http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53793
By Jeff Schogol
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition
April 3, 2008
ARLINGTON, Va. . An Army security drill that posed as an e-mail scam is
part of a larger exercise known as .Bulwark Defender,. said Bruce
Sprecher, a spokesman for U.S. Strategic Command.
.The e-mail, sent to dot.mil addresses, was developed to check our
personnel.s responses to a sophisticated phishing scam,. Sprecher said
on Wednesday. .These events are conducted to determine how to improve
the training of personnel and the tools we use to defend against such
exploits.
.While our personnel and network defenders are getting better at
recognizing and responding to phishing e-mails, we realize that those
who create phishing scams are getting better as well,. he said.
All four services are participating in the exercise, Sprecher said.
On Monday, Army and Family, Morale Welfare and Recreation Command
learned that an apparent e-mail scam offering free tickets to troops and
Defense Department civilians for personal information was an Army
security exercise.
The e-mail, allegedly from Family and MWR Command, directed users to a
Web site that asked for personal information, such as names, addresses
and telephone numbers.
.We tracked responses, and did not collect data,. Sprecher said. .The
information people input went to a Web site with no active database. The
information submitted was not captured..
Family and MWR Command was not told about the exercise ahead of time.
The test was meant to be like a .pop quiz. to gauge how people react in
their normal frame of mind, and telling Family and MWR Command ahead of
time could have increased the risk that news of the test could have
gotten out, Sprecher said.
Still, Family and MWR Command has expressed concern that it had been
kept out of the loop.
Laurie Pugh, head spokeswoman for Family and MWR Command, said the
command understands the need to maintain the integrity of security
tests.
.However, coordinating with Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation
Command would not have affected the integrity of the test, but would
have allowed Family and MWR Command to protect the integrity of our
brand,. Pugh said on Wednesday.
For example, the command could have coordinated with sponsors so that
when people went to the bogus Web site, they would have been told that
it was an exercise but still received a coupon, said Bill Bradner, a
spokesman for Family and MWR Command.
Bulwark Defender is ongoing, Sprecher said.
.To ensure the integrity of the exercise, the dates won.t be released
until completion,. he said.
___________________________________________________
Subscribe to InfoSec News
http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isn
Comments