Cyberwar Right Here, Right Now...
U.S. Perspective on the International Cyber Environment:- It's a wild west right now. The rule of the strongest. No legal framework. Espionage vs. sabotage
US officials have apparently said that Russia initiated a “sophisticated cyberattack” on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff unclassified email system, a system which then was taken down for a period of weeks.
This “sophisticated cyber intrusion” happened in late July and impacted approximately 4,000 personnel employed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On the one hand, officials reportedly have said that it is not plain whether, in fact the attack was supported by Russia’s government, but on the other hand, officials reportedly have stated that the attack “clearly was the work of a state actor.” These officials emphasize that classified information supposedly was not seized, and that only unclassified accounts were compromised, hopefully, that indeed is the case.
Meanwhile, a month earlier, the Office of Personnel Management told the public that a database housing personal information relating to roughly 4 million current and former employees had been hacked. United States officials reportedly stated in private that this was the work of the Chinese government, even though the administration did not directly accuse China with respect to this attack. China has denied any suggestion of involvement.
It is true that even if Russia and China were behind these hacks, they did not perpetrate true military assaults, there was no physical harm caused to anyone that we know of at this point. However, if Russia and China so easily might be able to obtain sensitive information of US government employees, this might not bode well. It is a depressing thought that Russia and China might develop the capability over the Internet to access, disrupt, or gain control of US mission critical military systems and other systems that address the functions of nuclear power plants, air traffic control, the electrical grid, or water supply and distribution.
As Stuxnet demonstrated, we now live in a world where cyber attacks are real and cyber wars could cause immeasurable damage. These attacks could become greater in terms of potential harm, and thus the Internet will be a place where defensive efforts are put in place, even when defense goes on the offensive. Are these acts of war? Not in the traditional sense, but the protection of humans lives can be at stake.
by Eric Sinrod. Duane Morrix LLP: http://ow.ly/SVF4R
Techlaw: http://bit.ly/1JA3oVo
