How A Massive Cybercrime Affects An Organization?

Moreover, many organizations within the public and private sector heavily relies on technology to carry out their day to day operations. Those cyber technologies help make many difficult or tedious tasks easier to do and technology can also carry out many of those tasks more effectively and efficiently than humans can. However, cyber technologies are at risk of espionage, cyber attacks, or other crimes such as theft and fraud (Ammori & Poellet, 2010).

This assignment was prepared for Professor Foss’ ISSC 361 Information Assurance course, and was turned in on August 7th, 2016. In this assignment, a recent cyberattack on the OPM from last year is examined.

In today’s world it is highly impossible for any kind of business to function without the assistance of technology. Any company that relies on digital data and computer networks have exposure to a host of varying Cyber Attacks. As technology continues to evolve, cyber security breaches become even more difficult to solve. The cybersecurity world rightly believes in the maxim – It’s not if, it’s when!

All indications are that Operation Shady RAT (Remote Access Tool) started in 2006 although it went undetected for several years before begin discovered by analysts at McAfee Incorporated in 2011. Originally it was thought that the tools and techniques used during Operation Shady RAT were highly complex later investigations determined that the exploits used were previously identified and software vendors has published appropriate mitigation procedures to protect computers and networks from unauthorized access. The range of countries and businesses targeted during the operation highlights the importance of proper patching and vulnerability management policies. Operation Shady RAT differed from many other cybercrimes by not specifically targeting computer systems for financial gain; it appears that the perpetrators were after trade secrets and intellectual property. There are differing opinions on the severity and complexity methods used to compromise the computer systems by security vendors McAfee and Kaspersky but those whose information was accessed without proper authorization will attest to the significance of the compromises. There has been no attribution for the perpetrators of Operation RAT.

According to counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, Stuxnet was a weaponized malware computer worm. Stuxnet was launched in mid-2009, it did major damage to Iran’s nuclear program in 2010 and then spread to computers all over the world (Clarke, 2012).

Cyber-attacks are common in the defense industry, but in January 2010, a sophisticated, advanced persistent threat hacked into the commercial sector forever changing the face of cyber security. Dubbed “Operation Aurora” by McAfee, the attack targeted specific high profile corporations to obtain valuable intellectual property. Google, Yahoo, Juniper Networks and Adobe Systems were also among the victims of this highly coordinated cyber heist. By manipulating computer codes the attackers were able to exploit the Microsoft Internet Explorer vulnerabilities to gain access and obtain valuable sensitive information from over thirty high profile companies. Operation Aurora proves that the world is entering into a high-risk era where

Another well-known cyber-attack is the sabotage of Iran’s nuclear program (2007 to 2010). “Stuxnet, as it came to be known, was unlike any other virus or worm that came before. Rather than simply hijacking targeted computers or stealing information from them, it escaped the digital realm to wreak physical destruction of equipment the computers controlled” (Zetter, 2014). Furthermore, Stuxnet is an advanced persistent threat (APT), and it was used to target at a specific manufacturing facility. In June 2010, Stuxnet was discovered and categorized as the most complicated virus / worm ever discovered, and IT professional still commenting about this very interesting virus until today. In addition, Stuxnet was able to cause physical damage such as:

Prevalent to the current trend now is the dependency of the society on Information technology and communication systems. Every aspect of human life is one way or the other linked and controlled by information technology tools. The importance of information technology cannot be over emphasized as its unavailability could lead to a form of disaster or the other. Pivotal infrastructures like finance, healthcare, education and security are driven by information technology. However, information technology and its benefits are accompanied by vulnerabilities and risks that can be exploited by people with the necessary technical skills. Individuals like ‘Hackers’ and ‘Cyber Terrorist’ can cause disruption to information systems, commit financial fraud and also attack computers and networks. These attacks and disruptions could result to violence against people and properties. In some cases, death, serious injuries and severe economic loss could occur as a result of these attacks.

Two key concerns are being prime hacking targets, and reputational damages and loss of proprietary data from cyber-attacks. The latest huge cyber-attack on Equifax has to do with lack of skilled cybersecurity talents, with security tools not being properly managed a company’s ability to respond and mitigates breaches or attacks is compromised. The most alarming problem is that in certain cases it takes companies more than three months to figure out that their systems have been breached , this is as a result hired cybersecurity professional not being able to determine the scope of an attack and how to remediate the damage. At the rate of cyber-attacks, skilled cybersecurity professionals should be every company’s priority.

We won’t stop emphasizing on the importance of information security in every organizations. As a team of conscious security experts, we know the extent of damages you can incur as a result of poor or weak security settings. Like we usually say in most of our publications, information security is a serious business, which must not be overlooked by any organization. There are many questions and issues we need to tackle as far as information security is concerned, but unfortunately, we won’t be discussing them here, as we have already prepared a comprehensive and exclusive courses for each of them. However, if possible, we would discuss some of the issues in this article.

Since the late 1980’s, cyber security has been a growing industry. Viruses such as the Morris Worm proved to the world that the internet was not a safe and secure architecture. In later years the Michelangelo virus, Melissa, and Concept began to push the IT industry for research on cyber security and antivirus protection.

The most compelling category of cyber-attacks is the malware, which negatively impacts the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of a network or system from attacks ranging from the network level up to the operating system level. Therefore, the organizations need to safeguard their network and system components at all possible levels, to avoid a possible malware intrusion (Stallings & Brown, 2012). Various critical categories of malware and their attacking patterns and approaches are comprehensively analyzed in this critical thinking paper. Additionally, one of the critical malware types is highlighted with examples of the various attacks that challenged supposedly well-secured organizations.

With the advent of what many refer to as the internet age, there have been numerous developments in the world as we know it and as time continues to pass, the developments keep on coming thick and fast. Over time we have arrived to an age where the use of computers and networks related to these computers has almost become commonplace. The advantages and benefits that can be drawn from these developments have been many and most of them have been welcome. Industries have been created, new markets have been created and the overall outlook could not be clearer. Simply put, the future looks bright as far as developments in the technological industry is concerned (Creery 215). However, with the massive improvements in the world of technology, the developments, the new and improved ways of doing things there has also come new vulnerabilities and problems. In this paper, I will analyze the different cyber threats that we face and highlight the factors that one ought to consider when developing cyber security policies.

In the last decade, technology has evolved dramatically. Even to the point in which is indispensable in our lives. As the world becomes more and more interconnected through technology, the amount of information that is stored in servers all around the world continues to grow. At the same time, governments, businesses, organizations, military groups, and terrorist groups are constantly developing new technology in order to achieve a competitive advantage over the rest of the world. The technology of today is much more advanced, powerful, and dangerous than the technology from ten years ago, even to the point in which a single cyber-attack can cause the death of millions of people. For that reason, cyber security has

Computers can be compromised in various ways by foreign and domestic attackers. As our computer reliability has improved, the capabilities of cyber-attackers has also grown. Attacks can be executed in a variety of ways and “are designed to steal information and disrupt, deny access to, degrade, or destroy critical information systems” (“Cybersecurity Overview”). The major threats to national security are concerned with stealing and/or destroying economic and political data and manipulating national intelligence. Political data can be altered or destroyed in order to influence elections and/or legislation. Economic data and information is stolen and disrupted in order to damage our economy or to steal from a particular