Closing Enemy Windows of Opportunity

[unhappycamper]

Closing Enemy Windows of Opportunity
Air Force Print News | January 14, 2008

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, TX - The team is huddled around a laptop outside an enemy compound. One of the team members adjusts the image on the laptop and the picture becomes clear. Now the team can see the display of the enemy's computer, on a secure network, on the fifth floor of the building.

After a decade of information warfare and Air Force leaders' recognition of cyberspace as a war fighting domain, this kind of 'hack' may not seem revolutionary.

However, this network intrusion occurred because the team was able to detect emissions from a computer monitor inside the building. They were then able to turn radiated energy into a live feed on their laptop, just as if they had plugged a second monitor into the computer inside.

The bad news: this can happen to your computer, telephone, radio or data link. It can happen on the ground or in the air. It can even happen if you are transmitting securely.

The good news: this is an Air Force team. The Emissions Security flight at the 346th Test Squadron is a subordinate unit of the Air Force Information Operations Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. The EMSEC team tests Air Force aircraft, facilities and systems to ensure compromising emissions don't provide an adversary with windows into our protected networks.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,160051,00.html