Is Information And The Cyber Vulnerable World? How Prepared Are We?

Cyber-attacks against Sony Pictures brought the vulnerabilities of poor cyber security policies to light. These attacks are nothing new but they appear to be getting more severe. According to James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, “Cyber threats to U.S. national and economic security are increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication, and

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!

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

Clarke and Knake use a mixed method research approach in Cyber War to support their hypothesis that offensive prowess is meaningless without solid defense in cyberspace, and that the United States need immediately fix our defensive cyber shortfalls, or face apocalyptic doom. Specifically, the authors define ‘cyber war’ as “actions by a nation state to penetrate another nation’s computers or networks for the purposes of causing damage or disruption.” This infers that they are really talking about ‘warfare’ and

Computers have become part of our daily complex lives; we depend heavily on computers to help break our complicated lives down. Most people now prefer to do things the digital way and so does companies. Most of trading (buying and selling) is now online which requires computers. In order to satisfy our hunger for digital living, there is a need for technology called the operating system to carry out the activities we require our computers to do. Computers and technology come in different forms and sizes and due to the capitalistic nature of our economy everyone is allowed to come up with their own form of computer and even the technology to run it. In recent years’ companies have gained interest doing business digitally and since software have become easier to write or code, it is also vulnerable- easy for programmers to access and exploit called hacking. Hackers are unapproved clients who break into a technological framework, change or decimate data, frequently by introducing hazardous malware without the insight and assent of the host company. Companies are now at risk of losing much more than money by doing business the digital way. It is in this view that the Security Exchange

We are facing a new threat from the cyber world which allows our enemies to attack from various parts of the world by pushing a button to inflict damage to our nation’s information technology systems. This threat is one which political figures have warned the U.S. government about for years

The availability of cheap cyber weapons has made cyber-terrorism a growing threat to the stability of America's critical infrastructures and society in general. Needless to say that cyber terrorism is a major issue for American policymakers and IT professionals. The growing threat to commercial and government entities has prompted organizations to develop effective strategies and methods to protect their resources and assets from the threat of attackers. Such strategies and methods include but are not limited to continual risk and vulnerability assessment, upgrade of software and use of tools such as encryption, firewalls and intrusion detection systems and the implementation of disaster recovery and business continuity plans in the case of a cyber incident. The following paper will offer a few basic definitions to illustrate the concept of cyber terrorism, discuss the physical and human aspects of cyber terrorism, offer assessment of the most pressing threats and the most vulnerable targets, recommend methods to combat national and international cyber terrorism. Finally, several preventative actions will be recommended for implementation. Finally, a basic checklist/template is also provided in order to better illustrate and summarize recommendations and suggestions.

Cyber security is a major concern for every department, business, and citizen of the United States because technology impacts every aspect of our daily lives. The more we use technology the more complacent, we get with the information that is stored within our cyber networks. The more complacent, we get, the more vulnerable we become to cyber-attacks because we fail to update the mechanisms that safeguard our information. Breaches to security networks are detrimental to personal, economic, and national security information. Many countries, like Russia, China, Israel, France, and the United Kingdom, now have the abilities and technology to launch cyber-attacks on the United States. In the last five years there have been several attacks on cyber systems to gain access to information maintained by major businesses and the United States Government. Cyber-attacks cause serious harm to the United States’ economy, community, and the safety, so we need to build stronger cyber security mechanisms. Based on my theoretical analysis, I recommend the following:

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.

The business world is increasingly dependent on technology to supply information and communications facilities to staff, partners, and customers. Securing organizational information and the systems that are used to manage and transmit data has become a high profile function. Failure to secure information can have a severe impact on business

Cyber security includes ensuring the data, frameworks we depend on consistently—whether at home, work or school. Consider the amount of your own data is put away either all alone PC or on somebody else 's framework. How is that information and the frameworks on which that information lives (or is transmitted) kept secure? The expanding volume and modernity of digital security threats–including focusing on phishing tricks, information robbery, and other online vulnerabilities–demand that we stay cautious about securing our frameworks and data. The normal unprotected associated with the Internet can be hacked in minutes. A great deal of computers and website pages are being found with viruses each day. New hacking strategies are invented constantly. These are only a couple case of hacking we hear about and they highlight the significance of data security as an essential way to deal with securing information and frameworks.

According to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), cybersecurity is: “the activity or process, ability or capability, or state whereby information and communications systems and the information contained therein are protected from and/or defended against damage, unauthorized use or modification, or exploitation” (Bullock et al. 323). Additionally, as private sector owners, we’re vulnerable to cyberattacks. Therefore, we must be take precautionary action as a means to protect our sensitive

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.

Safety of information is the most valuable asset in any organization particular those who provide financial service to others. Threats can come from a variety of sources such as human threats, natural disasters and technical threats. By identifying the potential threats to the network, security measure can be taken to combat these threats, eliminate them or reduce the likelihood and impact if they should occur.

Almost all kind of large and small organizations might face increasing number of attacks into their network or intellectual property. This may lead to data disclosure, data destruction, and damage of organization’s reputation. There are numerous threats in the cyber space which might be capable of stealing, destroying or making use of out sensitive data for financial and non-financial gains. As the amount of computer, mobile and internet users increases, so does the number of exploiters.