Unwanted Attention

US Transportation Command continues to be the combatant command whose computer network is attacked the most, Gen. William Fraser, US Transportation Command boss, told lawmakers last week. “We are—and the best as I can tell continue to be—the most attacked command,” said Fraser before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 7. In 2011, there were nearly 45,000 attacks on TRANSCOM’s computers; in 2012 that number “had quadrupled,” he said. These incidents include entities “scanning the network,” “hackers trying to come in,” and also “some advanced persistent attacks,” he said. It’s an area where command officials “have significant concern,” said Fraser. To counter the threat, the command has reduced the number of access points into its network, helped its commercial partners become more cybersecurity-conscious, and reached out to other government agencies to ensure it’s “not missing anything,” he said. He noted that TRANSCOM has “not had any significant intrusions” into its network. One of the main reasons why TRANSCOM has been such a prime target is because “90 percent of what we do is on the unclassified network,” said Fraser. (Fraser’s written statement)