Cyber Vulnerability Continued

Yesterday I discussed an issue which hasn’t received as much press or political attention as it deserves – the ever encroaching threat of cyber attacks on US government, business, and civilian networks which could dismantle our lives and economy.

In reality one nation is responsible for the bulk of our concerns – China. Dennis Blair the Director of National Intelligence made several statements which were alarming. Most notably he stated that “Malicious cyber activity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication.” He outlined potential threats as hacker groups in China who are likely supported by the government made the top of the list. Also he pointed out that terrorists, organized crime groups, and others are attacking US networks to steal intelligence and intellectual property, or simply to cause harm.

The issue of intellectual property is of great importance. I can’t over stress the correlation between military might and economic prosperity. When businesses suffer taxation suffers which means the military can’t spend as much. Intellectual property theft from other countries is becoming an increasingly complex and costly problem for American businesses.

So I suppose the $20.00 question is simply this: how do we fix this problem? We already have swarms of people working to ensure that business and government networks are protected so what other options do we have? Is there any way that we can take action with the governing parties of these countries such as China?

Lastly, do you feel as though your information is safe online? When the Chinese attacked the Gmail accounts of several Chinese activists, did that taint your view of cyber security?