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You are here: News > News > Is the Nationwide Cyber Security Threat Overstated?
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| » 07 June 2009 |
| Is the Nationwide Cyber Security Threat Overstated? |
| Overblown threats and false alarms to U.S. national security are nothing new for many people, and the current uncertainty facing Americans today is whether or not hackers, malware, and Internet security breaches are real, legitimate hazards to American safety. Is network hacking the biggest hoax or media embellishment since the supposedly apocalyptic Y2K millennium bug? Is it merely being exaggerated in order for the administration to increase both its authority and budgets for its own self-interests? These are the questions posed by Kevin Poulsen, the editor of Threat Level, at a Wednesday panel in Computers, Freedom, and Privacy held in Washington, D.C. These are all important issues because President Obama recently announced that cyber security has become a national priority, the post of cyber coordinator has been created, examinations are being conducted to nurture an entire generation of hackers and Internet security specialists, the federal government is using IT language that's making even security experts wince, and Washington expenditures on computer security are already reaching billions of dollars. Amit Yoran, the former cyber security czar of the previous administration, contends that the answer for all of the above questions is easy. Yes, hacking is a national security threat; there are no ifs or buts about it. To support his stance, Yoran called attention to assaults on government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, the DNS (Denial of Service) attacks in Estonia, and the newly reported infiltration of defense contractor computers that let cyber criminals pilfer information about the clandestine Joint Strike Fighter program. On the other hand, Poulsen believes that the government's cyber terrorism allegations are all "preposterous" nonsense, citing the administration's fear-mongering warnings of hackers attacking the power grid system even though there's no indication that it had happened before or will ever happen in the future. He also argued that calling cyber intrusions "national security threats" will make details about the acts unnecessarily classified. After all, keeping information about hack attacks secret is something that will benefit attackers and will do "more harm than good" to the government. According to Poulsen, the security community won't be able to help examine or prepare protection for such attacks if they are kept in the dark on the details of the attacks in the first place. He also responded to Yoran's Joint Strike Fighter example by pointing out that only unclassified information was taken by the hackers. The sensationalistic media outlets are indeed eating out of the palm of the White House's hand in terms of this cyber security issue, but Americans also need to take a closer look at these supposed threats in order to make an informed decision on whether or not to support this endeavor. |
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