A cybersecurity terrorist act
A cybersecurity terrorist act, often known as cyberterrorism, is one of many sorts of hacking intended to destroy a network infrastructure. According to M. Conway (2011), cyber terrorism occurs when hackers utilize the internet to perform or plan violent actions that not only threaten but also result in loss of life and property. The paper uses the recent attack on the Department of Homeland Security as an example and digs deeper into the mitigating mechanisms that were either in place or that can be utilized to reduce the likelihood of such cyber crimes.
Categories of hackers
After an attack on their information infrastructure in 2016, the DHS categorised hackers into many categories. The first group of hackers is the Script Kiddies hackers. These hackers copy codes and use the copied codes for a virus, and they are not interested in hacking for themselves.. (Janczewski, L. (Ed.). 2007) A White Hat hacker is the second group of hackers according to DHS. White Hack hackers are the patriotic, highly skilled American Hackers who help to detect vulnerability of the information systems from within. These hackers can be employed by the DHS to hack their systems and come up with mechanisms of stopping such hacks from an external environment. Three, Black Hat hackers are also a threat to the cyber security of DHS. The crackers use common hacking methods learned in colleges to break into the systems of agencies and steal vital information for sale. The crackers' main aim is to make a living out of hacking. The fourth group of hackers, according to Lachow, I. (2009), is the Green Hat hackers. These hackers are in the process of becoming fully grown and are normally detected by asking many basic questions about hacking with great curiosity. The Gray hackers prey on the information systems for attention.
The intention of the grey hackers
The intention of the grey hackers is not to make money or steal information but to be recognized as hackers. They only hack for fun. However, some grey hackers take advantage of the desperation of agencies and steal information or ask for financial compensation. Red Hat hackers are the most interesting group. These hackers halt the Black Hat hackers by uploading their viruses and, in some instances, force a cracker to purchase a new computer by destroying the information systems from inside out. The Red Hat hackers do not prefer reporting malicious hackers. These hackers exist within the DHS. Finally, the Blue Hat hackers are the Script Kiddies who decide to take revenge on individual agencies or individuals who make them angry.
Mitigating against a United States cyber security terrorist act
There are many ways of mitigating the cyber security terrorist attacks. Some of which have already been implemented by the DHS. These ways include the following.
Data Encryption
The Department of Homeland Security secures vital information about government agencies and must ensure their data is not easily readable to third parties. Mousavian, S., Valenzuela, J., & Wang, J. (2015) mentions that data encryption is the technique of coding data to a format that is not readable to third parties without specialized knowledge such as passwords. For example, information about how the special service plans to secure the top American leaders is highly encrypted and should such information reach the public through a cyber attack; then the hackers would not be able to retrieve and read the contents.
Antivirus Systems
Antivirus systems are crucial in helping an organization or an individual in avoiding risks of cyber attack resulting from malware downloads. The antivirus systems are provided by many companies such as Google and Microsoft. The common types of antivirus include Kaspersky, AVG and Avast antivirus among others. The antivirus systems help in protecting against viruses, protecting against spam and protecting against the spyware or identity theft.
Credentials lockdown
The DHS has many users, and the cyber security threat can as well come from within. It is possible for some employees within an organization to ignorantly reveal information that can be picked up and used by hackers. To avoid such an occurrence, the DHS or any other organization can mitigate the risk by ensuring that all the credentials of the remote users are locked up and can be safely retrieved using a request on direct connection or using the Secure Socket Shell (SSH) key (Young, R., Zhang, L., & Prybutok, V. R. 2007).
Scanning of the servers
A server is a computer program which acts as the central point in the provision of a network. The mitigation using the method, in the words of Walters, R. (2014) involves a thorough and frequent scanning of the servers using automated scanning techniques. The DHS, for example, uses a multi-layer scan on the web servers and can identify any attempts to interfere with any of the information system infrastructures. It is out of the scan that the DHS was able to identify attempts to interfere with election infrastructure in the twenty-one states as confessed by the deputy secretary of DHS to the senate.
Strong password policy
The mitigation of a cyber security threat would demand a strong password security which involves the use of a strong password, the changing of default passwords and use of other access controls. Hackers can use the brute force attack on an organization's information system by trying a million character combinations to log in. Failure to change passwords would raise the probability of such attempts succeeding (Talihärm, A. M. 2010). The DHS uses a multifactor authentication and complex passwords which make it difficult for cyber attackers to get their passwords right.
Network risk assessment
The network risk assessment is an important cybersecurity threat mitigation method in which an audit is done on the potential cyber-attack threats. The audit is done with the help of the White Hat hackers who help the Information Technology experts in identifying the areas within the network that are more vulnerable to cyber security attacks. Besides, the risk assessment comes up with recommendations on how to address the cyber security risks in the specified areas (Bhasin, M. 2007).
Conclusion
In conclusion, cyber security attacks have become rampant with the daily growth and development of technology. Individuals and companies should be aware of the potential types of hackers borrowing from the case study of the Department of the Homeland Security (DHS). Besides, Computer users should keep themselves abreast with the mitigation methods such as the use of a strong password policy, use of antispyware and antivirus, conducting of a risk assessment, data encryption and locking of credentials.
References
Bhasin, M. (2007). Mitigating cyber threats to the banking industry. The Chartered Accountant, 50(10), 1618-1624.
Conway, M. (2011). Against cyberterrorism. Communications of the ACM, 54(2), 26-28.
Janczewski, L. (Ed.). (2007). Cyber warfare and cyber terrorism. IGI Global.
Lachow, I. (2009). Cyber terrorism: Menace or myth.Cyberpower and national security, 434- 467.
Mousavian, S., Valenzuela, J., & Wang, J. (2015). A probabilistic risk mitigation model for cyber-attacks to PMU networks. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 30(1), 156-165.
Talihärm, A. M. (2010). Cyberterrorism: in Theory or in Practice?. Defence Against Terrorism Review, 3(2), 59-74.
Walters, R. (2014). Cyber attacks on US companies in 2014.The Heritage Foundation, 4289, 1- 5.
Young, R., Zhang, L., & Prybutok, V. R. (2007). Hacking into the minds of hackers. Information Systems Management,24(4), 281-287.
