Cyber-Attacks: The Most Significant Threats To The United States

The most recents detections of how cyber warfare is inevitably coming was the accusations of Russia hacking the the Democratic National Committee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email’s releasing damaging evidence against them which ultimately lead to Donald Trump being named the President of The United States (Diamond, 2016). The effects of cyber warfare have leaked over in to televise series, forming shows such as CSI cyber, and the gaming world, Call Of Duty Infinite Warfare. Neglect regarding cyber security can: undermine the reputation of both the government and elected officials; force unacceptable expenditures associated with the cost of cleaning up after security breaches; cripple governments' abilities to respond to a wide variety of homeland security emergency situations or recover from natural or man-made threats; and disable elected officials' ability to govern (Lohrmann, 2010). Classified information such as overseas operators and attacks, missile locations, response plans and weaknesses, and much more cripples America’s ability to defend itself from enemies both foreign and domestic. To combat cyber terrorism is the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA. In an article titled “Why Cybersecurity Information Sharing Is A Positive Step for Online Security” it is discussed that under CISA, the Department of Homeland security will have more responsibility for domestic cybersecurity. CISA’s fundamental purpose is to better enable cybersecurity information to be shared between the private and public sectors (2016). The sharing of threat information between public and private sectors can give the the United States a head start by allowing them to share information rapidly and more often to combat enemy threats while still providing safety for privacy and civil

By using the term ill prepared, I aim to convey that the United States is not equipped with enough protection to prevent every possible instance of the threat of cyberwarfare from occurring. I propose we are not where our nation should be in terms of dealing with all actual occurrences of the threat of cyberwarfare, were it to be fully realized. This can be carried over into our response capability to any such attack, which may manifest in many forms. For example, our response against perpetrators and those who aid or comfort

Cyber security is a major concern for every department, business, and citizen of the United States because technology impacts every aspect of our daily lives. The more we use technology the more complacent, we get with the information that is stored within our cyber networks. The more complacent, we get, the more vulnerable we become to cyber-attacks because we fail to update the mechanisms that safeguard our information. Breaches to security networks are detrimental to personal, economic, and national security information. Many countries, like Russia, China, Israel, France, and the United Kingdom, now have the abilities and technology to launch cyber-attacks on the United States. In the last five years there have been several attacks on cyber systems to gain access to information maintained by major businesses and the United States Government. Cyber-attacks cause serious harm to the United States’ economy, community, and the safety, so we need to build stronger cyber security mechanisms. Based on my theoretical analysis, I recommend the following:

Pfleeger, S. Pfleeger, and Margulies (2015) outline possible examples of cyber warfare between Canada and China (p. 844). According to Pfleeger, S. Pfleeger, and Margulies (2015), “the Canadian government revealed that several of its national departments had been victims of a cyber attack…” (p. 844). Eventually, the attack was unofficially traced to a computer in China (p. 844). Cyber warfare can be used negatively and positively. It is evident that China was seeking to gain protected information form Canada. Although a purpose of cyber warfare, it is not a conventional way of obtaining information. Additionally, cyber warfare can be used to collect intelligence on an enemy. Anyone seeking to gather intelligence on another individual or group can launch a cyber attack that gains access to protected files. This could be used to help future militant operations or expose critical information. Lastly, cyber warfare can be used to test systems internally. Acting with no malicious intent, “insiders” can utilizing cyber warfare tactics to attack their own cyber security barriers in order to test the strength of their systems. Seeking to expose the vulnerabilities in a system that contains important assets without actually harming the assets provides the system a diagnosis of what needs to be strengths and fixed. Identifying the problem or threats before an actual attack can ultimately save the protected

Adam Segal’s “The Hacked World Order” reveals many prevalent issues in today’s technologically centered society. Starting at Year Zero, June 2012 to June 2013, the battle over cyberspace witnessed world-changing cyberattacks. This was accomplished due to the fact that nearly 75% of the world’s population has easy access to a mobile phone, and the Internet connects nearly 40% of the total human population, which is nearly 2.7 billion people. With that being said, cyberattacks are becoming a more realistic form of terror.

Most ISIS practice customs from the 7th century, but the methods they use to fight a war are 21st century techniques. ISIS have an advanced computer network that uses social media to attract terrorists worldwide to help them attack countries like the United States. Many countries have been victims of cyber attacks but may not realize it until long after the security breach occurred.

Advances in cyber technology alone would seem like witchcraft. In the twenty-first century, violence remains the simplest understanding of “force”, but “force” can also take an extended meaning to include the effects of non-lethal and less violent tools. Even Clausewitz understood that “warfare eludes the strict theoretical requirement that extremes of force be

According to Thomas Rid’s (2016) article, “Think Again: Cyberwar,” we have been hearing that “Cyberwar is coming!” for more than two decades. However, even though we experience cyberattacks on a daily basis, to this day none of the threats or attacks has been significant enough to be considered an act of war. Rid’s argument on cyberwar is as of right now “Cyberwar is still more hype than hazard.” (Rid, 2016, p. 1)

cyber policy has embraced this idea. “The Plan declared that in order for it to succeed, government and the private sector must work together in a partnership. However since the regulation has been in place it has failed to provide the security necessary to protect U.S. critical infrastructure from a cyber attack. Even Congress has been slow to act regarding almost all aspects of cyber policy (Wolf, J. 12 July, 2012).” One of the problems facing a comprehensive cyber security bill is that computers have become so omnipresent in our daily lives that they cross every sector of the economy. It is not surprising that application of the laws of war to cyber attacks has recently been a popular topic in politics. Some have even analyzed whether a cyber attack can constitute an armed attack, it can but, whether a cyber attack with a specified effect constitutes a use of force. An example, if the U.S. could prove that Iran absolute sent a computer virus that infected a Wall Street, would dropping a bomb on Iran be justify? A responsible nation must always consider the possibilities of collateral damage in deciding whether an act of self defense is justified, be it cyber or kinetic. While the United States must undoubtedly increase its cyber defense capabilities, the nation cannot retreat behind a Line of firewalls. As in the fight against terrorism, the United States must be vigilant and aggressive in the face of both cyber attacks and

Most nations today fear terror attacks that include bombing use of reinforcements like machines guns and other firearms. This is because terror attacks most of the times leave many people dead and others disabled while others are left without families. However, there is another attack today in many nations that can be destructive like a terror attack and this is the cyber-attack and threats. Cyber-attacks can be responsible for large mass destructions by making all systems connected to cyber networks fail to work (Rhodes 20). An example is the Morris worm that affected the world cyber infrastructures and caused them to slow down to a position of being impractical. Therefore, as a result of these cyber-attacks resources are being established and designed to help counter the attacks.

For thousands of years warfare remained relatively unchanged. While the tactics and weapons have changed as new methods of combat evolved, men and women or their weapons still had to meet at the same time and place in order to attack, defend, surrender or conquer. However, the advent of the of the internet has created a new realm of combat in which armies can remotely conduct surveillance, reconnaissance, espionage, and attacks from an ambiguous and space-less digital environment. Both state and non-state actors have already embraced this new realm and utilized both legal and illegal means to further facilitate their interests. What complicates cyber security further is as states attempt to protect themselves from cyber-warfare, private

Richard A. Clark, an expert in security sector governance in his book Cyber War (May 2010), defines Cyber War as an act of penetration of a country against other computer network with the intent of causing damage and disruption. The Economist magazine explained that cyber war is the fifth domain of warfare, after land, sea, air and space. Cyber warfare, (also known as cyber war and Cyber warfare), is a war with the use of computer networks and the Internet in cyberspace (cyber space) in the form of defense and attack information. Cyber warfare is also known as cyber warfare refers to the use of the World Wide Web and computer to conduct warfare in cyberspace. Although sometimes relatively minimal and lightweight, so far cyber warfare could potentially cause a serious loss of data and information systems, military activity and other service disruptions, cyber warfare means can pose as disaster risk worldwide.

The difference in the perceptions of cyber attack is rather complicating because it makes the nature of the operative term “cyber” all the more ambiguous, causing serious vagueness in any use-of-force or armed attack analysis. This becomes particularly problematic when applying any leading models on the assessment of use of force because these models employ instrumentality, target and effects as the basis for analysis. Moreover, there must be an understanding of what exactly is a cyber attack before discussing whether it falls under the use of force notion or not because it will not only affect the value and

In reality, attacks in cyber-space happen all the time. Over 20 million cyber-attacks happened within Utah in 2013 each day, and this was from Utah’s government websites, not including businesses. (“Fortis Blog”) Just imagine the various ways one could hack a website. Someone can even look up how to do it nowadays, and with at least half of the population in the U.S. using a computer, there are an untold number of people who use hack from inside the country. There are also those who hack from outside the country, and that is at least enough to accumulate up to 20 million attacks a day. Unfortunately, there are fewer ways to secure ourselves from these attacks, but

The branches of the military, for a couple generations, have always been the Army, Navy, Air force, Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard; however, in an ever evolving digital world, the notion that outer space would be the next military front is being rapidly replaced by the idea that cyber space will be the next arms race. The United States has been defending attacks on their infrastructure day after day, night after night, when one hacker on one side of the world sleeps, another takes their place to attempt to compromise the US government. The motives may range from a political ‘hacktivist’ trying to prove a point, to an economic spy, trying to gain a competitive edge on its more upstart rivals, to an attempt to control the United States