Cyber Security

President Obama has declared that the “cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation” and that “America's economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cybersecurity.” Cyber security is more important than ever; more people are using remote access instead of travelling to the office. Hard drives both mechanical and solid state are being replaced by “cloud computing/storage. A cursory look via Google show many ways to compromise a system. To help in understanding these threats we will look at types of threats and they may be employed; legislation that has/is being considers and possible recommendations

What are the threats to cyber-security, There are three primary threats to cyber-security: One) an EM Pulse caused by nature or man-made. 2) computer viruses/malware, the installation of such is accomplished either passive; an application stands ready for a user to download it; or active, where a person (s) target a specific system hacking. 3) From the inside. Each one these actions has their unique manner of running chaos through an orderly system thereby compromising national security. .

EM Pulse

One the quickest ways to take a down a cyber-based system, electrical grid, or anything else that runs on power or a program is by an Electro Magnetic Pulse or EM pulse. An EM pulse can caused both by natural means (this is what gives us the Aurora’s and can be relatively benign), or can be made man made. A man-made EM pulse was first experienced during the early testing of nuclear weapons at high altitude. The phenomena is characterized by a short but powerful burst of electromagnetic waves that spread out from the device in diminishing waves of intensity, in short this i...

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...y, if the past is any guide, a major disaster such as EM pulse or a rogue drone attacking a major civilian target will need to happen before anything of consequence is done.

A possible scenario

The year is 2020, threat forces have managed to obtain a US drone large enough for their objectives- to disrupt US infrastructure. The drone’s payload is a dirty EM device. Through a a cyber-link the vehicle is launched. Undetected the craft makes it way to within range of the drone’s estimated flight distance and launches the device towards Miami Florida. Once at altitude and still undetected the drone explodes creating an EM pulse (shockwave). The results are devastating to both life and property. Emboldened by their success, the threat force ready another created by reverse engineering the first one; this time a ransom is demanded or another American city is attacked.