Cyber-Warfare In America

When considering the technological advances over the past 50 years, the Internet has undoubtedly had the greatest impact on everyday life of developed economies and its citizens. The world has become smaller, societies interconnected, and the pace of global integration dramatically increased since the introduction of the Internet. With the world connected, cyber actors represent a very real and often underestimated threat to the United States’ ability to defend national security, protect industrial innovation, and secure privacy information. As a result of globalization, the foreign cyber actors represent the most imminent threat to national security, corporate innovation, and citizen privacy rights.

The most recents detections of how cyber warfare is inevitably coming was the accusations of Russia hacking the the Democratic National Committee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email’s releasing damaging evidence against them which ultimately lead to Donald Trump being named the President of The United States (Diamond, 2016). The effects of cyber warfare have leaked over in to televise series, forming shows such as CSI cyber, and the gaming world, Call Of Duty Infinite Warfare. Neglect regarding cyber security can: undermine the reputation of both the government and elected officials; force unacceptable expenditures associated with the cost of cleaning up after security breaches; cripple governments' abilities to respond to a wide variety of homeland security emergency situations or recover from natural or man-made threats; and disable elected officials' ability to govern (Lohrmann, 2010). Classified information such as overseas operators and attacks, missile locations, response plans and weaknesses, and much more cripples America’s ability to defend itself from enemies both foreign and domestic. To combat cyber terrorism is the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA. In an article titled “Why Cybersecurity Information Sharing Is A Positive Step for Online Security” it is discussed that under CISA, the Department of Homeland security will have more responsibility for domestic cybersecurity. CISA’s fundamental purpose is to better enable cybersecurity information to be shared between the private and public sectors (2016). The sharing of threat information between public and private sectors can give the the United States a head start by allowing them to share information rapidly and more often to combat enemy threats while still providing safety for privacy and civil

In a documentary by Admiral Vern (2002), “the events of September 11, 2001 tragically illustrated that the promise of peace and security in the 21st Century is fraught with profound dangers”. The US foreign policies and interest in key geographic regions of the world sparks controversies resulting in state funded cyber attacks, cyber espionage and terrorism against the United States and its allied nations. When several attempts to cripple the United States and its allied nations through negotiations failed, enemy states and nefarious groups have shifted their focus to cyber attacks and cyber espionage. According to Gady (2016), “China continues cyber espionage against the United States”. Drezner (2014), “Washington and Beijing hardly agree on everything, but they agree on the big things, like maintaining an open global economy, reducing the likelihood of a military confrontation, and tackling climate change”.

By using the term ill prepared, I aim to convey that the United States is not equipped with enough protection to prevent every possible instance of the threat of cyberwarfare from occurring. I propose we are not where our nation should be in terms of dealing with all actual occurrences of the threat of cyberwarfare, were it to be fully realized. This can be carried over into our response capability to any such attack, which may manifest in many forms. For example, our response against perpetrators and those who aid or comfort

Today however, a new type of warfare has emerged and occurs when outside entities conduct an attack on a power grid, network, or both with the intent of causing damage. This type of warfare is called cyber warfare. In the United States computers control everything. It is no secret that hostile countries and terrorist organizations are cognizant and they know our economy, security, and infrastructure can be crippled by a successful cyber-attack. Examples of potential targets for cyber terrorists include military bases, water systems, banking facilities, air traffic control centers and power plants. Even the Commander in Chief, President Obama has stated the threat of a cyber war is real and we must prepare for it and increase our security measures. First, this paper will discuss cyberterrorism and cyber-attacks as they pose a direct threat to national security and the economy. Then, we will review cyber-attacks against the U.S. from China, Iran, and Russia along with the impact and possible ramifications from those attacks. Finally, this paper discusses U.S. strategies to minimize the impact of cyber-attacks.

The United States is under attack. To be exact, the nation’s power grid is under attack in the form of cyber warfare. On May 21st, 2013 Congressmen Edward J. Markey and Henry A Waxman published a report that provided the findings from information that they had requested from over 150 utility companies (of which 60% responded). More than a dozen utilities reported “daily, constant, or frequent attempted cyber-attacks” (Markey & Waxman) with one utility reporting that they have about 10,000 attempted attacks per month!

Most ISIS practice customs from the 7th century, but the methods they use to fight a war are 21st century techniques. ISIS have an advanced computer network that uses social media to attract terrorists worldwide to help them attack countries like the United States. Many countries have been victims of cyber attacks but may not realize it until long after the security breach occurred.

Drawing from authors like Jason Andress who is an academic teacher and a professional security expert, the book Cyber Warfare states that “The U.S. military does not have a definition for cyber warfare today” (53). While this work was published in 2014, it is still a fair assessment into today. According to the CCDCOE, again on their webpage “Cyber Definitions,” cyber warfare as agreed between The United States and Russia is defined as “cyber attacks that are authorized by state actors against cyber infrastructure in conjunction with government campaign.” The two nations also define cyber attacks in the same agreement to mean “an offensive use of a cyber weapon intended to hard designated target.” Finally, the two nations define cyber

Abstract: Everyday security is provided by the states and federal government. These tasks get more difficult as new technology introduces itself. Cybersecurity is one of the most popular security sectors in today’s world. There is not only cyberbullying going on in the world. Terrorism can be planned and sent from person to person over the internet. People’s identities are being stole to help carry out these terrorist acts and this is just the being of it. The United States created the Department of Homeland Security as a result of the 9/11 attacks. This was an effort to prevent future terrorist attacks on our nation. Along with that department, laws have been enacted, such as the USA PATRIOT Act. This law was introduced and passed to provide Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies with better resources to fight and stand up against terrorism. The way to successfully providing security against domestic and international terrorists is to understand the mentality of a terrorist. Critical assessments, more efficient alert systems, and physical security standards must improve in order to solidify our current security posture if the United States wants to deter future terrorist attacks against its culture and economy.

CNN states “the CIA thinks cyber attacks have the second greatest potential for national destruction behind only a nuclear attack”(Goldman 2011). This statement explains how big of a security threat to the United States cyber threats really are. There are hackers will hack important databases and collect important/confidential information exclusive to the United States government. Firewalls cannot even protect computers at this point. ISIS’s physical attacks have been largely mitigated but their ability to commit cyber warfare is troubling for the United States. CNN also warns that “Though nations are unlikely to attack our systems for fear of response from the United States, terrorists wouldn't hesitate. That's a worry, since our government is woefully unprepared for such an event” (Goldman 2011). Overall, cyber threats are a huge security threat to the United States and the country as a whole is unbelievably unprepared for that.

When a third party gains access to information not intended for them, turmoil follows shortly after, such as during the Cold War when Russia received nuclear secrets. As technologically evolved, society welcomed new threats globally. Consequently, the U.S. finds itself surrounded by plausible risks of cyber attacks, such as hazards to the economy and infrastructure of this nation (). Economically, cyber threats pose a global shut down because of how intertwined the largest economies are, so if America’s economy collapses, other nations such as China would seriously suffer as a result. For example of how costly cyber attacks can be, the Love Bug virus costs computer users billions of dollars annually even though the virus lacks the use of expensive, high-tech equipment (). The infrastructure of the U.S. receives no less of a threat from cyber attacks. Repetition of any attacks poses the largest threat to the national security through infrastructure, military campaigns display this theory. A single battle does not determine the overall outcome of a war, much like cyber attacks. One attack does pose a potential risk, but the risk increases as the number of attacks increases. An array of threats wait for organization and execution, yet America’s preparations for such threats lacks in nearly all areas. Barack Obama placed steps to increase the nation’s cyber security, but the steps cannot prevent a full-scale cyber war, which leaves America at risk (). Many breaches of security exist where a third party gained access to secret information with undisclosed intentions, such as state-sponsored hacks by China on the

The United States of America faces many key security challenges in the current world order and will continue to face evolving challenges under the leadership of the new Trump administration. Some of the national security challenges that the American government faces have been issues since the founding of the country, such as the existence of adversary states, but several others have arisen because of advancing technology and the rapid exchange of information in a globalized world. Examples of fairly recent national security challenges include international terrorism and cyber security threats, which have both had a large presence in the news lately and have drawn the focus and concern of the American people. As a result of the existence of

The damage of a full-fledged cyber attack would be devastating, the destruction would be unparalleled to any other tragedy that has occurred America. Since technology is responsible for providing America with vital entities and resources, an unadulterated cyber attack would nearly fail the American economy; this is what is known as critical systems failure. Weapons of mass destruction and cyber attacks present imminent threats of critical systems failure. Although currently Americas’ critical infrastructures are coordinated by controlled systems, majority of these systems are indeed connected to the American cyberspace. This exposes one of America’s most vulnerable spot amidst cyber security. Another major vulnerable spot within the nations IT security would be the geographical physical location for each of Americas primary infrastructures, as well as their productivity. Due to the proximal locations, the major infrastructures could very well be infiltrated by one efficient CNA.

In the United States, Cyber Security and safety are one of the nation’s most critical threats today. We face the threat of our nation’s “secrets” being leaked to our countries enemies as well as our allies. Even though our federal information may not be as much of a threat when it is leaked to our allies, our allies could sell it to our enemies for a pretty healthy profit. The United States has faced many encumbrances with cyber attacks in the last few years. We’ve had some controversial acts of cyber terrorism and some unfeigned acts of cyber terrorism recently; with the supposed “rigged” election in which Donald

The branches of the military, for a couple generations, have always been the Army, Navy, Air force, Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard; however, in an ever evolving digital world, the notion that outer space would be the next military front is being rapidly replaced by the idea that cyber space will be the next arms race. The United States has been defending attacks on their infrastructure day after day, night after night, when one hacker on one side of the world sleeps, another takes their place to attempt to compromise the US government. The motives may range from a political ‘hacktivist’ trying to prove a point, to an economic spy, trying to gain a competitive edge on its more upstart rivals, to an attempt to control the United States