[CII] [Fwd: [funsec] Finally someone asks the tough question...]

[Joe St Sauver]

Gadi passed along a note by robert_mcmillan at idg.com from the funsec
mailing list which mentioned:

# "On the imminent Cyber Warfare, what's Ghana's preparedness?"
# 
# http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=172740
#
# A story you're unlikely to see in the mainstream press...

Oddly enough, I was just in Accra last month for the 7th Open Access 
Conference (see www.wideopenaccess.net ) which followed the West and 
Central African Research and Education Networks (WACREN) meeting.
Ghana's a fascinating country, and if you get the chance to go there,
I'd encourage folks to consider doing so, I really liked it, although
I will say that it is a relatively long (7 hour) flight via KLM from 
Amsterdam. (Africa's a lot bigger place than most folks recognize, I 
think, or at least I know that I found the map at 
http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/35-the-size-of-africa/
to be very enlightening)

That said, while some might be surprised to see someone from a country 
in West Africa worrying about nation state cyber threats, in reality, 
I think it is appropriate that West Africans are paying attention to 
this emerging potential concern (although I might not use the word
"imminent"). 

Let me just share a few reasons why I think this (and please recognize 
that these opinions are strictly that, *just* my opinions):

-- Some countries in Africa have not enjoyed the benefits of political
   stability the way many nations in other parts of the world have...

   One only needs to review the list of travel warnings for countries
   in Africa at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html
   to see the ongoing instabilities that challenge progress in many 
   countries of that continent.

   If I were a regime in Africa which was overtly subject to attacks by 
   rebels/terrorists, I would see absolutely no reason to believe that my 
   adversaries would refrain from using cyber attacks (as well as any 
   other means) as a way of advancing their politico/military agendas.

   Granted, much infrastructure in parts of Africa isn't as automated
   or technology dependent as parts of the West, but what infrastructure
   is there is often both a highly critical "lifeline" and lacking 
   redundancy (out of economic necessity). I definitely see 
   vulnerabilities which rightfully deserve to be considered,
   understood, and potentially addressed.
   
-- China has an ongoing and increasingly strategic presence in growing
   areas of Africa, a point that has been chronicled in a variety of 
   books such as "China Safari: On the Trail of Beijing's Expansion in
   Africa," see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/business/19shelf.html

   Even if indigenous African infrastructure might not be a target for 
   global cyber attention, Chinese economic infrastructure located *in*
   Africa might (hypothetically) be a different matter.

-- Although many parts of Africa have traditionally had expensive and 
   limited connectivity, new fibre projects such as Globacom's Glo 1 
   cable are going to rapidly change that (see coverage of the cable at 
   http://www.modernghana.com/news/241356/1/glo-1-lands-in-ghana.html ).

   A country that has abundant fiber connectivity has a different
   potential role on the Internet stage than a country or region that 
   does not. 

-- We know that there is official interest in Africa and cyber issues
   emerging there. For example, the US Department of Justice is working 
   with AfriNIC to establish a "collaborative platform for governments,
   regulators, and AfriNIC to address issues related to the 
   governance and operations that may impact a safe and secure 
   Internet," meeting next month in Cyber City, Mauritius (see 
   https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/announce/2009/000547.html )

-- Even if cyber war didn't directly impact any facilities in Africa,
   attacks on facilities elsewhere (such as in cable landing points in
   Europe or Asia) would have the potential to disrupt critical network 
   facilities that serve African nations. 

So anyhow, while folks might find it unusual to read about West Africans 
worrying about cyber war, I think it is just another sign that there 
are some pretty sharp people in that part of the world, even if a 
historic lack of connectivity or sheer physical distances may have 
limited your interaction with many of them up till now. 

Just my two cents,

Regards,

Joe St Sauver, Ph.D. (joe at oregon.uoregon.edu)
http://www.uoregon.edu/~joe/
Disclaimer: all opinions expressed are strictly my own