The latest war gaming exercise by the Canadian Department of National Defense echoes the line from the old Pogo cartoon – "We have met the enemy and he is us" – by testing a scenario where the military's computers come under attack, not from China, Islamic terrorists or hackers, but Canada's own federal employees.
A document, obtained by the Ottawa Citizen using Canada's Access to Information law, describes how federal employees attempt to crash the military's primary computer system during a protracted labor dispute. The gaming scenario has undetectable computer code being entered into the system by a civilian employee at the National Defense headquarters.
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The mock exercise, called "Scenario 10 – Defense of North America Cyber Attack Variant," was designed to demonstrate the ability of Defense Department employees to corrupt data, introduce malicious viruses and compromise the military's computers. During a contentious strike, such an internal attack could be expected, according to the scenario.
The documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen do not explain why the military is focusing on internal sabotage instead of the more widely feared incursion of hostile foreign governments or terrorists.
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"It is also possible that an employee who has been influenced by an outside agency or a hostile country or organization might propagate an internal attack," the documents say. The prospect of a civilian employee gaining access to the department's classified networks, while a more serious threat, was rated as less likely.
John MacLennan, president of the Union of National Defense Employees, says he had not been informed of the Scenario 10 document, but expressed doubt that civilian members of his organization would carry out such attacks. His group, he says, supports the Department of Defense on security matters and had, following the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., disbanded picket lines around military bases within 20 minutes.
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"You've got irate military in there, too," he added.
Computers at Canada's Department of Defense have been successfuly breached by hackers in the past – at least 10 times in 2003. A 17-year-old high school student in the U.S. gained access in 1999 after a 10-minute effort to break in, leaving messages that described ways the military could improve security.
