Highlights
• Media reports indicate that Israel utilized a computer network attack to shut down Syria’s air defense network prior to its September 6, 2007 air raid on Syrian territory
• Nation-state and sub-state actors will continue to develop and utilize new cyber warfare strategies and tactics
According to media reports, Operation Orchard, Israel’s raid on a Syrian “construction” site just south of the Turkish border, was enabled in part by a computer network attack (CNA) launched in advance of the raid.
Although the exact details of this CNA are likely classified and therefore not available to the general public, it appears that the Israeli Air Force either employed the “Suter” airborne network attack system or a weapons system with similar capabilities.
The “Suter” System
According to Aviation Week and Space Technology, the “Suter” weapons system purportedly allows an attacker to penetrate and control a target’s network of air defense radars. Specifically, “Suter” utilizes sensors to detect and identify the source of radar emissions. “Suter” is able to match the detected radar emissions to a database of known emission signatures and therefore presumably identify the type of radar system in use. In theory, this information can be used to identify known vulnerabilities in the identified air defense network. Once these vulnerabilities are identified and exploited the targeted air defense network can be monitored, fed spurious data, or hijacked.
Certainly there is reason to believe that the details of the “Suter” system and the CNA on the Syrian air defense network as reported by the media are oversimplified and possibly overstated. Taking control of an enemy air defense network, which is likely comprised of a patchwork of various hardware and software components, is likely an extremely complicated and time-consuming task that would be extremely difficult to automate. Further, even a skilled attacker would need a fair amount of time to surreptitiously study and exploit the vulnerabilities in an enemy’s air defense network.
The Emerging Role of Cyber Warfare
However, the broad parameters of the “Suter” system as outlined by Aviation Week and Space Technology – that with the proper amount of time and resources individual radar stations can be remotely hijacked by skilled hackers – are likely accurate and therefore demonstrate that advanced cyber warfare strategies and tactics can be used to prepare the modern battlefield.
Within the past twelve months state and non-state actors have used cyber warfare strategies and tactics to:
• Conduct wholesale espionage campaigns (Previous Report)
• Conduct digital era siege warfare (Previous Report)
• Disseminate propaganda to win hearts and minds (Previous Report)
As a result, nation-state and sub-state actors are likely to continue to investigate and invest in the development of cyber warfare capabilities. Moreover, nation-state and sub-state actors are likely to utilize cyber warfare strategies and tactics during future conflicts.
