Cyber Techniques and International Tensions - Essay Example

Cyber Techniques and International Tensions In the modern world where computers and developments related to them have become commonplace, they have brought with them problems with reference to cyber security. It has been found that cyber security is an important factor to be considered by any state in the world it is to protect itself from malicious attacks and software from the internet. Most network security threats at an international level have their origins on the internet and are done intentionally because they are developed by people for malevolent goals. It is for this reason that cyber security programs have been developed by various states all over the world in order to protect sensitive data and other types of information from assaults that are made through the internet. Cyber security measures tend to involve various steps, the most important of these steps being a state’s understanding of the different forms of cyber attacks that it is likely to encounter. Once it has knowledge of this, then it is its responsibility to ensure that it has put in place the best security systems that it can get its hands on. There exist a diverse number of threats most of which exist at various levels and hazards to the information of companies and governments in their computers and other networks. It is because of this that the more superior the likelihood of there being a threat to cyber security, the more advanced the system designed to protect assets will be. The development of more advanced cyber techniques has over the years led to the development of higher international tensions, especially between rival states which view cyber attacks against each other as a means of gaining an advantage over one another on the international stage.1 This has created a situation where the number of cyber attacks by government sponsored hackers from different countries have steadily increased; raising speculations that there is the possibility future wars will likely be fought on the internet. The development of better cyber techniques has led to a situation where a number of countries attempt to hack into other countries’ computer systems for the sole purpose of stealing trade secrets. This has recently been a cause of significant tension between the United States and China with the former accusing the latter of being responsible for stealing the trade secrets of various American companies in order to using these secrets to gain economic leverage. The tension between these two countries was further increased as a result of the United States declaring and showing the pictures of those individuals in the cyber warfare unit of the Chinese army who were responsible for the hacking. It is for this reason that these two countries have in recent weeks traded accusations and counteraccusations to such an extent that despite being each other’s biggest trading partners, the possibility of their continuing their business as usual has been somewhat compromised.2 This has created a situation where each of these countries has chosen to work towards upgrading their cyber security so as to protect themselves against potential attacks; leading to some analysts believing that these countries are preparing for a new form of warfare. Cyber security activities involve measures to prevent threats ranging from malicious codes, also known as malware and spyware, to computer viruses. Some of these viruses are so dangerous that they have the ability to wipe away whole operating systems of the computers that they attack, essentially erasing all evidence that could lead to the tracking of their creators. The use of viruses has made it possible for state actors to develop a means where they have gained admission into the records of those governments which are their targets and this has worked towards enhancing the threat of international tensions. It is necessary for individuals and companies to avoid such invasion into their computer systems by having the best cyber security systems. Measures taken involve the acquisition of antivirus software and firewalls that are reliable as well as frequent checking of software and computers to ensure that they are secure from attacks.3 The computer software should be updated frequently to assure they are working in full capacity. Thus, it vital for organizations and states with the risk of being attacked to ensure all departments are cognizant of their cyber security since it is not recognized when a threat is expected to be faced. It has been found that transnational cyber crime is on the increase and this has gone to the extent where states are increasingly becoming significant actors in these crimes. One would suggest that the cyber techniques which are developing on an everyday basis have raised the risk of states choosing to attack others which are against them or their policies at an international level.4 Situations such as the one mentioned have occurred between Russia and some of the Baltic States over which it exercised rule until the fall of the Soviet Union. In these cases, suspected Russian hackers, sponsored by the government, have been responsible for causing the stagnation of the government websites in these countries and this has created a situation where some of the Baltic States have, in some situations, failed to deliver services to their people.5 While these states have been attacked, they have often managed to recover from these attacks in record time but this has raised tensions between them and the suspected attacker. Cyber attacks on the Baltic States from Russia have become a matter of grave concern for these states because it is not known if future attacks will be more devastating to such an extent that these governments completely fail to recover in the swift time in which they have been recovering from attacks.6 When discussing cyber techniques and the international tensions that they are likely to cause, it is important to recognize that borders have relevance in tackling cyber security, and looking at borders, domains of various countries interact because they do not have borders, therefore, the domains of a nation will be related to the nation’s willingness to assert sovereignty in the domains. With the detection of threats at the state level, it is possible to retain legitimate response actions by the state and this will be an important actor of the border in ensuring they continue being relevant.7 In cyber space, the territorial borders broadly define sovereignty of a specific nation irrespective of the domain and ability to locate domains physically. Despite the borders becoming insignificant when carrying out legal commerce, they are highly significant when carrying out policing actions of transnational threats. The development of more advanced cyber techniques has led to increase intensions between North and South Korea with the former being accused of being behind various cyber attacks against the latter.8 These countries have a history of being highly antagonistic towards one another and this has been the case for over sixty years; since the end of the Korean War that led to the birth of these two states. The tensions between these two countries because of cyber attacks have developed to such levels that there are times when talks to ease the tensions caused by other activities, have been put on hold. This has increased the risks involved in the lack of communication between these two states because of the fact that North Korea is a highly unpredictable state which if not communicated with regularly tends to conduct activities designed to gain international attention and recognition. The increasingly advanced cyber attacks that have come to haunt various countries in the world have taken place mainly because of the laxity displayed by their governments towards securing their most important government and corporate websites from attack. In most countries in the world, there is a severe lack of internet information security because there are often leakages of information and this requires that protection of privacy and other personal data should be strengthened because internet abuse has become unscrupulous. Sufficient protection of private data in many countries is lacking and this is because of the existence of loopholes in the safety of public information because of ineffective management mechanism.9 The reasons behind mismanagement of public data are the lack of emphasis on data protection as well as the incompleteness of the institutions and legal systems. Strategies for information security are insufficient and, therefore, these countries should carry out further developments on internet technologies. It is barely satisfactory to carry out general public education because an incorporation of international cooperation is needed. However, the achievement of international cooperation on cyber security, especially among the big players such as China, Russia, and the United States, will be extremely difficult if not downright impossible.10 This is because of the fact that each of these states will most likely focus on developing their own security systems since statements on the contrary, cyber space has become the new frontier of competition between these countries and they are likely to be at it for many years to come. The development of new cyber techniques has led to a situation where the information of both national and multinational corporations has become vulnerable to attacks by state actors. This has proven to be the situation especially among those states which are involved in massive economic competition. In these situations, it is normally the case for an economic rival of a state to work towards planting viruses or bugs into the sites of a country with the intention of gaining as much information as possible concerning its economic activities. In addition, it has been proven that there are some countries which sponsor hackers to invade the sites of major companies based in rival economies with the aim of getting trade information which can be used in future negotiations as well as for the purpose of gaining knowledge concerning the intentions of these companies. With this knowledge, these countries can work towards the development of similar systems to those of their rivals so that their level of competition can be diminished while at the same time gaining an unfair economic advantage.11 This has been the cause of major tensions between different countries all over the world as each has strived to outdo one another in the development of diverse cyber techniques which have been used to gain an advantage both politically and economically. These tensions have often led to standoffs which could easily have been avoided if none of the countries involves had gotten involved in the counterproductive competition against one another that they carry out on a daily basis. Therefore, it has become important for all countries in the world to be concerned with cyber security defensive mechanisms through a reactive approach which focuses on vulnerabilities and actual threats. This means that governments have to wait until attacks take place on their websites before going after the individuals or governments behind these attacks. This is easy to manage although it does not guarantee protection of a government’s infrastructure. For instance, if there is a breach of city’s water supply and the amount of chlorine put on the water becomes excess, the best defensive mechanism that can be put in place is to prevent as many people as possible from using or succumbing to the poisonous water. It is important that governments and other organizations should carry on with their operational roles while following guidance on response to cyber incidents. Even though this thought may be good, cyber threats are often not kinetic in nature as compared to other threats taking place in the most countries such as the United States. Therefore, the response by the Defence Department of the United States does not work on incidents of cyber arena. The reason behind the threat not working is that there are difficulties of locating the place and the person committing the offense making it difficult to determine the agency that is responsible for various incidents.12 If investigations are carried out, lines would be crossed because duplication may occur while information may not be shared, let alone communication, thus there is the need to have clearly defined roles for various government agencies for cyber security.13 In the United States, for example, there is the presence of seventeen infrastructure sectors and each sector has its own federal agency that is well-informed on the subject of its definite sector. Cyber security should not be considered to be a separate issue, and it is for this reason that the agency itself should be allowed to protect itself against any menace from the internet by using the best possible strategy. The benefits of this alternative are scarce and the argument for this is that the organizations are already established hence they can manage cyber security internally. There can be strong claims for this argument but what has been put in place is not effective in defending cyber threats, besides this benefits that accrue from continuing with the current infrastructure are few.14 The setbacks of this alternative are the presence of bias, the lack of coordination, as well as the fact that no leadership is present and low cyber security prioritization. Most governments and corporations have established their own systems of cyber security which have often not been designed to defend against cyber threats. Because of this, these governments have shown low probability of altering their structures and how they carry out their operations. Each and every organization has its own visions and missions and this has made many of them confident that they will protect their own networks to the total exclusion of those of other organizations. This scenario shows the lack of coordination between organizations and governments to enhance their security. Cyber security leadership within organizations in the United States, for example, is missing.15 There must be leadership accountability in all sectors of the federal government but this has failed because coordination attempts for various agencies due to poor resource management. It is, therefore, important for there to be a firm development of cyber security measures which are designed for the purpose of ensuring that all security threats brought about by new cyber techniques are countered in order to lessen international tensions. In conclusion, it has been stated that the development of better cyber techniques has led to a situation where a number of countries attempt to hack into other countries’ computer systems for the sole purpose of stealing trade secrets. In addition, it has been found that transnational cyber crime is on the increase and this has gone to the extent where states are increasingly becoming significant actors in these crimes. Moreover, the discussion above has shown that the development of more advanced cyber techniques has led to increase intensions between countries, with the example of tensions between North and South Korea being mentioned with the former being accused of being behind various cyber attacks against the latter. Furthermore, it has been found that the development of new cyber techniques has led to a situation where the information of both national and multinational corporations has become vulnerable to attacks by state actors. 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