1. Research international laws designed to combat crime in cyberspace. What are
ID: 2246851 • Letter: 1
Question
1. Research international laws designed to combat crime in cyberspace. What are some problems in enforcing international crime laws and treaties? How can biometric technology be used to fight cybercrime and cyber-related crimes internationally? What controversies does the use of this technology raise?
2. What exactly is cyberterrorism? What is information warfare? How can information warfare be distinguished from cyberterrorism?
3. If complete security in cyberspace were possible, would it be desireable? Explain. Is total security in cyberspace a reasonable goal? Why or why not? Give examples to support your answers.
Explanation / Answer
1)
The rapid digitisations of consumer records and enterprise data have created substantial positive impacts on individuals and businesses alike. However, it has also added to the cost of data breaches and cybercrime still represents one of the greatest threats in the digital world. It is a well-recognised global problem that cybercrime is a major issue for anybody who owns, runs, manages or accesses computer systems that is linked to the world wide web. The problem is further aggravated by the fact that there is an increasing dependency on computer systems for managing several aspects of our lives such as security, financial and infrastructure services.
Statistics reveal that almost 75 percent of people living in the United States have had at least one of their online accounts hacked by cyber criminals. These are a new breed of criminals who use sophisticated technology to reach deep into every home without the owner even realizing it. Passwords seem feeble against their attacks and moreover 92% of all passwords can be hacked. Corporate companies have also not been spared with many of these companies experiencing some kind of data breach every month.
Cost of cybercrime
As far as technology and computers are concerned, United States is one of the most advanced countries in the world and this is part of the reason why American companies and citizens are prime targets for cyber criminals. Some of the most prevalent cyber-crimes in today’s world include identity fraud, data theft, hacking, password vulnerability, denial of service, sabotage etc.
A study by the British Insurance Company Lloyd in 2015 estimated that cyber-attacks are costing businesses more than $400 billion annually. It includes direct damage as well as the disruption caused to the normal course of business post the attack. The cyber-crime costs had quadrupled from 2013 to 2015 and it seems there will be another quadrupling from 2015 to 2019. Another report by Juniper Research predicts that the cost of data breaches may reach to $2.5 trillion dollar globally by 2020. This is almost four times the estimated cost of breaches in 2015.
According to the identity theft resource centre, 5000 known incidents of data breaches have been reported since 2005 and involved approximately 675 million individual records. Data breach refers to the loss of information from personal computers or laptops that could potentially lead to identity theft. This information includes bank account details, medical information, social security numbers etc. Traditionally passwords have been used to secure such confidential information but it seems they have outlived their usefulness as indicated by the rising number of hacking attacks.
This can also be attributed to the fact that more than 30 percent of American internet users visit over 10 websites every day and more than 59 percent of them use the same password on multiple websites. Moreover, passwords possess the inherent risk of being stolen or shared. Criminals are also able to crack passwords having strong entropy with the help of automated password cracking software.
Therefore the staggering numbers mentioned above indicate the magnitude of the problem that cyber-crime poses to businesses and individuals. What is even more alarming is the fact that this statistics continue to rise and the hacker’s reach does not seem to have an end.
Biometrics to stop cybercrime
The problem with passwords suggest that a stronger form of user authentication is required that is secure as well as convenient. Biometrics is one such authentication mechanism that identifies or verifies individuals based on their unique physiological or behavioral characteristics such as iris, fingerprints etc. It is based on something that the user is as opposed to something he knows or something he has.
Weak or compromised passwords are the primary reason for the rising instances of security and data breaches. The implementation of biometric modality such as fingerprints will help to curb these instances as fingerprints are inherent to individuals and virtually impossible to steal or replicate. Fingerprint biometrics has been in existence for thousands of years and the increasing need to reduce hacking attacks and instances of fraud has made this technology very popular and widely used.
Nowadays, experts and law enforcement agencies are increasingly relying on biometrics as a major tool to fight cyber-crimes. For the most part, this technology is one of the hardest forms of security to breach and extremely difficult to reproduce since it is intrinsic to a person’s being. It also proves convenient as the user no longer needs to memorize a long and complex password for every account they use. Their fingerprints now become the password. Furthermore, the time and money spent on resetting lost or forgotten passwords is also eliminated.
After the users are enrolled into the biometric system, only a digital representation of their biometric sample is stored as a template. A biometric algorithm extracts the distinguishing features of the fingerprints, encrypts this data and stores it as a template. This is a one-way algorithm and cannot be used to reconstruct the original image from the template. Thus it provides the highest amount of privacy and assures users that their fingerprints will not be used for any purpose other than identification.
Therefore, it is evident that biometrics can prove individual identity with a much higher accuracy as compared to passwords and are also less vulnerable to hacking and fraud. Furthermore, passwords are shareable but biometrics is neither transferable not forgettable. Thus the use of this technology means improved security and will help consumers and businesses to fight against cyber-crime.
2)
In the wake of the recent computer attacks, many have been quick to jump to conclusions that a new breed of terrorism is on the rise and our country must defend itself with all possible means. As a society we have a vast operational and legal experience and proved techniques to combat terrorism, but are we ready to fight terrorism in the new arena – cyber space?
A strategic plan of a combat operation includes characterization of the enemy’s goals, operational techniques, resources, and agents. Prior to taking combative actions on the legislative and operational front, one has to precisely define the enemy. That is, it is imperative to expand the definition of terrorism to include cyber-terrorism.
As a society that prides itself on impartiality of justice, we must provide clear and definitive legislative guidelines for dealing with new breed of terrorism. As things stand now, justice cannot be served as we have yet to provide a clear definition of the term. In this light, I propose to re-examine our understanding of cyber-terrorism.
There is a lot of misinterpretation in the definition cyber-terrorism, the word consisting of familiar "cyber" and less familiar "terrorism". While "cyber" is anything related to our tool of trade, terrorism by nature is difficult to define. Even the U.S. government cannot agree on one single definition. The old maxim, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" is still alive and well.
The ambiguity in the definition brings indistinctness in action, as D. Denning pointed in her work Activism, Hactivism and Cyberterrorism, "an e-mail bomb may be considered hacktivism by some and cyber-terrorism by others"
It follows that there is a degree of "understanding" of the meanings of cyber-terrorism, either from the popular media, other secondary sources, or personal experience; however, the specialists’ use different definitions of the meaning. Cyber-terrorism as well as other contemporary "terrorisms" (bioterrorism, chemical terrorism, etc.) appeared as a mixture of words terrorism and a meaning of an area of application. Barry Collin, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Security and Intelligence in California, who in 1997 was attributed for creation of the term "Cyberterrorism", defined cyber-terrorism as the convergence of cybernetics and terrorism. In the same year Mark Pollitt, special agent for the FBI, offers a working definition: "Cyberterrorism is the premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which result in violence against noncombatant targets by sub national groups or clandestine agents."
Since that time the word cyber-terrorism has entered into the lexicon of IT security specialists and terrorist experts and the word list of mass media "professionals". One of the experts, a police chief, offers his version of definition: "Cyber-terrorism – attacking sabotage-prone targets by computer – poses potentially disastrous consequences for our incredibly computer-dependent society."
The media often use cyber-terrorism term quite deliberately: "Canadian boy admits cyberterrorism of his family: "Emeryville, Ontario (Reuter) - A 15-year-old Canadian boy has admitted he was responsible for months of notorious high-tech pranks that terrorized his own family, police said Monday"
A renowned expert Dorothy Denning defined cyber-terrorism as "unlawful attacks and threats of attack against computers, networks, and the information stored therein when done to intimidate or coerce a government or its people in furtherance of political or social objectives". R. Stark from the SMS University defines cyber-terrorism as " any attack against an information function, regardless of the means"
Under the above-mentioned definitions of cyber-terrorism one can only point to the fact that any telecommunications infrastructure attack, including site defacing and other computer pranks, constitute terrorism. It means that cyber-terrorism has already occurred and we "live " in the epoch of cyber terror.
However, another expert, James Christy the law enforcement and counterintelligence coordinator for the DIAP (Defense-wide Information Assurance Program), which is steered by the office of the assistant secretary of defense for command, control, communications and intelligence, states that cyber-terrorism has never been waged against the United States. "Rather, recent hacking events – including a 1998 web page set up by a supporter of the Mexican Zapatistas rebel group, which led to attacks on the U.S. military from 1,500 locations in 50 different countries – constitute computer crime. William Church, a former U.S. Army Intelligence officer, who founded the Center for Infrastructural Warfare Studies (CIWARS) agrees that the United States has not seen a cyber terrorist threat from terrorists using information warfare techniques. "None of the groups that are conventionally defined as terrorist groups have used information weapons against the infrastructure"Richard Clarke, national co-ordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorism at the National Security Council offered to stop using "cyberterrorism" and use "information warfare " instead
The above-mentioned observations drive a clear line between cyber-terrorism and cyber crime and allow us to define cyber-terrorism as: Use of information technology and means by terrorist groups and agents.
In defining the cyber terrorist activity it is necessary to segment of action and motivation. There is no doubt that acts of hacking can have the same consequences as acts of terrorism but in the legal sense the intentional abuse of the information cyberspace must be a part of the terrorist campaign or an action.
Examples of cyber terrorist activity may include use of information technology to organize and carry out attacks, support groups activities and perception-management campaigns. Experts agree that many terrorist groups such as Osama bin Ladenn organization and the Islamic militant group Hamas have adopted new information technology as a means to conduct operations without being detected by counter terrorist officials.
Thus, use of information technology and means by terrorist groups and agents constitute cyber-terrorism. Other activities, so richly glamorized by the media, should be defined as cyber crime.
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