Data Security & Privacy

Chicken Little: ‘Cybergeddon’ among Top 3 Greatest Threats to U.S. National Security

The sky is falling!  For thousands of years, people have been told to prepare for apocalyptic events, and yet time after time, history has shown that we disregard the "warnings" until the "event" actually takes place.  Maybe in some sadistic or perverse way, we derive some sort of pleasure from failing to heed the signals, or maybe we feel that, with all the other things going on in our world, the burden of actually not knowing "when" the event will occur, is just too much for us, as individuals, to get worked up over.  From a sociological perspective, I believe the answer might go all the way back, like everything else, to our childhood.  More specifically, to the children’s fable of a baby chicken (or hare, in earlier versions) who believes that the sky is going to fall.  From "Noah’s Great Flood" to "Bin Laden Determined to Attack America," the story of the little chicken who believes the sky is falling can be a plausible explanation as to why we tend to act cavalier in matters dealing with apocalyptic events. 
 
With due regard to the professionals in the sociology and psychology profession, my analysis will simply end there.  However, I could not help but think of the ‘Chicken Little’ fable as I read an article about "Cybergeddon" on Yahoo!News by the American Free Press (AFP) today.  An interesting aside about the AFP, is that it is generally considered, by many media folks, to be a conspiracy theorists sounding board, among other things.  With that said, the article states that, after nuclear war and weapons of mass destruction, cyber-attacks pose the greatest threat to U.S. national security.  That statement was made by Mr. Shawn Henry, Assistant Director of the FBI Cyber Division, at a conference recently held in New York City.  
 
Mr. Henry added, "Other than a nuclear device or some other type of destructive weapon, the threat to our infrastructure, the threat to our intelligence, the threat to our computer network is the most critical threat we face."  Everything from municipal water systems and dams to banking institutions is susceptible to a virtual 9/11-style attack.  While a "hack" of that magnitude has not yet occured in the U.S., the FBI and law enforcement agencies from around the world, admit that hackers are ellusive and innovative – thus making it difficult to apprehend and prosecute – oh, and by the way, it is an EXTREMELY lucrative profession.
 
According to some reports, and over the past few days, Palestinian sympathizers have orchestrated several cyber-attacks on Israeli-owned Web sites.  The efficiency of the Internet has created a double-edged sword that requires special attention, but, unlike Chicken Little, the sky is falling on the cyber-world, and U.S. businesses need to be prepared for the inevitable.  For as, in describing the inherent weakness in the fight for cyber-security, Mr. Christopher Painter, FBI specialist said, "It’s not like a fire…it’s hard to get your head around the threat [due to the fact that the ‘threat’ is largely invisible, and not taken seriously]."
 
To view the entire article, please click here: ‘Cybergeddon’ fear stalks US: FBI
 

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