Shannon Perry

The blurring lines between physical and cyber systems, accusations of data monitoring from Snowden revelations, and the the deluge of cyber attacks in 2014 have resulted in new levels of American interest in cybersecurity and digitalization. A few examples of this attention are the speculations around the implementation of Stuxnet, the government’s creation of Cyber Command, and the media’s coverage of the many thefts of information from the cloud and digital databases.

Polling respondents with experience in Internet security, a recent report conducted by Pew Research Center confirms, “Cyber Attacks Likely to Increase.” The center reported that 61% of the report’s respondents believed that a cyber attack causing widespread harm would occur by 2025, with 39% disagreeing. The respondents almost universally agreed that American reliance on the Internet has exposed individuals, industry, and government to new threats. Pew identified four themes from its canvassing.

CTOVision covered the first two themes – Internet-connected systems are inviting targets and security is not the first consideration in digital application design – here.

The third theme identified by Pew states, “Major cyber attacks have already happened… Similar or worse attacks are a given.” Of the respondents who voiced this opinion, many employed the example of Stuxnet for support. (Stuxnet was a worm that infected software necessary to the functioning of Iran’s nuclear program, in a cybersecurity attack that caused a great setback to enrichment efforts.) The argument maintains that if an agency can produce a worm capable of rendering large portions of a nuclear facility useless, then an agency can certainly launch future successful cyber attacks that target critical infrastructure in developed countries.

Pew’s last theme states, “Cyber attacks are a looming challenge for businesses and individuals. Certain sectors, such as finance and power systems, are the most vulnerable.” Industries that utilize legacy (outdated and lingering) systems will face the greatest challenges from cybersecurity threats, because older systems will not have the years (or decades) of improvements that new systems have. The importance of these vulnerabilities cannot be understated, as much of life in the United States relies on the functioning of financial and power systems.

In addition to its four themes, Pew identified several further considerations of cybersecurity: intellectual property concerns, the necessity of collaboration, the potential harm that could be caused by accidents, cyber treaties in the future, and lower levels of privacy.

The significance of this Pew report stems from the fact that these cybersecurity challenges have implications for nearly every American. If you are reading this article, you rely (to some extent) on the Internet; if you commuted to work this morning, you probably relied on numerous systems to arrive at work quickly and safely. Examples abound – digitalization has penetrated almost every corner of our lives.

Time spent upping cybersecurity is not time wasted.

The blurring lines between physical and cyber systems, coverage of data monitoring from the Edward Snowden revelations, and the deluge of cyber attacks in 2014 have resulted in new levels of American interest in cybersecurity. A few examples of this attention are the speculations around the implementation of Stuxnet, the government’s creation of Cyber Command, and the media’s coverage of the many thefts of information from digital databases and the cloud.

Polling respondents with experience in Internet security, a recent report conducted by Pew Research Center confirms, “Cyber Attacks Likely to Increase.” The center reported that 61% of the report’s respondents believed that a cyber attack causing widespread harm would occur by 2025. The respondents almost universally agreed that America’s reliance on the Internet has exposed individuals, industry, and government to new threats. Pew identified four cybersecurity themes with its report.

The first theme states, “Internet-connected systems are inviting targets. The Internet is a critical infrastructure for national defense activities, energy resources, banking/finance, transportation, and essential daily-life pursuits for billions of people.” The attacker’s advantage in cyberspace makes for an attractive environment to launch an attack, and the high value of financial and personal information makes launching a cyber attack a very lucrative proposition. Unlike traditional/physical attacks, launching cyber attacks does not pose any immediate physical risks to aggressors. Moreover, rising computer literacy has resulted in more individuals knowing how to code, a trend that further lowers the barriers to entry in the cyber arena.

With a high quantity of high-value information stored in Internet-connected systems, those systems will receive a great amount of attention from criminals and foreign governments, who stand to gain much from retrieving information from American systems.

Pew’s second theme states, “Security is generally not the first concern in the design of Internet applications. It seems as if the world will only wake up to these vulnerabilities after catastrophe occurs.” This theme appeals to common sense. If users desire easy-to-use applications for specific purposes with limited time and material resources, then it makes sense that designers would focus more on the product that their customer will interact with and less on security details that may not add value to the application in the short term.

Look for a discussion of the third and fourth themes later this week.

While most think that a major cyber attack is forthcoming, proactive responses to rising cybersecurity risks can prevent future attacks, deter attackers, or decrease the damage wrought by attacks. As always, awareness of news and trends, communication with cybersecurity experts, and good digital hygiene are first steps to upping levels of cybersecurity.