The Threat Of Cyber Warfare

Wars have been occurring since the beginning of time. Wars were once fought with sticks but as humans evolved, so did the weapons involved. Today’s warfare includes anything from hand grenades to remote controlled planes that are thousands of miles away from the operator. The rise of technology has become an issue due to the increasing development of these devices. Technology is used worldwide and as wars continue to develop, so does the possibility that the next war could rise into a cyber war. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act will ensure the United States takes on these new threats with cybercrime by protecting the country’s critical infrastructures and ensuring the people are ready for the future in the cyberworld.

Primarily, cyber security of the armed forces must be a priority of the United States. As the world becomes increasingly digital, the military must also adapt its ways. A new form of combat, hybrid warfare, has been effective in attaining political objectives without the conventional use of military power (Limnell). Hybrid warfare includes

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!

Pfleeger, S. Pfleeger, and Margulies (2015) outline possible examples of cyber warfare between Canada and China (p. 844). According to Pfleeger, S. Pfleeger, and Margulies (2015), “the Canadian government revealed that several of its national departments had been victims of a cyber attack…” (p. 844). Eventually, the attack was unofficially traced to a computer in China (p. 844). Cyber warfare can be used negatively and positively. It is evident that China was seeking to gain protected information form Canada. Although a purpose of cyber warfare, it is not a conventional way of obtaining information. Additionally, cyber warfare can be used to collect intelligence on an enemy. Anyone seeking to gather intelligence on another individual or group can launch a cyber attack that gains access to protected files. This could be used to help future militant operations or expose critical information. Lastly, cyber warfare can be used to test systems internally. Acting with no malicious intent, “insiders” can utilizing cyber warfare tactics to attack their own cyber security barriers in order to test the strength of their systems. Seeking to expose the vulnerabilities in a system that contains important assets without actually harming the assets provides the system a diagnosis of what needs to be strengths and fixed. Identifying the problem or threats before an actual attack can ultimately save the protected

Cyber-terrorism is the convergence of terrorism and cyberspace. It is generally understood to mean unlawful attacks and threats of attack against computers, networks, and the information stored therein when done to intimidate or coerce a government or its people in furtherance of political or social objectives.

For years, it was widely believed that the next World War would be centered on the use of nuclear weaponry. However, the development of viruses has furthered cyberwarfare, and in recent years the attention has shifted from a nuclear threat to a cyber one. Having the ability to completely, dismantle another country’s entire infrastructure without leaving your desk is clearly much simpler than using nuclear weapons. “The treat of a cyberattack is a clear and present danger to America and is more likely than a nuclear attack.” (The Hill) Even higher ranking defense officials are realizing that the focus must shift to cyberwar, instead of the traditional nuclear missiles. Additionally, the cost for cyberwarfare is significantly less than the cost of nuclear

Adam Segal’s “The Hacked World Order” reveals many prevalent issues in today’s technologically centered society. Starting at Year Zero, June 2012 to June 2013, the battle over cyberspace witnessed world-changing cyberattacks. This was accomplished due to the fact that nearly 75% of the world’s population has easy access to a mobile phone, and the Internet connects nearly 40% of the total human population, which is nearly 2.7 billion people. With that being said, cyberattacks are becoming a more realistic form of terror.

Technology in the twenty-first century changed terrorism quite a bit. The evolution of the internet introduced cyberterrorism to us. Cyberterrorism can be defined as the intentional use of computer, networks, and public internet to cause destruction and harm for personal objectives.

Defining cyber-warfare is also important but suffers from the same lack of continuity between United States military branches and government agencies. Schaap lists varying terminology used ranging from the Department of Defense’s definition which states, “the employment of cyber capabilities where the primary purpose is to achieve military objectives or effects through cyber-space” to the Air Force’s definition, “the integrated planning and employment

Most nations today fear terror attacks that include bombing use of reinforcements like machines guns and other firearms. This is because terror attacks most of the times leave many people dead and others disabled while others are left without families. However, there is another attack today in many nations that can be destructive like a terror attack and this is the cyber-attack and threats. Cyber-attacks can be responsible for large mass destructions by making all systems connected to cyber networks fail to work (Rhodes 20). An example is the Morris worm that affected the world cyber infrastructures and caused them to slow down to a position of being impractical. Therefore, as a result of these cyber-attacks resources are being established and designed to help counter the attacks.

Since 2010 there have been over 13 major cyber attacks in the US, the FBI categorizes the severity of the attack based on what could possibly be at stake such as information on US citizens or hijacking of critical information . Cyber attacks are classified as crimes committed with the aid of a computer. Cyber crimes are considered felonies, however most people who commit the crimes can usually not be found. Recently there has been an uprising in cyber crimes, in the year 2017 alone 9 minor incidents have occured (minor attacks can consist of malware and internet “trolling” which is a form of cyberbullying) and 4 major crimes have been committed. Most crimes consist of identity theft, robbery, and hijacking private information. Recently programmers have been able to build security systems that can detect a threat almost immediately. With a growing expansion of technology protecting information gets harder day by day. Cyber security is the body of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access.

Cyberterrorism is generally understood to refer to highly damaging computer-based attacks or threats of attack by non-state actors against

The drawback of Estonia's information technology framework was that its defensive protocol was not much secure and could be easily hacked. Moreover, the country was much depended on internet.

Cyber warfare attacks can disable official websites and networks, disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified data, and cripple financial systems -- among many other possibilities (definition of cyberwarfare) “.The Tech Target definition includes no reference of nation states. That is because cyber warfare has such a low barrier to entry, a teenager can effectively shut down or damage thousands or millions of dollars of digital infrastructure, something that a real world counterpart would take years to plan, would take weeks, and the only tools needed are a mouse, keyboard, and some type of motivation. Cyber warfare is constantly evolving, constantly becoming more of a threat and is, in fact, being employed right now as this sentence is being read.