Cyber diplomacy is becoming the new discipline to establish cooperation among nation states.
The threat now posed by acts of aggression in cyber space has caused governments to establish a position to deal with the establishment of agreements of cooperation and coordination of government activities in cyber space. The new position has been dubbed “cyber diplomat.” At this point, the cyber diplomat is charged with practicing the art and science of cyber diplomacy. Keep reading →
COMMENTARY:
Last week yet another call was heard for the need for increased efforts to identify, collect, analyze and disseminate cyber intelligence. This latest call was the result of a recent report that warned the U.S. must develop cyber intelligence as a new and better coordinated government discipline.
How many times does this have to be recommended and justified before we just get it done and done right? Keep reading →
A recently released report provides a glimpse into the true economic impact of the cyber crime wave that has been going on for years.
The 2011 Norton Cyber crime disclosed that over 74 million people in the United States were victims of cyber crime in 2010. These criminal acts resulted in $32 billion in direct financial losses. Keep reading →
COMMENTARY:
The race to keep pace with conventional arms development recently ran head long into the race for cyber dominance–and sustained an eye-opening set-back.
These weapons programs take years to develop and typically cost billions of dollars. But the damage goes far beyond the dollars spent on the program to date. The loss of time in the conventional arms race is perhaps the biggest area of loss and the greatest concern for Defense Department strategic planners. Keep reading →
COMMENTARY:
A new arms race began a few years back and its rapid revolutions will make the cold war era look like a minuscule research project for a white paper!
The new race is to develop offensive, defensive and intelligence collection capabilities for cyber space operations. Keep reading →
COMMENTARY:
Social media is perhaps the greatest tool for mass communication–and for attracting like-minded individuals. That is not new. Back in 2005, for instance, the Journal of International Security Affairs reported on the increased web presence of several major Islamic militias.
Threat intelligence analysis, however, indicates that information and activities within social networking sites is now viewed as one of the primary sources of cyber intelligence on extremist groups and terrorists. Keep reading →
COMMENTARY:
The cyber threats we face today routinely transcend industries, geographic boarders as well as government, military, and business domains. The impact of the aggressive cyber attacks we have witnessed recently, however, have become so substantial that it has now reached priority status in the executive suite.
“C” level executives are now routinely involved when their organizations experience one of these attacks. That is a departure from what we have seen. Keep reading →
COMMENTARY:
Reports of North Korea launching cyber attacks on South Korea continue. At the same time North Korea is said to be behind a recent group of cyber attacks on the United States as well.
Some experts familiar with these attacks say they are tests of North Korea’s newly developed cyber weapons, but with most cyber attacks knowing who is behind the attack (attribution) and possibly why they chose to attack continue to be illusive questions. Keep reading →
COMMENTARY:
Some say the ability of the United States to wage war is by far the most advanced in the world. Strategists have for years claimed that our technology and superior training of our personnel are what really gives the U.S. the edge in modern day conflict. No truer words have been spoken when it comes to the new fifth domain, cyberspace.
However, there is an aspect related to the acts of cyber aggression and espionage that has not received much attention. Keep reading →
COMMENTARY:
This year Anonymous has become very well known after successfully compromising several web systems. The hacking collective known as Anonymous is thought to have more than 1,000 active members. This group recently released more than 1,000 stolen files that totaled hundreds of megabytes in size.
The digital documents are said to top 390 megabytes in size and contained reports related to NATO, the US Army and personnel files were posted for download and as proof of their efforts. Keep reading →