Cyber attacks on a nations military and/or commercial computers have evolved into a more complex situation. In the past, this was simply done for the fun or rush of doing such a thing. Today, it is a real menace to a government due to the increase of ease in performing this. Also, with the on-going "race" of power between nations, cyber attacks are an easy and cheap way for one nation to attack another. This has evolved into such a problem that cyber-weapons are to be added to the list of arms falling under the remit of the UN.
The problem here is the lack of adequate cyber defences. By making it more difficult for anyone to attack a nation, obviously the better off the country will be. A cyber attack can easily destabilise a country with out even getting accross a border.
For example, imagine the world where smart grid is fully functional and every source of energy will be managed electronically. Then hackers could infiltrate and control the system causing power failures in chemical and water plants which would cause unimaginable losses in major cities shown in the video below.
This hypothetical scenario is best illustrated in the movie Die Hard 4 where the antagonist takes advantage of the computer-controlled infrastructure of the nation to explode energy plants, shut down major stock companies, thus creating fear amongst the citizens.
However, creating physical damage is not the only fear that the government has towards hackers. They are also on alert about having their own government network hacked. The government holds so much information, detailed information, on citizens that once a hacker hacks the network, then he/she could misuse that information. For instance, hackers stole data on 1500 Energy Department employees whose work related to nuclear arms. Although no harm was done, the hackers could have used this information to kidnap, bribe or even threaten national security.
We must take into account that some hackers infiltrate government networks as a means of protest, this is called Hacktivism. For example, three teenagers hacked into the network of India's atomic research center and downloaded files to protest India's test of nuclear weapons. But we must ask ourselves whether taking extreme measure to express our opinions is the appropriate way or whether it should be allowed because we have our freedom to express ourselves.
I believe that having a cyber attack on a group like the government in order to get an idea through is just simple crazy. Somtimes people might get so into getting there own message through that they might not have put in consideration the effect on people around them.
ReplyDeleteFor example, some one does a cyber attack on the bank for whatever reason just to prove a point. If this attack somehow manages to delete money, which most likely will, people who had money in that bank will be affected.
Despite it conflicting with freedom to express ourselves, i think that it shouldnt be allowed because cyber attacks can be something very simple to something very complex like in the movie Die Hard 4, in which a hacker attacked the government and initiated the Fire Sale and a lot of people got hurt. Even though its not phisical violence that could be caused it could affect people in other ways.
Hacking is an issue that should be taken into concer, specially when it involves the Government. Hacking is become more popular in teenagers since thay are using it as a distraction or just as a joke. Many of this jokes end up in a big problem because a small mistake can take down the system and cause a national harm to the country.I also beleive that we should have freedom to express ourselves but not in a harmfull way with hacking attacks. Hacking attacks such as teh ones on the video can get many people hurt or even cost their lifes.
ReplyDeleteCyber attack is one of the biggest problems in society. If one tries to hack little, it can really affect one person's life. Hacking is not a good way to express yourselves towards the society. You can express your opinions in a different approach. Why would someone hack a system as an expression of his or her opinions? As towards society, it can possibly be harm.
ReplyDeleteTwo things are to be considered. Number one, the United States will always be attack no matter what, and second relying on technology to heavily may be a mistake because once that system is penetrated it can created a lot of havoc (chaos).It is just like putting all your eggs in one basket.
ReplyDeletei have nothing else to say but that i agree with murph, as the united states should have more ways of securing their governmental files that they have on internet, as they should also have physical backup, and also for the movie "hard to die", which shows that terrorist get absolute control of a government's building by hacking into the system. this can be stop by stop trusting technology that much and start using the old school methods of security, as adding mechanical or physical methods to secure a building, bank or anything under the government's control.
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