Hacking in the US - Research Paper Example

 Abstract The advancement in the technology and its wide spread use has caused certain serious problems to many countries of the world, especially to technically advanced countries such as the United States. Cyber attacks through electronic devices have threatened the many political parties and have emerged as a headache for them. Cyber terrorism is a generally new concept of the 21st century and is considered as the next cold war. Terrorist groups have been able to take the advantages of these modern techniques in causing economic and social disruptions. The US, being one of the most technologically advanced nations of the world, possesses one of the highest degrees of threat from these sources. After 09/11 attack, the US government has been constantly working to improve its communication system to avoid any kind of cyber terror. The US government has enacted many laws within the country to curtail the cyber threats and its activities. Prevention of intrusion through hacking has been one of the critical aspects, which is considered by the US government to ensure protection of the nation’s intellectual properties. The US government along with Department of Homeland Security has formed many agencies to deal with the cause related to cyber terror. Introduction Internet is a network of networks that joins many private and government computers together. It is a vast collection of knowledge which a people can obtain at his/her click. It uses the vast network of TCP/ IP protocols and packet switching spread throughout the world for communication. Probably, it is the greatest gift to mankind but as everything has its own pros and cons. Internet also has its disadvantages (Texas AgriLife, 2012). Essentially, Hacking is unauthorized access of computer or a network resource. In other words, it can be said to be “exploitation of the network resources” (Texas AgriLife, 2012). There also exist confusion between Hacking and Cracking. Hacking can be used illegally or legally. But, when it is used for betterment, it is called cracking and not hacking. A hacker first attacks on some easy sources to hide the traces and then launches his/her attack on secure sites. The objective of the attack is to obtain control on the source. With the help of hacking one can delete, edit and change the password of certain vital information. Hacking has become a common offense in the United States of America and other European countries. America’s highly developed critical infrastructures possess vulnerable threats especially from cyber terrorism. With rapidly growing information technologies, the fear of security has also grown. Cyber security is a major concern from the nation point of view and needs to be resolved (Texas AgriLife, 2012). Hacking and Terror The growing cyber attack in different parts of the world has led to a new threat which a country has to defend before it becomes the victim. Cyber terrorism is an intended and invisible attack on information and computer system or on security over the network resources, either to gain control or to destroy the vital information in the computer (Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2001). Many security experts have shown their major concern over the cyber terrorists who hack the nations’ security system and there by crippling the defense and the administration departments of the country (Bowe, Clarke, & Silverstein, 2008). It has become most politically discussed topic in these days. In recent times, cyber terrorism has emerged as a major constraint in the development of the country. Not only the developing countries of Asia but the technically developed nations like the United Kingdom and the United States also have to bear the threat of the cyber terrorism (Jones, Fedorov, Branscomb, Medvedev, Shiyan, Wolin, & Sharber, 2012). There are different categories of terrorism like Domestic, International, and Physical but recently a new type of terrorism termed as Cyber terrorism or Electronic terrorism has became the headache for many high level bureaucrats of the world. It affects the sufferer country in several ways which result in political unrest, economic fluctuation, reduced tourist and increased productivity cost. Rapidly growing information system is responsible for this cyber terror. The cyber terrorists are attracted towards the electronic devices because with minimum span of time, cyber terrorist can wreak the entire information system of the targeted country. Financial institutions like banks, insurance companies and military base are of major targeted departments (Sproles & Byars, 1998). Why Cyber Terrorists are attracted to Internet? There are a number of reasons owing to which the cyber terrorists are attracted to using internet as a medium to carry out their heinous crime. The reasons include the following: 1. It is much cheaper for the terrorists and cost minimum charge of hardware only. They do not have to buy any weapons like guns or explosives instead they can deliver computer virus and worms over the network. 2. It offers an easy access and the messages can be send in an encrypted form at minimum amount of time to any part of the world without crossing any borders or check points. 3. Internet is the store house of information with which terrorists can obtain the information of any place, anytime at single click. Cyber terrorism needs barely any physical training and less investment and results in low rate of mortality. 4. Different techniques to make explosives and weapons are readily available on the internet which they learn and cause destruction of life and property on a broad basis. 5. It can be performed remotely without physical presence and the identity can also be hidden thus creating difficulties for the police and other agencies to locate their identity. 6. Lastly, their target is enormous; they could attack government department, private companies, banks and airlines which may result in heavy losses in terms of life and property to the bearer country. Source: (Agnew, n.d.). How Does Cyber Terrorist Use Internet? Cyber terrorism can be operated in many forms by using different tools. Cyber terrorist uses the tools like network worms and viruses to get unwanted control and corrupt the system. Trojan horse and Root Kit application allows the attacker in fulfilling his intention secretly. Cyber terrorists hack computers with the help of iPhone’s accelerometer remotely to gain access over the computing system and alter the information stored in it. Computer password is like a locked door but cyber terrorists are expert and can crack password within a few seconds using $48 GPU which may cause serious problem (Jarvis, 2011). Cyber terrorists run the stealth machine correspondingly with the insecure machine and alter the information or steal with the help of Bluetooth. They place computer bombs which can be operated remotely that cause severe loss of life and property (Jarvis, 2011). Cyber Terrorism and USA In the words of US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cyber terrorism is, “Premeditate, politically motivated attack against information, computer system, computer programs and data which result in violence against non combatant targets by sub –national groups or clandestine agents” (Jones, 2007). According to FBI, America is at the top of the Cyber attack and Government Departments and also business houses are the most vulnerable to the cyber attack (Jones, 2007). President Obama has stated that “cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation and that American economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber security” (National Security Council, 2011). The US military and Home Security Department was hacked many times in the past few years. Even before 9/11 attack upon the World Trade Centre , many vital information system were hacked and ever since the US government has become more conscious, but still cyber terrorism has been the major concern of security. Hackers were able to control numbers of Pentagon computer network which enabled them to access and alter the information amassed there in the system. It was very easy for those hackers to hack the system without being tracked by the concerned authorities. In the year 2008, the US military computing system was almost penetrated by the enemies. Thousands of Cyber attacks are undertaken daily including students and cyber terrorists which amount to millions of Dollars. Cyber attacks conducted by countries to gain access over the information of another country have become a major concern to the victim country and have caused international relation disturbances. The US government at the World Cyber Security Summit has blamed China and Russia for Illicit intrusions on the US network System (Sanger, 2012). According to Department of Defense, China is accountable for many cyber attacks on the US military based computer systems (Mulrine, 2012). According to Department of Homeland Security, More than 86 cyber attacks have been reported since last 8 months (Homeland Security, 2009). None of the attacks were reported severe still an attack on the Pentagon’s computer system and the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program with Stuxnet worm has created fear for the US and an urgency to develop new tools to defend their system (The Times of India, 2012). Role of Cyber Security Agencies in the US The Department of Homeland Security has set up the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) in 2004 to protect Federal network system from the cyber attack in better way. On January 02, 2008, The ‘National Security Presidential Directive 54/ Homeland Security Presidential Directive’ was issued which established the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI). The CNCI was formed with the objective to further increase the security measures of the Federal government system from the cyber attacks. Numbers of factors were taken into consideration but at the national level the CNCI mainly focuses on three dimensions: To set up frontline defense to assess and to prevent cyber intrusion To defend against cyber terrorism with the help of intelligence by consolidating internal security system Lastly, to analyze the future aspects and impact of the cyber terrorism and to enhance the research and education to fight with the evils of the cyber terrorism security (Homeland Security, 2009) In addition to above role of the CNCI, it also has the responsibility for building the nation’s resiliency and reliability of the country’s Information Technology. The Department has been very serious in improving overall technology, people, and process that are required to halt the future cyber attacks and the unwanted intrusion through: 1. Increasing the number of personnel for the US Computer emergency readiness team (US-CERT) which keeps 24x7 watch and issues the caution to the Federal government regarding the nation’s network infrastructure. 2. It also aims to expand the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force (NCIJTE) by including representatives from the US secret service and other agencies. 3. It ensures the proper coordination and timely information sharing between the government and the other agencies to avoid and to reduce the cyber terror and protect the vital information through appropriate action included in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP). 4. It has joined hands with the educational institution and industry to expand the reach of cyber education among the US employees to deal with the cyber threats security (Homeland Security, 2009). Cyber Storm: Securing cyber space was formed by the Congress to strengthen and to prepare the government agencies and private sectors against cyber attacks. It has been given the top most priority by the National Cyber Security Division (Wilson, 2003). The activities performed by the security cyber space are illustrated below: To scrutinize the ability of the organization in preparing for and protecting itself from the cyber attacks To implement and to coordinate strategic decision making according to the government policies and procedures To examine the process involved in sharing the susceptible information across the boundaries and taking in account the national interest (Homeland Security, 2009) The IT Security and Essential Body of Knowledge (EBK) operate in new ways in confronting with the IT security challenges. EBK analyses the IT security workforce and provides the national baseline representatives with a pool of knowledge and talent. EBK ensures that the most competent and capable IT personnel are there to defend the nation from the cyber attacks. EBK establishes links between the proficiencies and operational perspectives of the IT security workforce. It does not represent the policies and the procedures of the Department of Homeland Security, in its place it clarifies and identifies the role of the national security (Homeland Security, 2009). Legislative Measure Internet is considered as the major constituent of cyberspace which includes nearly 200 countries and about 1 billion users (Goodman, 2012). The concerned authority must know about the technological tools that the cyber terrorists are using. In recent past, hackers had used viruses and worms like ‘I LOVE YOU’ virus in 2000, ‘Code Red Worm’ in 2002, and ‘Conficker’ worm in 2008, either to Gain access or to destroy the information of the enemy computer system. The US officials in the recent past have become more open towards the cyber terrorism and enacted many laws in this regard (Cyber Telecom, 2012). The Cyber Security Act 2012 Cyber Security Act 2012 was enacted to halt increasing threat on the United States government as well as on private companies. The Act arises from the efforts of both the senior members of the senate and the Homeland Security to provide the government and the private organizations a better tool to defend their computing system. The Act assigns the task to the Homeland Security and the Intelligence Community to assess the sectors in the US that possess the highest amount of cyber threat from the cyber attackers. Homeland Security in association with the private sectors had been provided with the responsibility to decide the performance of the bill in respect of the risk assessed. Critical system that is more vulnerable to threat has been given priority. The bill has issued verdict to the private sectors of the country to share the information risk with the federal government. The bill has amended Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) to strengthen the security system of the federal government. The bill has enhanced the role of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to work jointly to tackle the problem and the bill will also unify the National Center for Cybersecurity and Communication to protect the network of critical sectors (Homeland Security, 2012). The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) CISPA stands for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. The bill forces companies to share their information with the government and thus creating a loophole in terms of private information. CISPA allows the company to use cyber security system and allocate cyber threats and protect the interest of the company. The government can even monitor the email or the private messages in the Facebook account. However, certain other Acts like the Wiretap act and the Communication private act prevent companies with routinely practicing such operation (Homeland Security, 2012). Cyber Security and Internet Freedom Act Of 2011 Cyber security and Internet Freedom Act was introduced on 17th February 2011. The Act establishes policies that will coordinate and supervise the activities related to cyber security and the policies of the Federal government. It requires the President to assign a Director of the Cyberspace Policy who will in return present annual report on its strategies, objectives and details on the plans it is operating to curtail cyber terrorism (Homeland Security, 2012). Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act Of 2010 Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, aims at developing an integrated national strategy to ensure safe and reliable cyber environment. The Act has established National Centre for Cybersecurity and Communication under the office of Department of Homeland Security to console department’s strengths and functioning capabilities. The Act shares and analyses the vulnerable risk with the Federal government. It does not allow any authority to take over private networks. The Director has to report to the Congress on semiannual basis regarding the measures it has adopted (Lieberman, 2010). Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required Intercepting and Obstructing Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act Of 2001 The main aim of the Act is to prosecute against cyber terrorism by sharing vital information between the Federal government departments. It has set up foreign terrorist tracking centers and a national virtual translation center to monitor and to control cyber terrorism. It keeps a watch on the foreign students and analyzes machine readable method of passport. It requires the financial institution to maintain the full information about the customer identity in order to check money laundering in the stock market. The Act gives right to the authority to seize illicit funds of an individual and can be sued before the law court (Homeland Security, 2012). Cyber Terrorism and Future With the growing advancement in information technology, the cyber attacks have also been increased. It was reported that in the first 6 month of 2002 there were in excess of 180,000 cyber attacks on business and is rising at the rate of 60% annually (Air University, 2005). The Homeland Security and the system threats are increasing with double speed annually. Cyber terrorism has resulted in loss of communication information, network congestion, and delay in accessing information, economic disruption and financial interruption. The US businesses are facing serious threat from the cyber intrusion either from organized terrorism groups or from the foreign government. In order to protect their system, government agencies and companies should use strong password, ensure that their antivirus is routinely updated with latest version and most importantly they should keep changing their password regularly. End users must be well trained and must be aware of the threat of cyber attack. Information related to network must be provided to the employees and must make them aware with tactics used by the cyber terrorism. Network using guidelines should be made obtainable to the employees regularly to ensure that they have the knowledge of the updated developments in the field of the technological world. Most importantly, the employees must be more vigilant and a complex system of defense system should be implemented. In future, cyber attacks are likely to increase its span of operation and may target the US. Before the matter becomes adverse in the future, the US government has to formulate measures to safeguard itself against cyber terror (Computer Crime Research Centre, 2004). Conclusion There has been dramatic increase in the number of the cyber attack incidents between the years 2009 to 2011. The cyber terrorists have unlimited targets to select. The US is one of the most technologically superior countries of the world and so it possesses one of the greatest threats of the cyber terror. Economic activity of the US is largely dependent on the computer systems and networks, which face a serious threat of cyber terror. Cyber attacks are also threatening the nation’s security. There have been many instances of hacking of military computer system which makes the nation vulnerable of outside attacks. The Department of Homeland Security also plays an important role in preventing cyber attacks. It is the responsibility of the Federal government to protect the government agencies and private sectors from outside intrusion and to provide safe and reliable network and information. Lack of consistency in reporting the nature and the threat of the cyber security has made the Federal government ineffective in forming strategies to tackle that issue. Certain countries are posing serious threat to integral security of the US. It was reported that China has been promoting and supporting computer hackers since many years. The world has witnessed certain serious cyber attacks on the countries like Estonia as well as Georgia and the Stuxnet incident in Iran; all these incidents have alerted the US to secure its computer system against the possible threat. 9/11 attack was a surprise attack on the US integrity but since then the nation has diverted its policies in consolidating network security to avoid a repeat of 9/11 incident. Federal legislators have also shown tremendous efforts in forming and implementing laws against cyber terrorism. Cyber terrorism is a global curse and can be launched against any nation in the world, though the developed nations like the USA and the UK are more vulnerable to cyber attacks and must be ready to cope with such invisible attacks. References Agnew, G. (n.d.). National security for the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.library.gatech.edu/security/21part2.htm Air University. (2005). Cyber operations and cyber terrorism. Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/guidterr/sup2.pdf Bowe, P., Clarke, C., & Silverstein, R. (2008). Is cyber terrorism a real threat to United States. Retrieved from http://itom.fau.edu/jgoo/fa08/ISM4320/cpr.pdf Computer Crime Research Centre. (2004). What is hacking? Retrieved from http://www.crime-research.org/news/05.05.2004/241/ Cyber Telecom. (2012). Timeline. 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