• U.S. Cyberweapons, Used Against Iran and North Korea, Are a Disappointment Against ISIS
    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/world/middleeast/isis-cyber.html

    The shortcomings of Glowing Symphony illustrated the challenges confronting the government as it seeks to cripple the Islamic State in cyberspace.

    The disruptions often require fighters to move to less secure communications, making them more vulnerable. Yet because the Islamic State fighters are so mobile, and their equipment relatively commonplace, reconstituting communications and putting material up on new servers are not difficult. Some of it has been encrypted and stored in the cloud, according to intelligence officials, meaning it can be downloaded in a new place.

    “There were folks working hard on this stuff, and there were some accomplishments that had an impact, but there was no steady stream of jaw-dropping stuff coming forward as some expected,” said Mr. Geltzer, who now teaches law at Georgetown University Law Center. “There was no sort of shining cybertool.”

    The Obama administration’s frustration with the lack of success against the Islamic State was one factor in its effort to oust Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the N.S.A. and the commander of Cyber Command, according to several former administration officials. They complained that the organizations were too focused on traditional espionage and highly sophisticated efforts to use networks to blow up or incapacitate adversary facilities, like those in Iran and North Korea.

    #cyberwar #resilience #backup