At this juncture, it may be somewhat difficult to accept the proposition that a threat to the telecommunications grid, both wired and wireless, in the United States could potentially be subject to a catastrophic cyber attack. After careful research on the subject, it appears the potentiality of an event of such magnitude, which either disrupts one or the other grids for a long period or destroys either, is both theoretically and realistically impossible. It may be that proponents—those who advance such theories—equate such “doomsday” scenarios as if a cyber attack would or could be of the same magnitude as a conventional or nuclear military strike. Terms such as “cyber Pearl Harbor,” “cyber 9/11” and “cyber Vietnam” have been used to describes potential catastrophic cyber attacks and yet, “Though many have posited notions on what a ‘real’ cyber war would be like, we lack the understanding of how such conflicts will be conducted and evolve.” (Rattray & Healey, 2010, p. 77). Yet, the U.S. government continues to focus on such events, as if the plausibility of small-scale cyber attacks were not as pressing.
In 2010, former senior U.S. officials conducted a simulation imagining of a catastrophic cyber attack, the origins of which came by way of a mobile application having malware that was self-replicating that eventually overwhelmed wireless networks and disabled portions of wired network communications and the internet as well as curtailing electrical supply channels and oil and gas pipelines (Corbin, 2010). Rather than consider the likelihood of such a catastrophe, the panel took the position that if such an event were to occur the government would have to take over telecommunications in this country, eight-five percent of which o...
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...n the age of catastrophic terrorism. London: Routledge.
Kotapati, K., Liu, P., Sun, Y., & LaPorta, T. F. (2005). A taxonomy of cyber attacks on 3G networks. In Intelligence and Security Informatics (pp. 631-633). Retrieved November 11, 2013 from http://nsrc.cse.psu.edu/tech_report/NAS-TR-0021-2005.pdf
Program on Telecommunications and Cybersecurity Policy. (n.d.). The Global Information Society Project Program for Telecommunications Policy. Retrieved November 11, 2013, from http://www.telecom-program.org/
Rattray, G., & Healey, J. (2010). Catagorizing and understanding offensive cyber capabilities
and their use. In Committee on Deterring Cyber attacks: Informing Strategies and Developing Options (Ed.), Proceedings of a Workshop on Deterring Cyber attacks: Informing Strategies and Developing Options for U.S. Policy. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
Taylor, R. W., Fritsch, E. J., Liederbach, J., & Holt, T. J. (2011). Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Terrorism represents a continuing threat to the United States. It is the most significant threat to our national security. Terrorist attacks have definitely left many concerns about the possibilities of future incidents of terrorism in the United States. Since the events of September 11, 2011, Americans and much of the world are afraid. Americans are at war with terrorism and no longer feel comfortable. A part of this unease feeling has to do with cyber terrorism.
Australia is dependent on technology, everything from state security, economics and information collaboration is more accessible resulting in an increased reliance on digital networks. The rapid increase in cyber activity has a symbiotic relationship with cyber crime. The evolving nature of cyber crimes are constantly leaving counter measures obsolete in the face of these new technologies. Australia takes insufficient action against cyber crime, inaction is based on Australia’s previous focus on counter-terrorism. This study will use the Australia’s National Security Strategy 2013 to show the increasing trend towards cyber security. Unfortunately the Australia Government is lacking in the presence of this growing phenomenon. Recently cyber crimes including attacks from Anonymous and Wiki-leaks prove that no network is completely secure. This study will conclude that the exponential growth of the Internet has resulted in an inability to properly manage regardless of the governmental strategies being implemented.
The threats to security from the United States Department of Defense, the national power grid and the Chamber of Commerce are very real and omnipresent. The Defense Department made an admission of the first major cyber attack upon its systems in August 2010. It was revealed that the attack actually took place in 2008 and was accomplished by placing a malicious code into the flash drive of a U.S. military laptop. “The code spread undetected on both classified and unclassified systems, establishing what amounted to a digital breachhead.” (2) This quote, attributed to then Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III, is just part of the shocking revelations that were disclosed in his speech made on July 14, 2011.
The 20 Enemies of the Internet. 1999. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Feb 20, 2001. <http://www.rferl.org/nca/special/enemies.html>.
USCYBERCOM unifies the command of the cyberspace efforts and units of the United States military. The United States Department of Defense also has outlined the principles that form its cyber defense strategy, building and maintaining ready forces and capabilities to conduct cyberspace operations, defend the DoD information network, secure DoD data, and mitigate risks to DoD missions. Be prepared to defend the U.S. homeland and U.S. vital interests from disruptive or destructive cyberattacks of significant consequence. Build and maintain viable cyber options and plan to use those options to control conflict escalation and to shape the conflict environments at all stages. Build and maintain robust international alliances and partnerships to deter shared threats and increase international security and stability. The five pillars of cyber security, confidentiality, integrity, availability, non-repudiation, and authentication. Protecting information from disclosure to unauthorized individuals, systems or entities, Protect information, systems, and services from unauthorized modification or destruction, Timely, reliable access to data and information services by authorized users, the ability to correlate a recorded action with its originating individual or entity, and the ability to verify the identity of an individual or entity
Relationships with foreign intelligence services have expanded and our capacity to repel cyber-attacks have been strengthened. And taken together, these efforts have prevented multiple attacks and saved innocent lives -- not just here in the United States, but around
The term “cyber terrorism” refers to the use of the Internet as a medium in which an attack can be launched such as hacking into electrical grids, security systems, and vital information networks. Over the past four decades, cyber terrorists have been using the Internet as an advanced communication tool in which to quickly spread and organize their members and resources. For instance, by using the instantaneous spread of information provided by the Internet, several terrorist’s groups have been able to quickly share information, coordinate attacks, spread propaganda, raise funds, and find new recruits for their cause. Instantaneous and unpredictable, the technological advantages these terrorists have obtained from using the Internet includes
Paisley. "The Impact of a Cyber War." Defense Tech RSS. N.p., 16 Jan. 2008. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. (Source H)
It is unrealistic to imagine that the copious amount of departments responsible for cybersecurity are able to adequately protect the country; therefore, the government needs to form one department that can be responsible for all cybersecurity problems and cyberattacks. When forming this new department, resources from other groups that currently share responsibility can be moved in order to decrease the amount of resources needed for the new group. But, it is also unfathomable for the government to be responsible for all cybersecurity as “... the reality is that while the lion’s share of the cybersecurity expertise lies in the federal government, more than 90 percent of the physical infrastructure of the Web is owned by private industry” (McConnell 4). Therefore the government must collaborate with the private sector. This cooperation can be utilized to help form the new government group as “there is also an opportunity for the new agency to be formed in a more deliberate way, drawing on leadership from the private economy to promote efficiency and cost-effectiveness” (Cohen 2). By working with the private sector, the new agency can reduce costs of personnel and equipment, increase performance, and maintain diverse cybersecurity plans. Once a
The nation has become dependent on technology, furthermore, cyberspace. It’s encompassed in everything we deliver in our daily lives, our phones, internet, communication, purchases, entertainment, flying airplane, launching missiles, operating nuclear plants, and implicitly, our protection. The more ever-growing technology empower Americans, the more they become prey to cyber threats. The United States Executive Office of the President stated, “The President identified cybersecurity as one of the top priorities of his administration in doing so, directed a 60-day review to assess polices.” (United States Executive Office of the President, 2009, p.2). Furthermore, critical infrastructure, our network, and internet alike are identified as national assets upon which the administration will orchestrate integrated cybersecurity policies without infringing upon and protecting privacy. While protecting our infrastructure, personal privacy, and civil liberties, we have to keep in mind the private sector owns and operates the majority of our critical and digital infrastructure.
The world is in another cold war, except this time countries are battling for cyber supremacy. Cyberspace is a massive land of ever-changing technology and personal interaction (McGuffin and Mitchell 1). Cyberspace is not only a place where people post pictures and update their profile, but it also plays an enormous role in running a country. Advanced countries use computers to guide their military, keep track of citizens, run their power grids, and hold plans for nuclear devices and nuclear power. Risks to commercial and government concerns are now being noticed and many countries are taking actions to prevent such threats (McGuffin and Mitchell 1).
Plenty of researchers have done reviews about the impact of cyber warfare to take effect in the recent decades. Voices and opinions are different, when it comes to whether cyber war will take place or not, with most of the articles claiming that cyber security is alarming towards a negative effect. Like Arquilla & Ronfeldt,(1993) wrote about the coming of cyber war, and further went on to state that “industrialization led to attritional warfare by massive armies (e.g., World War I). Mechanization led to maneuver predominated by tanks (e.g., World War II). The information revolution implies the rise of cyber war”. However, Rid,(2012) pointed out that cyber war will not take place, clearly defined what cyber war entails, and make clear the difference between cyber-attacks and warfare.
Taylor, R.W., Caeti, T.J., Loper, D.K., Fritsch, E.J. & Liederbach, J., 2006, Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism, 1st Edition, New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
Cybercrime is a global issue plaguing the world. The dictionary defines cybercrime as “crime conducted via the Internet or some other computer network”(Merriam-Webster). The definition remains very broad because the word “cyber” is defined as “relating to the culture of computers, information technology, and virtual reality.” Due to the growing number of people gaining access to the internet, rapid development of technology, and the globalization of the world, more of the world population is becoming susceptible to involvement in cybercrime – whether it be as a victim or a criminal. Cybercrime involves different levels of the world on both the victim and criminal side from an individual citizen, to small groups, businesses, and the government, to the countries of the world. There are different groups from law enforcement agencies to the U.S. Secret Service, that are attempting to combat the problem through cooperation and preemptive efforts. If these groups combined with the public to protect themselves and the country from criminals that commit cybercrime, the nation’s network and technology servers would be much safer for technology users. Clearly, cybercrime is a problem because it puts internet users at risk of being taken advantage of or harmed.