Cyberspace has caused a battlefield between legitimate users and illegitimate hackers. Though with minimal consequences, hackers have developed denial-of-access cyber-attacks. These attacks only cause delays and result in limited affects lasting up to three days.
The U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit (USCCU) has found a greater threat to cyber-security: “hijack[ing] systems with false information in order to discredit the systems or do lasting physical damage” (n.d., para 1). Such attacks can cause losses substantial enough to bankrupt most companies if focused on the corporate sector. Of greater concern are threats at the national level. The USCCU has outlined such threats to potentially, “…cause hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage and to cause thousands of deaths” (n.d., para 1).
To counter such attacks, it is vital to assess its current feasibility The USCCU has noted that hacker websites and conventions have outlined methods that would produce such devastating consequences. This requires intelligence to access groups with interest and capabilities of launching such cyber-attacks. Such groups include terrorists, defined by the Code of Federal Regulations as, “…the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (FBI, n.d., Definitions).
Further areas of intelligence needed to access cyber-attacks involve counterintelligence (CI) resources; infiltration from within poses security problems.
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Resources
FBI (n.d.), Terrorism 2000/2001, retrieved on January 21, 2009 from www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terror2000_2001.htm
U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit (n.d.), The Urgency of This Cyber-Security Work, retrieved January 16, 2009 from www.usccu.us/#The_Urgency_of_This_Cyber-Security_Work
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