Considerations in Cybersecurity - Coursework Example

Bharra (2012) interviewed four major organizations and discovered that they were not even aware of which branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should inform in case of a cyber-attack. There is the further consideration that while many businesses actively have security measures in place for traditional crimes, the relative ignorance of cyber crimes has created a more lax environment. Indeed, a recent report by Verizon indicated that close to 90% of cyber-attacks in the last year could have been avoided if the businesses had taken proper preventative precautions. The punishment for committing cybercrime is already significant. In this way, one considers that illegally accessing a network can result in between 5 months to 5 years of imprisonment ("Real cost of", 2011). In other instances, it seems that cybercrime is not taken as seriously as traditional crime. One considers that Jeffrey Lee Parson created an Internet virus that caused significant damage to countless. However, Parson’s punishment was extremely lenient; in this way, he received a sentence that was less than many people receive for a marijuana offense (Mccullagh, 2011). Of course, punishment for cybercrime is relative to the specific offense and legal environment. Still, it seems that there may be a degree of leniency involved. Ultimately, it’s clear that the American legal system must increasingly take into account the impact the cybercrime, rather than the fact that it occurs behind a computer desk when assigning legal punishment.

Adagia Telecom. The United States government has established several compliance measures aimed at preventing or reducing cyber-attacks ("Cybersecurity assurance program," 2012). In this way, Adagia Telecom had relatively lax cybersecurity measures in place. One prominent area that Adagia did not have in place was proper control over automated telecommunications processes. While this factor is generally a major element in oil and gas and manufacturing industries, it’s clear that it is equally important for Adagia Telecom; the lack of adequate compliance in this region greatly contributed to the organization’s cyber vulnerability, as malware was able to infect these automated systems (Heiman, 2012). One of the greatest challenges with private industry is an unwillingness to disclose cyber-attacks, as it could impact business strategy. Adagia must report the attack to law enforcement. In this way, one considers that there must be a culture of disclosure that is established which can act as a deterrent against future criminals. Of course, there is always the challenge of locating necessary evidence in such cyber cases, as oftentimes the perpetrators can erase the traces of their entrance into the network.

level to get a policy that directly targets cybercrime. Similar to much policy implementation, the primary challenge is divergent perspectives between the major political parties. Indeed, the Republican and Democratic parties have already established conflicting approaches to cybersecurity in their current Presidential platforms. Corrin (2012) indicates that there are significant differences in perspective, as the Republicans criticize the Democrats for overly relying on defense capabilities in their approach to cyber security efforts. Another major challenge related to cyber-security is the nation’s attack measures. One considers that the current government infrastructure is such that the President is the only one able to authorize a cyber-attack (Sanger, 2012). In this way, the United States may not have enough legislative options available to address cyber-security.

To a large extent, it seems clear that the public demands adequate cyber security measures. In many instances, cyber security has already become integral to daily life, as anti-virus software is essentially a requirement for all computer systems. Additionally, most members of the public have come to expect that their participation in electronic commerce occurs under secure networks. Still, it is possible that in higher-level or more complex situations, the public remains ignorant of the threats. National security is one such area where the public potentially remains ignorant of the dangers of cyber-attacks. Schmitt (2012) considers that between 2009 and 2011 there was a 17-fold increase in cyber-attacks on United States national security. To a large extent, it seems that the United States public’s concern has not kept pace with these significant increases. Ultimately, I believe legislative efforts need to develop a more comprehensive plan of action for addressing cybercrime.