Cybersecurity and cyberattacks are like the two side of the same coin, where one is evolved to subdue the other. Cyberattacks has been a point of discussion since late 1980’s when blooming cyber infrastructures in Western countries like USA & Canada were affected by one of the most malicious worm-the Morris worm: which was observed to spread in the computers across the Northern continent and replicate itself. The worm could downgrade the systems so as to slow down the systems and eventually make it unusable. Since then cyberattacks has been an ongoing criminal activity where hackers have proved to steal confidential information like as that of Social security numbers, the credit card details of massive customer base of retail stores etc. …show more content…
Principle of confidentiality says, the sensitive information should be held confidential and shared only with appropriate users. Cyber security is an ongoing research matter as the types of attack methods vary and new ones are evolved over time. Hence the vigil should be kept by the information stored in the system and shared over the network to anticipate and overthrow any possible cyberattacks.
Hacking of Government computers exposed 21.5 million people
The computer systems being used in Government agencies, retail stores, military agencies etc. are usually observed as the most likely targets of cyberattacks. The hacking of government computers reported in the mid of 2015 is a blatant case of cyberattack where the personal data of about a quarter millions of people in US were found to be exposed. The reports released by the office of Personnel management, every person who has cooperated with the background check for at least past 15 years is confirmed to be affected. As per the agency reports, sensitive information including financial and health history, addresses and other private details of around 20 million people who were put to a government background check including their friends and spouses, were purloined by the hackers. US has already witnessed a security breach when the personnel data of around 5 million federal employees in the early 2015’s. Though the administration officials haven’t pinpointed a
With the Age of technology advancing, the more cyber-attacks are occurring. Many of our information are on computer networks and we like to think that our information is well protect. But how protected is our information? Cybersecurity bills are introduced in Congress almost every year. These bills regularly imply to permit organizations and the government to divulge dangerous information for a “cybersecurity” reason to secure and safeguard against attacks against networks and computer systems.
DTL Power Corporation is an electricity generating and distributing company headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Currently, they have 5.4 million electricity customers and 485,000 natural gas customers. Also, DTL Power has full or majority ownership of 14 nuclear reactors in 12 nuclear power plants. Additionally, it has 2 hydropower plants in the Midwest and 5 wind energy centers along the East Coast. Last year, incidents around the world involving nuclear reactors have led the company to increase security and safety regulations at its nuclear plants. Furthermore, the company is also researching additional environmentally friendly opportunities such as geothermal energy.
The National Security Agency has installed a software in about a hundred thousand computers all over the world that will allow them to hack and spy on personal computers without being connected to the internet. This software has been used since 2008 but violates the basic right of privacy because the software is secretly installed into the computers. The amount of information that the government will be able to access is very overwhelming and concerning to many American citizens. Most information that can be accessed includes email, cell phone calls, texts, browsing histories, bank transactions, and location. Besides the risk of a person’s personal information being exposed to the public, this can develop many other serious issues in our world.
One main security attack that was big to me was the U.S. government of personnel records database. It’s report that 22.5 million was affected by this breach including me; therefore, not only the federal employee’s information but family’s sensitive information as well. James B.Comey of the FBI and other U.S. officials feel China is the mastermind of this security attack. According to article Hacks of OPM database the security attack may have expose information dating back to 2000. A cybersecurity tools had been installed and this is where the breach of personnel records was discovered. The report of how this breach happen boils down to thieves using stolen contractor logins and passwords. There was a trace done which pointed to the Chinese government; on the other hand, the Obama administration has not formally accused Beijing off this breach. Mr. Comey’s strongly feels the hackers obtained his “SF 86” form, which all applicants for security clearances must fill out. This kind of information contains known address
The data breaches at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) comprised of two likely connected and possibly coordinated incidents to obtain sensitive information of 4.2 million former and current government employees and security background information of 21.5 million individuals starting in July 2012 through 2015. This first report will provide information that describes the attack origin on how attackers gain access into the OPM infrastructure, the action performed, the assets compromised, and the state effect of the vulnerabilities. Moreover, brief the direct and intangible cost of the OPM cybercrime into the numerous impact factors.
There are often times when a document covering as many aspects as were covered by the 9/11 Commission in which it becomes difficult to say definitively whether the results were effective or ineffective. This is true when speaking about whether the government has met the recommendations that were made by the 9/11 Commission. The federal government has been effective in meeting certain recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, however they have also failed appallingly in certain areas as well.
Cyber-attacks are being used for espionage, industrial sabotage, or even as a sort of punishment for organizations who are doing business in a way not appreciated by hacker communities. Attacks stopped being random, today’s many hackers know exactly who they want to strike and are patiently waiting for the
Throughout the United States today there are many attempted hacks going on right now, most unsuccessful, but some are successful. Major businesses as well as minor businesses have had to invest in a good security systems and making backups of data to protect themselves, as well as their clients, from attempted hacking and the risk of sensitive information being leaked out ( such as social security or credit card numbers). As a result, there needed to be more action taken up against hackers, which brought up the demand for laws and regulations. New cyber security laws are being passed to stop or trace hackers back to their initial roots. However, these new laws, invade citizen’s
We are essentially exposing ourselves and, more importantly, personally identifiable information to a number of cyber threats every time we worked on our laptop. Hackers, often with the help of malicious software, do their best to steal information from personal devices for the benefit of themselves or a third party. EBay, for example, revealed that hackers had managed to steal personal records of 233 million users’ personal information, including usernames, passwords, phone numbers and physical addresses between February and March in 2014. Moreover, damage that derived from cyber-attack also have an impact on national economy, which increase a further risk of living hood of the public. According to the AP, U.S. intelligence officials have said that cyber-crime currently trumps terrorism is the biggest threat to the country’s security. According to research from Arbor Networks, the number of DDoS events, Distributed Denial of Service attack, topping 20GDPs in the first half of 2014, are double that of 2013. With more than 100 attacks at over 100GDPs or higher recorded in the first half of the year in US. Posed by cyber-attack, the devastating impact on individual and the nation has begun to attract attention of the public. Given by IT governance nonprofit ISACA, it was said that 92 percent of respondents felt that advanced persistent
The United States Office of Personnel Management published an announcement in the month of June in 2015, that its office has been the object of ridicule from a high-level cyber-attack. This office is the section for the United States government, which oversees the federal government’s civil services (Lee, 2015). The department manages the security okays necessary for numerous of jobs in the government that oversees top-secret approvals for the armed forces in the United States. Five point six million people fingerprint information was stolen this is a fivefold upsurge since the former approximation of 1.1 million. The infringement of information would have a bearing on twenty-two million individuals that comprised confidential
Computers and the Internet have caused the United State’s National Security to embark on amazing advancements in technology. Yet, both computers and the Internet can quickly grow to become threatening dangers across the nations. With classified, financial, military, and government information often being stored through databases, a cyber breach is a possibility that should be a forefront concern of the United State’s National Security’s defense.
People across the world are becoming disproportionately dependent on modern day technology, which results in more vulnerability to cyber-attacks including cybersecurity breaches. Today, the world continues to experience inordinate cases of cybersecurity meltdowns. There is a rapid growth in complexity and volume of cyber-attacks, and this undermines the success of security measures put in place to make the cyberspace secure for users. Cyber-attacks on both private and public information systems are a major issue for information security as well as the legal system. While most states require government organizations and certain federal vendors to report incidences of data breaches, no equivalent legislation exists to cover private entities.
So considering the types of attacks out there and the extremism with which they have potential to cause harm, it is clear that the threat posed by cyber-attacks is a very deadly one. Cyber-attacks have different origins from which they can be executed and the minds behinds those attacks may range from teenagers who are simply being mischievous, playing dare games, to identity thieves or groups that are after peoples’ financial information and identities to the most dangerous who might be enemy countries or terrorist groups who are mainly motivated by acquiring crucial information to instill harm to that particular nation or individual. Ashmore, W. C. in his journal Impact of Alleged Russian Cyber Attacks
Normally computer security depends on protecting the system from an attack but people do not pay attention to how to handle an attack once it happens. If one were to pay attention to the news you would notice that cyber
1 Everyday we see innovations, new technology in the market, updates, upgrades. The world is moving forward and it is moving rapidly. Businesses around the globe are becoming more dependent on an ever-increasing selection of IT systems and technologies more and more as time goes on. Furthermore, they need to be interconnected with their suppliers, venders, customers and business partners. The dependency on technology combined with interconnection of their business and rapid increase has increased the potential of cyber security risks. Cyber attacks are not just an IT problem; they are more a business risk. Hacking has evolved from hackers to hack for fun to just look for technical vulnerabilities to being sponsored attacks that are targeting specific industries, sectors, companies, and individuals. Cyber attacks methods evolve incredibly fast, complexity, and impact with new, more complex cyber risks everyday. “Many organizations across the industry spectrum are suffering from substantive technology debt.” (PWC.com). Companies are so focused with their emerging business technologies, but they forget that their IT infrastructure is suffering. Their IT infrastructure is aging and it is getting to the point that it cannot even support basic data security functions. Yes, Technology has grown its influence on business, such as “mobile solutions, social media, alternative workplace solutions, collaborative product innovation, digitized healthcare, and telemedicine.”