IA1 – EVALUATION OF THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF THE ESTONIA CYBER EVENT
Sherquita Tucker
CSEC655 Section 9041
Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Background and Global Impact 4 3. Vulnerabilities in Cybersecurity Policy and Practices 5 4. Advantages of Reducing Vulnerabilities for Future Attacks 8 5. Disadvantages of Reducing Vulnerabilities for Future Attacks 8 6. Advantages of Improving Security Practices or Policies 9 7. Disadvantages of Improving Security Practices or Policies 10 8. Summary and Conclusion 12 References 14
IA1 – Evaluation of the Global Impact of the Estonia Cyber Event
1. Introduction
What if suddenly the safety systems of nuclear power plants unexpectedly malfunctioned, or
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In fact, the threat of an attack has grown significantly throughout cyberspace to where cyberspace has emerged as an arena for war similar to that of land, sea, air and space, with the emergent possibility to harm the national security of nation-states, as exemplified by the 2007 cyber warfare that plagued Estonia.
Nearly a decade since the introduction of the Internet, the transnational community still does not have an organized, authoritative group of standards to oversee the actions of nations in cyberspace. To deter aggression in cyberspace it is necessary to have such standards established.
This paper examines the cyber-attacks of the nation Estonia and how the lack of global standards was a critical part of the attack. In addition, this paper looks at the vulnerabilities in the cyber security policies and practices instituted at the occurrence of the cyber-attacks on Estonia as well as the advantages and disadvantages for improving and reducing each named vulnerability and security practice.
2. Background and Global Impact
From the time Estonia affirmed its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, it has enthusiastically incorporated ICT in the everyday life of its citizens, therefore becoming one of the most digitally connected nations in Europe. To further illustrate, over 65 percent of Estonians are Internet consumers where they execute practically every administrative operation of society online (Finn,
Wars have been occurring since the beginning of time. Wars were once fought with sticks but as humans evolved, so did the weapons involved. Today’s warfare includes anything from hand grenades to remote controlled planes that are thousands of miles away from the operator. The rise of technology has become an issue due to the increasing development of these devices. Technology is used worldwide and as wars continue to develop, so does the possibility that the next war could rise into a cyber war. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act will ensure the United States takes on these new threats with cybercrime by protecting the country’s critical infrastructures and ensuring the people are ready for the future in the cyberworld.
With cyber war, nations are able to skip the battlefield. Gone are the days where troops line up across from each other hoping to do damage to the other. Clarke explains that people, industries, governments, companies and organizations can be possible targets and are vulnerable to these attacks. Keeping that in mind should help these targets become defensive minded and shield off attacks before they happen. As we all know, the prevention is better than the
In “Cyber war is Already Upon Us” by John Arquilla. Arquilla argues that “cyber war has arrived” and there needs to be focus on what can be done to control it (Arquilla 4). Arquilla provides examples of cyber attacks that he considers to be instances of cyber war to argue his point. To be considered an act of war, an attack must be potentially violent, purposeful, and political (Lecture 20. Slide 5). Many of the attacks that Arquilla refers to were purposeful and political, making them comparable to specific battles within a war. However, they should not be classified as entire wars by themselves because traditionally war is defined as a period of ongoing conflict and not one specific attack. While cyber war is a possibility, nothing in
Clarke and Knake use a mixed method research approach in Cyber War to support their hypothesis that offensive prowess is meaningless without solid defense in cyberspace, and that the United States need immediately fix our defensive cyber shortfalls, or face apocalyptic doom. Specifically, the authors define ‘cyber war’ as “actions by a nation state to penetrate another nation’s computers or networks for the purposes of causing damage or disruption.” This infers that they are really talking about ‘warfare’ and
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.
The JIE considers that the future security environment will continue to feature a range of adversaries attempting to shape political behavior by conducting damaging or disruptive cyber-attacks. This is a consequence of the globalization and cannot be stopped, however timely contention is needed. The Joint Force must minimize the consequences of threatened or successful cyberattacks against the United States, its allies, and partners by conducting Military Support to Cyber
Cyber threats and attacks are becoming more common, sophisticated and damaging. NATO and its Allies rely on strong and resilient cyber defenses to fulfil the Alliance’s core tasks of collective defense, crisis management and cooperative security. NATO affirms international law applies in cyberspace
The United States houses more than 15 critical infrastructures, all of which implement information and communication technologies (ICT) systems, making the risk of a cyberwar a constant possibility. In order to
When considering the technological advances over the past 50 years, the Internet has undoubtedly had the greatest impact on everyday life of developed economies and its citizens. The world has become smaller, societies interconnected, and the pace of global integration dramatically increased since the introduction of the Internet. As people and information become increasingly integrated around the world, physical borders between nations are no longer sufficient to restrict access to information and sensitive data. This integrated world allows for malicious cyber actors to advance strategic
Over the past few years, hackers have made numerous shadowy attacks to remain undetected throughout companies crippled security in effort for them to build a stronger protection platform. In 2013, hackers breached and disabled multiple sections of the electric grid in the United States. This mayhem unleashed was simulated but it warned the government to take action on the growing threats of cyberattacks and they did so. Bryn Nelson (2014) confirms a problem as he uses experts like president Obama who stated that cyberattacks were called one of the most serious economic and national security challenges that the United States faces in today’s world (p. 517). If different web platforms don’t take action, then it would be very catastrophic for
Somewhat echoing president Obama’s concerns. (Cyberwar: The Challenge to National Security Nathalie Caplan 2013, Volume 4)
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
Shortly after the horrendous violations of human rights by the Nazi’s, in 1949 the Geneva Convention was created. This fourth treaty was established to create the rules and regulations of what is expectable in times of warfare. It gives protection to civilians in times when war tares families and countries apart. President Obama speaking on the importance of the fourth Geneva Convention stated, “We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend…And we honor those ideals by upholding them not when it's easy, but when it is hard” (“President”). Today Americans face a new type of conflict, one that many consider as the fifth breed of warfare, and answers by the name cyber warfare (“Threat”). Peculiarly, cyber
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
The most important thing that needs to be done before taking the debate on the status of cyber attacks under international laws of war any forward is to specifically define a “cyber attack”. Scholars generally use the terms such as “information warfare”, “cyber warfare”, “cyber threats”, “computer network attacks”, etc as alternatives for “cyber attacks” without a reference to any particular definition or limitation of scope. Perhaps this is done on a supposition that a standard definition of this term is already prevalent. This unfortunately is not true. Speaking specifically about the literature on cyber attacks, the term is comprehended primarily in two ways: while some talk about technology and computer networks as instruments of the attack, others use computers and information & technology networks as the objects of the attack.