Cyber War – The Battle Against An Unseen Enemy
Merriam-Webster defines war as a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations. War has always been a part of civilization’s history- it has caused the rise and fall of many of history’s most prominent empires. The U. S. has a played a role in some of the histories more defining wars and stood as a pillar of hope for many. It is always physically ready to defend against those who would hope to infringe upon safety and rights of its citizens. But what if the art of war has evolved into something unseen? What if the U. S. has cultivated an enemy it would need to fight on a different battlefield?
This battlefield more evolving and results more catastrophic than anything possibly imagined in history. Our need to advance technology has created a battlefield where the weapon of choice is not a brute strength but intellectual one. Cyberwar is the resultant creation of such an advancement where the enemy has integrated into our daily lives-unseen and damaging. George R. R. Martin said it best, “the unseen enemy is always the most fearsome. ” With technology persistently advancing has the government adapted quickly enough to anticipate for vulnerabilities to its infrastructure against cyber-attacks.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has created a cybersecurity division whose focus is primarily on mitigating the national cybersecurity risks to the country through a set of goals. Specifically, seven goals categorized into five pillars- the first pillar Risk identification intends to asses evolving cybersecurity risks and prioritize them by activities. The second pillar is vulnerability reduction which is comprised of two goals; the first is to protect the federal government information system to reduce vulnerabilities to federal agencies and the second is to protect critical infrastructure. The third pillar, threat reduction whose goal is to prevent and disrupt the criminal use of cyberspace. The fourth pillar is consequence mitigation which will minimize consequence from potentially significant attacks by effectively responding to cyber incidents. Lastly, pillar five is to enable cybersecurity outcomes with two goals in mind.
The first goal is to strengthen the security and reliability of the cyber ecosystem and the second is to improve management of the DHS cybersecurity activities. Although the DHS has identified their goals to combat terrorism it is still the responsibility of everyone to mitigate the countries risk to cybersecurity. In 2015 the Obama Administration passed the Cybersecurity Act, which implements the Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP). The CNAP highlights particular protocols and strategies to strengthen against cybersecurity attacks. The first of which is to modernize the government's information technology which would replace outdated equipment. Many of our government agencies still function on an antiquated technology whose security protocols would not stand a chance against cyber-attacks. The second strategy is charging the general public with the responsibility of protecting personal information. The introduction of multi-factor authentication ensures additional security protocols for personal accounts and information.
The government has also partnered with the technology firms and financial institutions in creating cyber protocols to protect the information of individuals and to safeguard against cyber-attacks. One of the most significant moves the government has made is to transition from the use of social security numbers. They have now implemented alternative multi-factor authentication protocols to limit the use of the social security number to identify and individual digitally. While the government has taken many steps to ensure against cyber-attacks to particular areas there are still vulnerabilities to our infrastructure. The advancement of technology has integrated into our electrical and transportation infrastructure. A strategic attack on the electrical grid could be disastrous in that it would have an effect everything from healthcare to the defense of the country, and even the financial institution. Attacking a power grid could potentially leave the country in blackout mode indefinitely opening up other avenues of vulnerability. A calculated attack on the transportation system specifically a railway could be catastrophic. For example, a train carrying munitions or hazardous material rerouted through a highly populated area and colliding with another train would leave tragic results. The railway system which has transitioned and is managed digitally could be just as vulnerable to targeted cyber-attacks. While the government has identified and implemented specific goals to fight against cyber-attacks there is still a level of vulnerability. In August alone there have been a total of 80 cyber-attack events, 18. 8% of that was cyber-espionage-related with 2. 5% being specific to cyber warfare.
The risk of attack is always there more so with technology advancing daily. Is the government equipped to deal with vulnerabilities as a result of this advancement? I believe to an extent they are, but one can never really know until it’s truly tested against a real attack. It is difficult to fight an unseen enemy more specifically one that evolves faster each day. It is everyone’s responsibility to fight in this cyber ware by ensuring we do not leave ourselves vulnerable first, the private sector to ensure that they do their part, and the government to implement stronger protocols to our cyber infrastructure.
