Canada and Mexico: Cases of Security Threats

Since the onset of the first packet switching event that many believe to be beginning of the internet, no other technology besides the printing press has ever transformed the ability to deliver information. Although the internet is used by a large percentage of the civilized world, few Americans realize how vital cyberspace is to our national infrastructure. Today, we are faced with even more threats although it has been a recognized problem since 2009, when President Barrack Obama said “The cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation. It’s also clear that we’re not as prepared as we should be, as a government or as a country (Obama, 2009).” Every industry that operates in the United States is dependent on the internet for some aspect of their business. Commerce, transportation, financial institutions, military, as well as industrial control systems are all interconnected. This interconnectedness has created vulnerabilities within their infrastructure that have increasingly become targets of terrorists, script kiddies, foreign governments and hackers of all types.

With the Age of technology advancing, the more cyber-attacks are occurring. Many of our information are on computer networks and we like to think that our information is well protect. But how protected is our information? Cybersecurity bills are introduced in Congress almost every year. These bills regularly imply to permit organizations and the government to divulge dangerous information for a “cybersecurity” reason to secure and safeguard against attacks against networks and computer systems.

Surveillance and biopolitical governance are terms usually associated with the internal surveillance methods of the United States, especially in light of the Snowden NSA leaks. However, Canada has developed an elusive biopolitical national security policy that has both social and political consequences. In April 2004, the Canada’s federal government introduced its first national security legislation, Securing an Open Society: Canada’s National Security Policy (Bell 147). Discussions surrounding a national security agenda has expanded rapidly since the tragic events of 9/11. Canada has quoted $690 million in national security policy and strategy however, this only reflects a portion of the actual total amount of money put towards security and

Cyber security, also referred to as information technology security, focuses on protecting computers, networks, software programs and data from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction. Post 9/11 and other terrorist attacks, the United States grows its endeavors to repulse cyberattacks, U.S. corporate organizations and the government agencies wind up in strife over how to adjust to new methods of security and privacy. The current state of security measure protocols and privacy policies placed by the US government in cyberspace raises concerns for the 99%. This is due to the recent cyber-attacks on American corporate organization systems and government alike, where their digital information and network infrastructures within the systems were compromised, and personal data was hacked and stolen.

Following the US and Israeli Stuxnet attack on Iran’s Nuclear program in 2010, enemy states have been targeting some critical infrastructures and federal government agencies. As the US interest in securing its borders against all threats both domestic and abroad continue to grow, several new threats and vulnerabilities colossus in its cyberspace. In a recent report by Bhattacharyya (2016), “Russian hackers attacked the State Department email system and the Office of Personnel Management reported that 5.6 million Americans’ fingerprints were stolen as

Cyberterrorism is a critical threat and is the most definitive characteristic of the U.S. contemporary security environment. For years, the American people have been victimized by cyber-attacks by having their personal information, emails, credit card, and banking information stolen by an invisible enemy named cyberterrorism. These types of attacks seem insignificant however; they are small examples of the vulnerabilities that our cyber world is experiencing. Our vulnerabilities are leaving our public officials in significant danger from cyber-attacks, as they are vulnerable to such things as the release of personal information and home addresses.

As a result of the attacks that killed nearly three thousand people that day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created by President George W. Bush’s Executive Order 12338, and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (www.dhs.gov, 2015). The new agency began operating on March 1, 2003 integrating twenty-two previously disparate domestic agencies into one single department. One agency under the umbrella of the newly formed DHS is the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), charged with the daunting task of protecting our borders from dangerous people and materials. A law enforcement component of the CBP is the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) whose mission is to detect and prevent the illegal entry of

On February 12, 2015 president Obama signed an executive order with the intention to expand the Cybersecurity of the U.S. and to promote principles of collaboration not just in America but around the globe. Cybersecurity has been identified as one of the most challenging subjects of the 21st-century; moreover, cyber-attacks can further compromise the future of our economic development as much as our national security and the decrement of our civil rights and privacy. Since Obama initiate his administration, he has been working on establishing the framework to better balance the interaction between, government agencies, private sector, and the general public. The objective in this essay is to better understand the connotations from several

The article “Defending America in Cyberspace” in the journal The National Interest authored by Keith Alexander, Emily Goldman, and Michael Warner taught me much about how the Department of Homeland Security handles America’s cyber threats. The Department of Security is the lead agency in protecting America from domestic cybersecurity incidents. It stated how America fights Cyber crime and security threats. In this day and age, countries are very vulnerable to skilled hackers. Some of them not even under the age 18.

“Terrorist groups are increasingly computer savvy, and some probably are acquiring the ability to use cyber attacks to inflict isolated and brief disruptions of US infrastructure. Due to the prevalence of publicly available hacker tools, many of these groups probably already have the capability to launch denial-of-service and other nuisance attacks against Internet-connected systems” (Mavropalias, 2011). This issue is seen within articles published through many al Qaeda websites. ‘As terrorists become more computer savvy, their attack options will only increase” (War on Terrorism, 2003). In a speech by Napolitano on May 30, 2012 to business leaders and government officials, said that besides "al Qaeda and al Qaeda-related groups," cybercrime is, "the greatest threat and actual activity that we have seen aimed at the west and at the United States. Unfortunately, it is a growth arena.” Napolitano cited a study by Symantec's Norton that estimated the cost of cybercrime worldwide at $388 billion -- more than the global market for heroin, cocaine and marijuana combined (Kalberer, 2012). This is an issue that has been a constant battle since 2012 when the Stuxnet worm was publicized. The internet can be a very reliable resource or a cyberweapon if put in the wrong hands. Al qaeda’s use of information technology have been deemed harmful to potential and established

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.

In 2014, one the country’s largest home improvement companies Home Depot was attacked by hackers. The hackers used a vendor’s stolen log-on credentials to penetrate through the company’s network and installed a custom built malware that stole credit card data and email addresses. The attack allowed the hackers to gain access to 56 million credit and debit cards in the US and Canada, and another 53 million e-mail address were also stolen.

The Federal Government needs to create information systems which are more effective shielded systems to protect their assets and resources at home. The foundation of any mandated cybersecurity strategies that secure our nation national security must incorporate worldwide or state local threats whether targeted toward the federal government or the private sector forces. The OPM breach highlighted the insufficient and inconsistence security approaches the federal government has already used in modernizing the existing cybersecurity policies. There is a requirement for the United States government to institute polices that would incorporate and implement new government cybersecurity structures and centralized the protection of their assets to avert future breaches (Source). Examining the inadequacies in the current national cybersecurity policies and regulations is disappointing as OPM choice to implement these mechanisms and the current authoritative propositions to cybersecurity must change immediately. It was reported that OPM only spent $2 million in 2015 to avert pernicious digital assaults, while the Department of Agriculture spent $39 million. The Department of Commerce, Department of Education, and Department of Labor likewise invested more money in cybersecurity resources than the Office of Personnel Management. The Small Business Administration devoted a similar amount into cybersecurity to recognizing, examining, and alleviate any cyber breaches as OPM, however

Bill C-51 also known as the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015, is a bill that was first tabled in Parliament in January 2015. It was introduced to enhance Canada’s original anti-terror laws which were created shortly after the terrorist attack on September 11th 2001 in the United States of America. Moreover, the need to revise and amend these laws became even more evident after recent attacks both in Canada and abroad. In doing so the government recognized the need to adopt a more preventative approach to dealing with internal and external threats. However, there are a large number of individuals, groups and institutions which opposed this bill. This was evident in March of 2015 when political protests were held and over fifty-five rallies took place across Canada (Lepore, 1). The majority of those opposed to the new anti-terror legislation expressed concerns with three major components of the bill and the vagueness; to privacy concerns with the new information sharing between agencies, new amendments to the Criminal Code surrounding terrorism offences and the increased powers provided to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS); specifically their perceived lack of oversight. Although this piece of legislation is crucial to the safety and security of Canada against acts of terrorism it requires some amendments in order to ensure proper oversight and respect for Canadian values. This paper will argue that changes need to be made to the CSIS act, specifically regarding

Every state in the nation should have a comprehensive IT security policy due to the “growing array of state and non-state actors are compromising, stealing, changing, or destroying information and could cause critical disruptions to U.S. systems” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016). Because of “ the dual challenge of maintaining an environment that promotes efficiency, innovation, economic prosperity, and free trade while also promoting safety, security, civil liberties, and privacy rights” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016). It is the responsibility of state and the federal government “ to address strategic vulnerabilities in cyberspace and ensure that the United States and the world realize the full potential of the information technology revolution” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016).