. In November, 2008, it was considering a membership in NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defense Council of Excellence (CCDCOE). A logical extension of both of those facts would suggest that the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), as part of its ongoing modernization, is certainly exploring some type of Computer Network Operations or other Information Warfare capabilities.
If Turkey is keeping its plans for a military cyber capability a secret, its hacker crews are busy breaching Department of Energy Service Provider websites.
The full briefing is available to subscribers of IntelFusion FLASH Traffic. Contact me for subscription rates for your company or agency.
You write “The increasing frequency of Turkish hacker crews attacking SCADA-related systems is seen by GreyLogic investigators as an emerging global threats”, but don’t follow up with data indicating Turkish hacker crews attacking SCADA or evidence indicating a increase in these attacks. That type of information would be very interesting and extremely relevant to ongoing debates on the topic. Could you please provide your evidence for that claim?
Actually, Matt, that info is provided to subscribers, as I stated in the abstract. More info will also be forthcoming when the Power grid report is released at the end of the month.
This directly contradicts research presented at PumpCon this year that the underground ‘hacker’ community, while very patriotic and often carried out action in the name of Turkey, had little to no ties to the official Turkish government at all. Just wish I could remember the name of the presenter.
- Space Rogue
Space Rogue, if you can find the name of the presenter, please post it here or send me an email. I’d love to see the presentation and evaluate the evidence presented.
You probably noticed that I phrased the title of this post as a question. I’d love to receive more data that would help me craft a statement to replace the question above.
Jeff
“Why Turkish Hackers Won’t Go to Prison”
Dr. Thomas Holt Assistant Professor Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice
I specifically asked him after his talk if the Turkish government was involved at all, and he said that no one he had interviewed had mentioned even being approached by government types let alone actually working with or under government supervision.
You two should probably compare notes. I have his email address, email me if you want it.
- Space Rogue