Operation Aurora

The article says that China had been losing the trust of outside nations. This started when China was unable

“For FireEye bad news means good business. The bad news comes in the form of corporations that have either suffered cyber-attacks on their computer networks or want to prevent such attacks from happening. The good business results come to FireEye as the companies seek software to keep the bad guys out and stop those who may have found a way inside of their operations.” 13 FireEye creates a virtualize environment of your network and allowed its technology to identify possible malware attacks. The tool was actually sending alarms notices of this incident but was ignored by the security staff. The thought behind it was that Target did not have a good understanding of the network environment which leads to negligence to this issue.” Target spent $1.6 million on a sophisticated anti-malware system called FireEye that actually caught the hack and could have automatically eradicated the malware without any human interaction. But that feature was turned off, as it’s believed the newly purchased, and tested system, was still mistrusted by Target’s security personnel.” 14 This leads to the question of how all of this could have been prevented and steps to make sure it prevented in the future. In my evaluation I felt the fail points was a critical assets was touching a non-essential area. This is what gave the pathway for the outside intrusion to get into core essential functions in the company. “Brian Krebs interviewed a former member of Target's security team regarding the Ariba portal, "Most, if not all, internal applications at Target

Project Shield, Google's effort to protect attacks on news and human rights websites is going public. When released a couple years ago, Project Shield was limited to a team of testers. Now, it will be opened up to the world's news sources in order to prevent censorship. Privacy is all the rage these days, with companies like Apple, Facebook and Yahoo fighting pressure from the government. The Beastie Boys said it best. You have got to fight for your right to party. Except change party to privacy. Doesn't quite roll off the tongue but you get the point.

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.

Some dangers of Google’s current strategy are that China’s government may impose more and more restriction on companies like Google. In this case, at what point would the censorship become unacceptable to Google? Furthermore, Google faces criticism and potential loss of customers due to their decisions regarding the Chinese market.

The refusal of Apple to help US authorities in unlocking the iPhone used by the mass shooter in San Bernardino has not gone down well with Chines official either. According to sources, Apple has recently refused many a times to hand over its source code to Chinese authorities.

I understood at the time Google was allowing a lot information that the Chinese government did not want allowed to some of the users and it took some time for Google to finally open up an office in China to work as one with the Government. Even with Google having an office in China still creates censorship of a lot of access to information. To become more ethical I think China should allow Google to open up more and allow users in China to access information to grow and to better themselves. As humans, I believe no one should have limits or roadblocks to educate themselves, but be free and have rights to open up about your opinion. Google is trying that in China now and has before to overcome some of the barriers that was set for censorship. As Google continues to push I think more doors will open up for the ability to allow users in China to have access to freedom of

or data brokers as well as with public organizations (like police). Because of this there are still many questions about the data governance that Google will follow and the privacy protection it will offer to its customers. Moreover Flyverbom (2015) states that citizens and consumers, who are tracked online in a daily basis and whose personal data can be obtained by government authorities and are provided to companies for advertisements reasons, have started to be aware of their personal data and their life tracking. In this post-Snowden era people are more well-informed than before and they have started to care more about their privacy which means that is logic Google car’s project to raise questions about privacy to its potential users.

Cyber security breaches have shown a spike in 2015, with large-scale compromises on companies like Target, Sony and Home Depot. There is a strong demand to deploy more robust cyber security tools to prevent future attacks. FireEye, a cyber-security firm, has started to fill the void and is reaping the rewards.

John Mariotti, a well-known information-security author once said, “We worried for dec-ades about WMDs – Weapons of Mass Destruction. Now, it is time to worry about a new kind of WMDs – Weapons of Mass Disruption” (Relia, 2016, 18). In this quote, Mariotti is stating that it is time for society to shift focus from worrying about, and defending, ourselves from nuclear warfare, to focusing on cyber warfare, a type of attack that is defined by J. Davis as “an attempt to damage another nation 's computers or information networks through, for example, computer viruses or denial-of-service attacks (n.d.).” On a smaller scale, hackers are attempting to damage other users’ computer systems, or information networks, using the same methods. One of

This can be considered a small step to improve the Chinese communist governmental control. Also, Google might not be the main Internet source for China at this moment (Intelligence2, 2008) but it is still able to provide immediate information regarding natural and harmful incidents. This can help prevent incidents such as the one that occurred in 2002 near Minot, North Dakota, where a freight train derail and released a toxic cloud of anhydrous ammonia over the town. The people living near the area of this incident were not immediately informed and unable to take the necessary precautions, which lead to the hospitalization of 300 people nearly blinded by the ammonia (Hill, 2006, p.120). If an incident as such would occur in China, with its immense population, the results would be devastating if information did not reach it’s destination on time. Also, while the Chinese government is allowed to censor Google, the Chinese population is able to obtain information of the United States and other governments throughout the world. Being provided with world wide information can lead to inspire the Chinese masses to start asking questions. They are given a way to indirectly judge their government and compare it to that of other countries, which can fuel the spark of the

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

Opening The quick advancement and progress of the internet across the world has led to many great opportunities for American business. However, this advancement has pushed the bounds for some countries on their stance for the free flow of information. This has been the problem for Google and its relationship with China. The restrictions set up by the Chinese government go against the ideas and ethics of Google. However, the presence of Google will likely help push political change by opening some doors for accessing information. This will also have the added opportunity of maximizing Google’s corporate interests.

Their capabilities in advanced malware protection, data protection and/or management features raise the competitive bar for all products in the market, and they can change the course of the industry” (Firstbrook at al., 2013). Many individuals are already familiar with McAfee as it is commonly pre-installed on newly purchased laptops and desktops with a Windows OS. For example, reviews from Pcmag.com show McAfee with a history of impressively high ratings for their business security solutions (Pcmag.com, 2016). A major contribution to their success is McAfee’s reputation for surpassing the industry’s standard by providing quality, support, and availability to their customers. They work especially hard to ensure a product that is considered easy to use and displays information only when needed.

Cyber Security focuses on protecting computers, programs, networks, and information from unintended or unauthorized access, change, or destruction.