The Evolving World of Cybersecurity

The world of cybersecurity continues to evolve whereby the perpetrators of cyber crimes are becoming emboldened in a way we have not seen before, and the U.S. government’s response to these crimes also has evolved in unprecedented ways.

Last month the hacker groups Lulsec and Anonymous joined efforts “to launch 'Operation Anti-Security' or 'AntiSec' to expose corrupt, abusive governments . . . [their] top priority is to steal and leak any classified government information, including email spools and documentation. Prime targets are banks and other high-ranking establishments,” the group's operation statement read.

So far, these groups have hacked websites at the Pentagon, the U.S. Senate and the CIA. Internationally these groups (or their affiliates) have hacked government websites in Turkey, Brazil and the U.K. These groups also have gone after non-government agencies and private sector companies, such as the International Monetary Fund, the Public Broadcasting Service, Fox.com, Sony, Nintendo and Citibank to name a few.  These efforts, combined with the emergence of wikileaks, have created a new era of cyber attacks.

Unfortunately, the story does not end there. Foreign governments have intensified their efforts to conduct cyber attacks against other governments.  At the top of the list is Chinese government which has been accused of not only hacking U.S. government websites, but also going after high profile Internet companies such as Google.

As a result, the U.S. government has ratcheted up its response to cyber threats and attacks in two significant ways.  First, the Pentagon has announced the creation of the National Cyber Range at a cost of roughly $150 million, which will be launched next year.  The purpose of the cyber firing range is to create a virtual Internet environment where professional and ethical hackers can hone their skills and train recruits.  This is the first grand scale U.S. program of its type.

Finally, and most significantly, the Pentagon recently announced that a cyber attack against the U.S. coming from another country can constitute an act of war.  This finding is unprecedented and reflects a recognition of threat posed by cyber attacks in their ability to wreak havoc on our information based society.  However, this finding raises a host of additional questions, such as how does the U.S. prove a foreign national acted at the direction of a foreign government, and how significant does the threat need to be to trigger an act of war. Nevertheless, the U.S. government has clearly upped the ante with this announcement.