5 Cyberwar Threats Worth Watching
Approximately 60 nation-states are presently developing their own advanced cyber warfare programs.
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The United States may be one of the world's superpowers when it comes to cyber warfare, but other nations are catching up -- ready and willing to attack the US and its interests from a computer afar.
Approximately 60 other nation-states are presently developing their own advanced cyber warfare programs. And, this figure that does not include rogue terrorist and cyber criminal groups.
Given the fact that businesses as well as government agencies can be targets of cyberwar attacks, the issues is one that enterprise IT leaders and security professionals would do well to watch closely.
Many of these nations tolerate or even outright ally themselves with cyber criminals – so long as it means protecting their own interests while harming their foes in the West.
The threat of cyberwar goes far beyond the Sony hack and determining what movies Hollywood will release and when. Hackers possess unprecedented ability to cripple America's infrastructure and its economy -- which could have devastating effects.
Delivering the opening remarks at the Advanced Cyber Security Center's annual conference earlier this year, Ken Montgomery, COO and first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, announced, "If [the Fed's role as a service provider] was ever disrupted, we would see a global credit crisis in eight hours' time."
Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff agreed, relating in his keynote address at the event: "Those of us who lived through 2008 ... realized how fragile our financial system is."
And the cyberthreat to the American economy posed by foreign nation-states, Chertoff warned, is very real.
"Some people have said ... 'Well, we don't have to worry about that because even if the capability is there, it's not going to be [used] to destroy our financial system, because they participate in it,'" said Chertoff, who countered this argument simply by pointing out, inter alia, the fact that economic sanctions against America's adversaries exist.
On the following pages we present five nation-states that represent major cyberthreats to the interests of the US and its allies. The big question, however, is what threats might be added to this list in, say, a year's time. Give us your thoughts in the comments section below, and let us know where you think America's biggest cyberwar threat lies.
The Middle East is a hotbed of cyberwar activity. Groups like the Syrian Electronic Army are mostly known for defacing Western websites, although they did manage to briefly disrupt the US stock market after hacking the Associated Press's Twitter account and posting a false tweet about explosions at the White House.
Pro-Syrian government hackers have also successfully phished members of Syrian opposition forces, obtaining sensitive military, strategic, and personal information by pretending to be flirty females.
"The Russians often cooperate with criminal groups," said Michael Chertoff at the Advanced Cyber Security Center's annual conference. He stated this bluntly, matter-of-factly, and without any sense of diplomatic nuance, as one might talk about the snowfall in Boston. There is no need to pussyfoot around the allegation, because the fact has long been obvious to anyone who follows the cyber security sector.
Indeed, with that cooperation comes a notorious level of protectionism that cyberthugs enjoy from their corrupt government sotrudniki. Any why not? The former Soviet bloc -- like North Korea and other constantly cyber warring nation-states -- relies, politically, on having a highly skilled, cyber-equipped citizenry. Russia has the third highest levels of cyber activity worldwide -- and perhaps the top hackers in the world.
While the relationship between Russia and hackers may be less formal compared to those of nations who actively cultivate their cyber warriors, Russia takes full advantage of its resources here. Former US Navy captain Mike Walls pointed out in a blog post that Russia conducted what may have been the world's first true cyberwar in 2008 against Georgia. Additionally, Russia has been linked to devastating cyber attacks on German infrastructure during the Ukraine conflict.
Clearly, Russia takes the art of cyberwar very seriously. And yet, the bear in the woods may not be America's biggest cyber threat.
Intelligence agencies, critical infrastructure, Fortune 500 companies, private individuals -- Chinese hackers go after everything and everybody.
An official Chinese government publication formally admitted that China engages in cyber warfare. This is something that US intelligence officials have reportedly long known but have never been able to get China to admit before, even after indicting five of the nation's military officials last year on charges related to hacking and espionage.
"China is a major actor in promoting [the] kind of cyber espionage [involving] stealing IP business plans, strategies, and using that as a way of getting a competitive advantage in a global environment," according to Michael Chertoff at the Advanced Cyber Security Center's annual conference. "It has a real impact."
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