Experts: Cyber-crime bigger threat than cyber-terror

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Originally posted here by chsh
Cyberterrorism is a real threat. Just because nobody has done it on a large scale to date doesn't mean it isn't a threat. Look at 9/11, flying planes into buildings wasn't exactly a tactic employed by many prior or since, but it was obviously a threat.

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I agree whole heartedly! But every time a major event comes down the line, people start throwing around the word Terrorism. It's like when the initial proliferation of Internet access hit the mainstream. Do you remember ePizza? Or how about the eTax returns? eCommerce was a fairly acceptable use, but the marketing weenies slapped a vowel on the beggining of any word they could and yelled JACKPOT! It's hype, which is just another form of FUD.

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The same thing is true of people and voting. If being informed and openly aware of how to do things was a requirement for doing them, most people wouldn't have more than a Television in their homes, let alone computers for every person in the house.

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I again, I concur! But if its such a pain to use for those who won't get off their ass and learn a few things, is it really bad when they give up? Same thing happens with voting. The uninformed and uninterested usually don't participate. Now they probably should, but it's not a requirement. I would MUCH rather see folks take the time and invest the effort into learning the basics they need to protect themselves on the Internet. But if they won't, and they leave because "it's too slow" or "i get too much spam", then I'm not shedding a lot of tears over the loss. Just because you CAN buy a computer and use the Internet doesn't mean it is something you SHOULD do. You certainly have the right (at least in MY country, most of us do.) But just because you have the privledge of applying for and receiving a drivers license, doesn't necessarily mean you SHOULD. I know people whose judgement I seriously question at times, and they drive all the time.

I'm just saying I won't get up in arms about the threat of network congestion or failure due to worms and malicious code JUST BECUASE uncle cletus can't view his goat-pr0n as fast as he want's to. There are better and more pressing issues to discuss and get worked up about.

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Originally posted here by Juridian
It could affect a great many businesses and those who do business with them. People who work in online entertainment wouldn't be able to give their services such as online games, radio, movies, etc. People would have to go to understaffed counters to make orders for the things they need which would cost them time and give the businesses involved problems.
Businesses who rely on it for inter office communication, administration, e-business, etc could be crippled. All the people who work for .coms could easily have their company go under if they aren't making money and don't have insurance (most companies don't have that type of insurance or it's not offered to them).

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This is a very true point, if you consider the impacted persons LOCATION. I really doubt parts of Afghanistan, The Congo, or Tibet would be overwhelmed with economic distress if the Internet had a major obstruction for web-traffic. But many of the countries in our so called 'information economy' could feel disastrous impact.

I'm not trivializing the threat of 'Cyber-Terrorism'. I'm bitching about calling stupid pranks that have gotten out of control 'Terrorism'. Even calculated attacks...now the hordes of Chinese ParaMilitary Hackers, just waiting to unleash their digital doom on our capitalist-pig networks...that's a different story. :D I'm just saying, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, don't call it The Last Of The Great Bald Eagles! <trumpets in the background>

Indeed, that's why I put the location part in the last paragraph of the post. =)

And leave my duck outta this!

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People would have to go to understaffed counters to make orders for the things they need which would cost them time and give the businesses involved problems.

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My 10 min 45 min analagy covers this. It takes seconds to write out a reciept and tare it off the pad.....more than 10 mins for a computer op to look up all the items add quantities to an invoice then print it.............Dont argue with me here, I have been at both sides of the counter.

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Then that goes down the line...what do all the people at the amazon.com shipping stations do if there are no orders or money coming in? What about the people that make the products or drive them to the warehouse? If nothings getting sold then they have no business eithe

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Weather the storm or go under...Thats business. The senario is the same if bad business desitions are taken.

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Some countries wouldn't have many issues, others could have some serious problems when the companies are hit and the affects spread out like waves from a pebble tossed in a pond

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So what contingency plans has your company got if the web does go down? and it can

Eggs one basket mean anything to you??.

Edit

X is an unknown quantity
spert is a drip under pressure

It's a large, untapped threat.

Just because it hasn't YET been an issue does not mean that it will CONTINUE to be a non-issue. If I were an agent of an enemy cell, I would use technology to carry out the following objectives:

• Send secure messages - NOT 1:1 - to enemy agents covertly.
• Use technology to eavesdrop / jam US military communications.
• Use techology to conduct man-in-the-middle attacks against banks and other infrastructure.
• Use route/DNS poisoning to disrupt communications into and out of US installations (domestic & abroad).
• Conduct attacks against any connected devices I can find that are also infrastructure (e.g. traffic lights, freeway signs). The increased load on 911 should jam up the (phone) lines.
• ... and more

So ... if I were an enemy agent, it is pretty clear that I would NOT attack private sector - the general public in the US is already cowed into submission. Rather, I would go after intra- and extra-military communications as well as infrastructure. Additionally, I would actively sweep for and corrupt sensor-nets as well as telemetry reporting devices for drones/UAVs.

That's what I'd do. And, yes, it could be evil. That is why this country (US) needs to up its recognition regarding IW (Information Warfare). It's a shame to look at how the US treats this coming pandemic, especially when coupled with the current IP vigilance.

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Information Warfare

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Now that is a tag line that means something.Cyber_terrorisismism Means jack.

THE AIM OF TERRORISM..IS TO TERRORISE
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Originally posted here by jinxy
My 10 min 45 min analagy covers this. It takes seconds to write out a reciept and tare it off the pad.....more than 10 mins for a computer op to look up all the items add quantities to an invoice then print it.............Dont argue with me here, I have been at both sides of the counter.

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As have many of the rest of us. There are a number of shops that I've been to that have had a noticable drop in processing time and staff since they have gained or improved computerised systems. Not just behind the counter as well... what about companies that have large administration/finance/archive/etc systems that have a lot of information flow using computerised systems. Viruses that slip through the cracks can have major profit line damages, which can lead to downsizing/bankruptances (is that a word?)...
Anyway, I'm sure you get my drift. Perhaps your hardware store needs a faster system ;)

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Originally posted here by jinxy
Weather the storm or go under...Thats business. The senario is the same if bad business desitions are taken.

<snip>

So what contingency plans has your company got if the web does go down? and it can

Eggs one basket mean anything to you??.

Edit

X is an unknown quantity
spert is a drip under pressure

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I think the threat with this kind of thing is that it is possible to seriously affect a number of businesses. Remember, there is no such thing as a standalone business... everyone is reliant on someone as a supplier or customer, and an awful lot of people are reliant on their employers for being able to buy food and pay the bills at the end of the month.

Imagine someone turning off the systems at Wall Street for half a day. Thousands of companies at various levels get affected badly, jobs are lost, items cost more as companies try to recoup losses... the knockon affect is subtle but still serious.

While nobody is likely to directly be killed as a result of such an attack (although imagine taking down the systems at one of the under-staffed, over-stressed public hospitals), many people can be badly hurt in other ways. Direct losses from the larger of the recent runaway viruses (such as sasser) have been estimated in the billions.

I'm not saying we have to fall under the paranoia banner, especially with media reports... since when has the media been objective, or even accurate? :)
I'm just saying don't disregard Information Warfare (you're right, a much better term) as a serious threat that can affect us all on a personal level.

on a semi-related note did anyone ever stop to think what you got if you took the first letters from the words "The War Against Terrorism" ??

;)

v_Ln

What we're looking at are two dangerous extremes of thought:

1) Terrorists from the Middle East are going to spam, DOS, and hack us into oblivion, or
2) cyber terrorism will never happen and is a silly fairy tale.

I think our job is to stand inbetween these two uneducated extremes. So often is the case with truth.

Saying "it can't happen", however, is perhaps the most dangerous blunder of all.

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1) Terrorists from the Middle East are going to spam, DOS, and hack us into oblivion, or

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I wouldn't put such a narrow view on terrorism in that sense if you want something in between. Terrorism comes locally as well and from places like China, North Korea, South Korea, Africa, etc.