Cyber Security and Business Law - Research Paper Example

Cyber Security and Business Law There has an increased use of internet and other new network-related technologies in the 21st century. In order to have a competitive edge and retain confidentiality in the business world as well as by states, development of information systems as well as interconnected networks has become inevitable. These developments bring forth the need for the security of these platforms. Malicious individuals have gone ahead to develop systems that target the networks. Cybercrimes have occurred in various forms, including infringement of privacy, hacking of the information systems, stealing of vital information from government, individuals, or companies through networks among other ways.It is paramount to protect against these crimes since they may have far-reaching socio-economic implications.Governments have enacted laws to combat cyberspace crimes in order to protect its citizens, businesses as well as the government information. Cyber security is very essential; failure to protect against cybercrimes can result to huge damages to an organization as well as individuals. The United States has a number of laws that protects businesses against being interfered by parties that do not hold any stake in the organizations such as the hackers. Most of the hackers are malicious individuals that intend to have access to data that they should not access. Their motivation is either to bring down the system or derive financial benefits from the access to the information. The United States laws have continued to be advanced to meet some of the challenges that confront the cyberspace making it insecure. A number of billsgeared towards cyber security have been proposed some of which have not seen the light of the day. The recent bill was the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2012 that was passed by the House of Representatives. On the other hand, the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 received a lot of resistance from the industry players resulting to the Senate’s shoot down of the bill(Katzan, 2011).In addition, to the works of the Senate, the Executive has been on the forefront in ensuring that organizations protect their systems against attacks. Despite the steps made, there is much more that needs to be done on cybersecurity regulation. This is attributed to the view that the current law protects specific industries. One of the major issues of concern in cyberspace security is privacy. Garner (2004), describes privacy as “the condition or state of being free from public attention to intrusion into or interference with one's acts or decisions.” The main aspect that requires privacy for an organization is the information that is available on the storage devices as well as on their networks. Sensitive and confidential information can cause havoc or losses to an organization if it gets into the hands of the unintended parties. Various landmark developments have been enacted to promote privacy in the cyberspace in order to promote security. Three methods have been pointed as the mechanisms that have the capacity of restricting infringement of cyberspace privacy; firstly, it is suggested the development of security through obscurity, secondly, there is use of gateways that requires authentication through providing passwords. However, this approach presents many technicalities (Lessing, 1996). Finally, restriction of access to information to unintended users can be done through encryption. This is the most preferred strategy since it prevents privacy infringement in a better way. Cyberspace security has accompanying legal issues, which have both negative and positive implications. In the fourth schedule of the United States Constitution, there is provision of security of individuals especially against searches and seizures. This makes it difficult for criminals that engage in cybercrimes to be searched effectively. On the other hand, this law does not protect against informational security, this indicates that during a search some vital and sensitive information may be taken away from a person. If this information belongs to a company, then the organization’s informationstands exposed. The Fourth Amendment to the protection against personal search is restricted in situations where the warrant of arrest has been given, when a third party is in possession of the information and in situations where the information is in plain view of an officer(Weil, 2007). Cyber security is very essential due to the complex issues that surround cyberspace crimes. Firstly, launching cyber-attacks is very easy and cheap. There are no huge expenditures involved while it is possible to purchase the attack mechanisms online or even get to buy them. Secondly, cyber-attacks do not necessarily have to be complicated like in the cases of Flame and Stuxnet; they can be executed in a simplistic way but ultimately causing irreparable damages. Thirdly, the attacker is sometimes incapable of regulating the magnitude of the attack; it is highly likely that the attack may go overboard to where they had not anticipated. Finally, cybercrime architects have a high chance of retaining anonymity(Pekgözlü&Öktem, 2012). It is quite unlikely that they will be recognized in order for them to be prosecuted. All these aspects makes it possible to execute a cybercrime and go scot-free. A number of organizations, most of which are the small organizations have fallen victims of cybercrime. Lack of adequate mechanisms to control cybercrime has been attributed to inability to employ sophisticated security systemsamong the small organizations in United States. However, large corporations have also been targeted despite the heavy investment on information security. One of the major companies is Target, a giant retail store in the country. They confessed their systems were hacked and the hackers gained access to the details of their customers’ debit and credit cards. TJX Corporation was also a victim. In 2007, the retail company was intruded through its wireless network and had data for up to 45 million cards stolen through its headquarters(Clayton, 2013). To demonstrate the effects of this criminal act further, Heartland Payment Systems also suffered losses when their internal systems were badly exposed by the hackers resulting to stealing of data from 130 million cards. Despite all these incidences, cybercrimes continues to thrive especially targeting the small organizations. However, the government has been attempting to crack the whip on cybercrimes. Albert Gonzalez, a hacker was sentenced for twenty years in 2010 while two Russian hackers who had stolen from more than 800,000 bank accounts were charged (Clayton, 2013). Businesses operate in order to make profits as well enhance the overall stakeholder value. Cybercrimes do not take into concern any of the stakeholders in the organization. The cyber criminals re motivated by selfish interests, a desire to reap from other people’s sweat. The government has enacted laws to protect individuals as well as organizations from the implications of cybercrimes. In addition, organizations have gone ahead to develop systems that can aid them in combating all criminal activities within the cyberspace. It is not possible to extinguish all these threats effectively. An organization can be crippled or closed down because of an infringement with its information. Business law facilitates an understanding of the interventions that the business can develop in order to protect themselves against cybercrime. In addiction, this understanding facilitates the knowledge on the mechanisms that should be adopted in case a cybercrime occurs. In conclusion, cybercrime is disastrous to an organization due to its negative implications on an organization. Major retail stores such as Target have reported incidences of cybercrime. This infringement of the privacy of the company’s information has the capacity to interfere with the company’s operations hence resulting in a shutdown of its operations. In order to enhance their protection, businesses should constantly keep abreast with the new developments in the cyber industry hence the ability to protect from new attacks. References Clayton, M. (2013, Dec 19). Target data theft: Worrying sign of cyber thieves' sophistication. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1469456614?accountid=45049 Garner, B.A. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th edition. USA: Thomson-West Katzan, H.,Jr. (2011). Review of the cyberspace policy and trusted identity documents. The Review of Business Information Systems, 15(2), 43-49. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/866358646?accountid=45049 Lessig, L. (1996). Reading the Constitution in Cyberspace.Emory Law Journal, 45: 869-91 Pekgözlü, I., &Öktem, M. K. (2012). Expectation of privacy in cyberspace: The fourth amendment of the US constitution and an evaluation of the turkish case. Sosyoekonomi, (2), 7-22,224,226. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1265608899?accountid=45049 Weil, N. (2007). Your plan to fight cyber crime ; online crime is organized, it's growing and so is your organization's risk of being attacked. here's how to mitigate that risk. CIO, 20(17), 1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/205942523?accountid=45049 Read More