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CERT Advisory #3
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Date: Fri 9 Dec 88 23:38:59-EST
From: William L. Scherlis <[email protected]>
Subject: CERT NEWS RELEASE
No. 597-88
(202) 695-0192 (Info.)
(202) 697-3189 (Copies)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 6, 1988 (202) 697-5737
(Public/Industry)
DARPA ESTABLISHES COMPUTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today
that it has established a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to
address computer security concerns of research users of the Internet,
which includes ARPANET. The Coordination Center for the CERT is
located at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Carnegie Mellon
University, Pittsburgh, PA.
In providing direct service to the Internet community, the CERT will
focus on the special needs of the research community and serve as a
prototype for similar operations in other computer communities. The
National Computer Security Center and the National Institute of
Standards and Technology will have a leading role in coordinating the
creation of these emergency response activities.
The CERT is intended to respond to computer security threats such as
the recent self-replicating computer program ("computer virus") that
invaded many defense and research computers.
The CERT will assist the research network communities in responding to
emergency situations. It will have the capability to rapidly
establish communications with experts working to solve the problems,
with the affected computer users and with government authorities as
appropriate. Specific responses will be taken in accordance with
DARPA policies.
It will also serve as a focal point for the research community for
identification and repair of security vulnerabilities, informal
assessment of existing systems in the research community, improvement
to emergency response capability, and user security awareness. An
important element of this function is the development of a network of
key points of contact, including technical experts, site managers,
government action officers, industry contacts, executive level
decision-makers and investigative agencies, where appropriate.
Because of the many network, computer, and systems architectures and
their associated vulnerabilities, no single organization can be
expected to maintain an in-house expertise to respond on its own to
computer security threats, particularly those that arise in the
research community. As with biological viruses, the solutions must
come from an organized community response of experts. The role of the
CERT Coordination Center at the SEI is to provide the supporting
mechanisms and to coordinate the activities of experts in DARPA and
associated communities.
The SEI has close ties to the Department of Defense, to defense and
commercial industry, and to the research community. These ties place
the SEI in a unique position to provide coordination support to the
software experts in research laboratories and in industry who will be
responding in emergencies and to the communities of potentially
affected users.
The SEI is a federally-funded research and development center,
operating under DARPA sponsorship with the Air Force Systems Command
(Electronic Systems Division) serving as executive agent. Its goal is
to accelerate the transition of software technology to defense
systems. Computer security is primarily a software problem, and the
presence of CERT at the SEI will enhance the technology transfer
mission of the SEI in security-related areas.
-END-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: DARPA ESTABLISHES CERT, 12/6/88
Q: Can you provide background on earlier break-ins?
A: On November 2, 1988, thousands of computers connected to
unclassified DoD computer networks were attacked by a virus. Although
the virus did not damage or compromise data, it did have the effect of
denying service to thousands of computer users. The computer science
research community associated with the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA), along with many other research laboratories
and military sites that use these networks, quickly responded to this
threat. They developed mechanisms to eliminate the infection, to
block the spread of the self-replicating program, and to immunize
against further attack by similar viruses. Software experts from the
University of California at Berkeley, with important contributions
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other network
sites, rapidly analyzed the virus and developed immunization
techniques. These same software experts also provided important
assistance in the more recent Internet intrusion of 27-28 November.
As the events unfolded, DARPA established an ad hoc operation center
to help coordinate the activities of software experts working around
the clock and to provide information to appropriate government
officials. The operations center had three main tasks. It
facilitated communications among the many groups affected, it ensured
that government organizations were promptly informed of developments,
and it provided initial technical analysis in DoD. Although the
threat was contained quickly, a more maliciously designed virus could
have done serious damage.
The recent events serve as a warning that our necessarily increasing
reliance on computers and networks, while providing important new
capabilities, also creates new kinds of vulnerabilities. The
Department of Defense considers this an important national issue that
is of major concern in both the defense and commercial sectors. The
DoD is developing a technology and policy response that will help
reduce risk and provide an emergency reaction response.
Q: Who will be on the CERT?
A: The CERT will be a team of over 100 experts located throughout the
U.S. whose expertise and knowledge will be called upon when needed.
When not being called upon, they will continue their normal daily
work. As noted in the release, these experts will include: technical
experts, site managers, government action officers, industry contacts,
executive-level decision-makers and representatives from investigative
agencies.
Q: Is the CERT different from the Coordination Center that is at the
SEI?
A: Yes. The Coordination Center will be made up of six or so people
who will serve as the communications and nerve center for the total
CERT.
Q: What kinds of actions will the CERT be able to take in response to
security threats?
A: The CERT will have no authority of its own. It may make
recommendations that will be acted upon by DoD authorities.
Q: Is the CERT fully operational now?
A: We are in the very early stages of gathering people for the CERT.
We are first concentrating on collecting technical experts. A staff
is in place at SEI, but details are still being worked out.
Q: Will there just be one CERT?
A: The intent is that each major computer community may decide to
establish its own CERT. Each CERT will therefore serve only a
particular community and have a particular technical expertise. (The
DARPA/SEI CERT will serve, for example, the research community and
have expertise in Berkeley-derived UNIX systems and other systems as
appropriate.) The National Computer Security Center and the National
Institute of Standards and Technology will support the establishment
of the CERTs and coordinate among them.
Q: What are the special needs of the research community that their
CERT will serve?
A: The special challenge of the research community is improving the
level of computer security without inhibiting the innovation of
computer technology. In addition, as is often DARPA's role, their
CERT will serve as a prototype to explore the CERT concept so that
other groups can learn and establish their own.
Q: Does the CERT Coordination Center have a press point of contact?
A: No. Their function is to serve as a nerve center for the user
community.
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