Organizational Business Mission and Related Security Goals - Coursework Example

? Cyber Security Organizational business mission and related security goals Intellectual property is a juridical concept that refers to creative formations of the mind that have exclusive rights. Owners of the creations are granted exclusive rights on intangible assets as stipulated in the intellectual property law on intangible creations such as music, works of art, inventions, designs, symbols and innovations. Examples of intellectual property rights include trademarks, copyrights, patents and industrial design rights. In the current international economy and business environment, companies hold their intellectual assets as their most valid assets, the issues pertaining to intellectual property have in effect aroused immense concern internationally. Despite the mounting threats in cyberspace, it emerges that the cyberspace domain holds key solutions to these threats. The threats are further compounded by fact that threats are anonymous and emerge from a multitude of sources worldwide (Ward, 2000). With prevailing drastic revolution in cyber technology, the human dimension of the security problem cannot be disregarded. The behavior of the users, failure in compliance with security policy and ignorance of cyber threats are common human factors that compromise the overall security of cyberspace. An underestimation of the potential magnitude of a cyber threat due to distraction or ignorance is the main reason for successful cyber attacks. A critical factor to consider when formulating cyber security is the response time to cyber attacks. Incidents of attack happen at cyber speed, but often it takes a while for the management system to detect and respond to the incident. Failure to respond with urgency to cyber attacks increases the company’s vulnerability. Appropriate training of employees on the threat and remedy framework is a critical obligation of any organization. Cyber security threats that can affect important goals In e- commerce for instance, rights of access to digital content have become an issue of immense economic and social significance. Wealthy nations have come under criticism from poor countries for “information imperialism”, arguing that intellectual property rights are an impediment to overcoming the digital creative and intellectual divide. Consequently, elusive questions have arisen on whether to reinforce these rights, or whether to eliminate all protection in cyberspace all together. The electronic environment provides ease of operation across borders, which renders issues of cyber crime an international affair and which inevitably requires renegotiation of agreements between governments, and signing of new treaties in international mediums. Provision of stability and certainty in the cyber business environment then raises concerns of protecting consumers with emerging threats of electronic fraud, cyber terrorism and crime. The ethical concerns that emerge comprise: personal privacy, protection of copyrights, availability of critical crime information to agencies of law enforcement, hacking and computer technology infringement crime, and many other legal framework aspects formulated for citizen right protection Other than the legal and ethical dimensions, cyberspace issues also have social aspects and implications. It’s not clear from the cyberspace management framework who exactly has authority to manage the rights and privileges of users on the web, and who has the responsibility to ensure that the rights of the individual in are protected cyberspace. More important to note is the fact that both users and content providers will be greatly limited in taking full advantage of the evolution in network technologies, unless users take responsibility of the uses to which they put web content. Vulnerabilities that can be exploited through cyber crime and cyber warfare Valuable information and content is continuously being posted on the Net by publishers and content providers, but with an increasing concern on how to control access and use of this content in cyberspace. Intellectual property rights that have been put in place have been deemed to be insufficient by content providers. The copyright laws have been in ineffective in preventing reproduction of important content posted on the web. Inevitably, content providers have turned to unconventional means of protecting intellectual property which do not reflect the ideals of established legal controls. The social media and mobile communication are powerful platforms which cybercriminals employ in cybercrime. Social media provides cybercriminals with an amble source of privileged information that can be used to perpetuate cybercrime. Prime targets are easily identified and send messages with attachments that are malicious or links to compromised websites. Cyber security is further compromised by social activities such as fake profile diffusion, exposure of personal data, disclosure of corporate data, insufficient data retention and failure to adhere to policy on behavior (Koudounas, & Iqbal, 2012). Issues of rights to intellectual property have received intense opposition from cyberspace libertarians, and this has given rise to many questions on the degree and precision of these rights. For instance, the revolution in movies and music industry has given rise issues of infringement of copy rights, whereas the digital technologies have ushered in a new concept of decentralization in creativity and communication. Digital technology should then maybe be celebrated rather than criticized, as it has tremendously enhanced the extent to which creative content distribution can be accomplished. Property rights on creative content have been viewed by critics as a setback to realizing the ideals of decentralization in creativity Public policy issues for privacy and liability to security goals Content providers in their own effort to have control in cyberspace have come up with several ways of managing their content. The use of contact laws on websites is increasingly becoming common practice. Apparently the contacts on WebPages are meant to provide restrictions on how the websites are used, but it cannot be established how effective these measures are in combating improper use of the sites. It is also quite unclear what repercussions can be enforced incase of noncompliance. The distinction between copyrights and contracts is unclear, and maybe what could be more practical is a framework of management that is less ambiguous but provides a balance between users and content providers (Alamdar, 2012). An alternative to contracts that is proving more effective is the use of technology to control use of web content. Some content providers have now put in place automated systems of charging users upfront for any content that users want to copy or downloaded. A sum of cash is automatically deducted from your account before copying or printing content, which has proved an effective technological control on what can be done with content on web sites. These technological systems offer more convenience and flexibility, since owners of web site content easily use cash restrictions to control use of their content. Inevitably, trusted systems have potential of enhancing and enriching web content by virtue of providers facing less risk of piracy in publishing valuable content on their websites (Shukla, 2011). A third alternative in an attempt to manage cyberspace is not to impose any intellectual property protection. As some commentators have predicted, information is meant to be free, and therefore no technological framework or contract may effectively stop the revolution of digital information (Blank, 2012). The challenges that emerge in formulation of legal policy include: applying statutory provisions to electronic transactions which require concepts that are based on paper such as signatures and writing that is original, formation of electronic contracts, acceptance of evidence that is electronic, the integrity and authenticity of electronic communication, and management of records. Existing legal frameworks were formulated for transactions that are made on paper, in disregard to the transactions that are made electronically. This framework would be in consideration of the various challenges and factors that emerge in employing information and communication technology for transactions to have legal validity. Internet based e-commerce facilitates easy cross border operations which pose new challenges in law enforcement for these countries. A reevaluation and renegotiation of these laws to meet international interests and standards is hence inevitable. References Alamdar, H. (2012). Advantages of Mobile Computing. Retrieved February 29, 2012 from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Advantages-of-Mobile-Computing&id=2561755 Shukla, I. (2011). Advantages of Mobile Computing. Retrieved February 29, 2012 from: www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-of-mobile-computing.html Blank, C. (2012). The Disadvantages of Mobile Computers. Retrieved February 29, 2012 from: http://www.ehow.com/list_6137468_disadvantages-mobile-computers.html Koudounas, V. & Iqbal, O. Mobile Computing: Past, Present and Future. Retrieved February 29, 2012 from: http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~nd/surprise_96/journal/vol4/vk5/report.html Ward, S. (2000). The Use of Mobile Computing Devices in Industrial and Manufacturing Environments. Retrieved February 29, 2012 from: http://www.steve-w.net/mscreport.pdf Zheng, P., & Ni, L. M. (2006). Smart phone and next generation mobile computing. San Francisco, Calif: Morgan Kaufmann. Read More