Ex-army bloke says the US is not ready for cyber war

By Nick Farrell
The Inquirer
9 February 2010

FORMER US ARMY computer insecurity specialist Christopher Tarnovsky showed the Black Hat Technical Security Conference exactly why the US cannot handle a cyber war.

Speaking before the throngs of hackers, he hacked into a computer chip called a "Trusted Platform Module" or TPM. TPM chips are supposed to be the industry's highest standard of security and are present in more than 100 million computers sold to businesses and individuals.

When he managed it he had access to all the highly sensitive documents in government and business and almost everything on the PC.

Tarnovsky unlocked the most secure chip manufactured by Infineon Technologies and he claimed that his technique will work on the entire line of security chips manufactured by the outfit. Infineon is the leading maker of TPM chips.

It is not Goodnight Vienna for the computer world, however. Hackers wanting to try the Spanish Inquisition on the TPM chips have to first get their paws on a smartphone, laptop or X-box. They will also then have to torture the TPM chip in acid baths, rust remover, and finally drive a oaken spike into the heart of the chip.

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