|
CYBER-TERRORISM: RISK & PROTECTION |
Modern society tends to become more and more
computer-dependent. Communications, transportation, Military, hospitals,
electrical power and banking are all reliant on computer systems. Computer
downtime in the above spheres can translate into huge losses for our economy
or even loss of human life. Occasionally, we hear stories about computer hackers
breaking into various systems, stealing funds and classified information as
well as disabling important functions. Over the past several years, computer
insecurities have cost governments, the enterprise community not to mention
home users, billions of dollars.
Knowing that one should bear in mind that most, if not all, of this
virtual mayhem does not happen to be the work of the so-called “elite
computer criminals”. It is usually committed by bored amateurs who cobbled
together attack scripts that continue to be traded around the Internet like
baseball cards. The tools for computer
attack are readily available on the Internet, and easily created computer
scientists and engineers. What can happen if well-organized and highly professional
teams hired by foreign governments, terrorist and/or criminal rings would
purposefully attack the vital computer systems on which national wealth and
security are dependent? The results can disastrous. In fact, under certain
circumstances computer insecurity can be regarded as a national threat. Who represents the primary target-group for cyber
terrorism in No computer system can ever be fully secure: if you have
access to the Internet the Internet has access to you. However, computer security is “negative”
from the structural perspective because it is in fact aimed at denying
actions or access, or direct contact. Like a prophylactic, it tends to
prevent certain bad things from happening while preserving most of the
benefits of interaction. As of today,
there are two competing approaches to computer security: “security through
obscurity” one based on the assumption that an exploitable defect will not be
exploited because it is hidden, and “full disclosure” which works on the
premise that the forewarned is forearmed.
Most security professionals nowadays prefer the latter approach,
however, sadly most computer systems in existence still relay on the former. Following the latter approach to computer security it is
our goal to locate the “holes” and weak points in the computer network we
need to protect, to view these points of entry from the attackers’
perspective, assess the likelihood of an attack, and suggest a set of
counter-measures. By mapping out the
strong and weak points in the network, it would also be possible to create
contacts between agencies to increase the overall security of the network. Our computer specialists are also capable of tracing the
intruders of the network in case such intrusion has already happened and get
detailed information on their location, backgrounds and methods of attack. Our specialists can also write unique software for your
system that would protect your classified and other sensitive information
from anyone who does not possess that original software and thus is unable to
open and read your important files. |
Click on the globe
below if you need our help |
FURTHER World on the brink global cyber warfare? Online banking, transactions and
security – how safe are we really? |