The Cybercrime: A Clear and Present Danger, Essay Example

The flame virus and Stuxnet are types of malware that have threatened the world of cybersecurity.  These viruses effect the security and safety of systems through stealth operations.  Stuxnet is dangerous due to the fact that it targets important industrial systems including gas lines and energy suppliers.  It reprograms the logic of the systems so that the attackers can take control.  It attempts to gain administrative control and privileges through vulnerabilities in the software.  The Flame Virus is considered one of the most dangerous types of malware.  It was created in order to steal information, and has the capability to not only monitor net traffic of a system, but can also access the microphone in order to record information.  This information can then be transferred to the attacker’s servers in order to be accessed.  These programs use

While many organizations believe they are safe from these attacks, the truth is that “cybercriminals are increasingly adept at gaining undetected access and maintaining a long term presence in IT environments.”  (Dezabala, 2010)  Due to this sense of security, vital information can be compromised, putting the organizations and their associates at risk of financial loss, issues with regulations, and exposure of important data.  This has the result of damage to the organization’s reputation which leads to a loss of confidence.  This is why cybercrime is so potentially dangerous.

Had these programs targeted the United States here on our soil, there might have been economic loss as well as a loss of confidence in the government’s ability to protect the public from these problems.  Due to the fact that these viruses have the potential to infect systems that are of vital importance to the United State’s infrastructure, the danger of the infections being targeted on U.S soil would be critical.  “The emergence of the Stuxnet worm is the type of risk that threatens to cause harm to many activities deemed critical to the basic functioning of modern society.” (Kerr, 2010)

As everyone is spying and infiltrating systems, the Edward Snowden case is different in its application of the information that was taken.  “A critical distinction between the NSA penetration of Chinese systems and foreign agency exploitation of US industry is what’s done with the data.”  While data that has been obtained in this way is often sold or given to competitors, the information that was obtained by Snowden was, allegedly, only circulated within the government itself, or made public in some circumstances.

References

DeZabala, Baich (2010). The Cybercrime: A Clear and Present Danger: Combating the Fastest Growing Cyber Security Threat. Deloitte. Center for Security and Privacy Solutions.

Kerr, Rollins &Theohary (2010). The Stuxnet Computer Worm: Harbringer of an Emerging Warfare Capability. CRS Report For Congress. Congressional Resarch Service.

Landau, Susan (2013). The Making Sense From Snowden: What’s Significant in the NSA Surveillance Revelations.Copublished by the IEEE Computer and Reliability Societies.

Morton, Grace (2013). A Case Study on Stuxnet and Flame Malware. Israel Institute of Technology.  Institute of Information Science and Technology.