Marisa
Post number: 2
Topic: technology
Title of Article: "FBI Director says cybercrime will eclipse terrorism"
Author: Stacy Cowley
Publication Name: cnn.com
Date of Publication: March 2nd, 2012
Length of Article: 1 page
In a speech on Thursday [March 1st], FBI director Robert Mueller declared that cyber attacks, such as the hacking of government databases, will soon overtake terrorism in seriousness. Though he assured those gathered at the RSA Cyber Security Conference that "terrorism remains the FBI's top priority," he also warned that the cyber threat would pose a greater threat to the world, and that the FBI will "take lessons learned from fighting terrorism and apply them to cyber crime." This mindset has led to the creation of a cybersecurity squad in each field office, boasting a total of 1000 agents and analysts. A similar approach was used after the September 11th attacks, when the FBI formed 100 joint anti-terrorism forces. He also reached out to the private sector for their assistance, since most companies prefer to deal with security breaches internally. Under the idea that "'there are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked, and those that will be," it is crucial that there is cooperation between the FBI and corporations, for the sake of the security of not only government information, but that of private citizens. Mueller also mentioned the ties between social networking and terrorist groups, such as the Twitter account for Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda link in Somalia.
Personally, I feel that the FBI has been somewhat slow to recognize cybercrime as a significant threat. In light of the numerous attacks conducted by Anonymous over the course of the last year, and other security breaches [Mueller also alluded to state-sponsored hackers as part of the problem], it should be apparent that cybercrime is, and will continue to be, an issue. As a threat to security of both groups and persons, it deserves its status as a force to be reckoned with, as do its proponents.
[full-length article here][read more from PC Magazine here]
With the growth of cyber world through connections such as facebook, twitter, tumbler, etc. there will most likely be a growth of terrorist attacks happening through the internet. As our knowledge of technology increases, there are more opportunities for internet miss users to threaten not only innocent individual citizens, but will also be able to compromise government agencies and organizations. Especially after experiencing the traumatizing attacks of 9/11, government agencies such the FBI must have a stronger control of the content posted on the internet. It is crucial that these agencies cooperate with one another and with the people of the U.S. so that our databases will not someday be compromised by a unsuspected cyber attack.
ReplyDeleteAt a recent computer security conference, Robert Muller, current director of the FBI said that soon the "cyberthreat will pose the greatest threat to our country," as big as the threat of terrorism now. Computers are a huge part of modern society and hacking of computers or disruption of computer networks would be a big problem. The threat that is feared is apparently from terrorists, organized crime rings, and state-sponsored cyberespionage. From time to time we read about losses of files with personal information from major cooperation leading to identity theft and false credit card charges. Then many people had their computers infected by viruses over the years, with some of these viruses again reporting personal information to computers owned by the Russian Mafia, for example. Although, this is a problem I still find that the threat from actual terrorism is much more important.
ReplyDeleteThis was a response to Anonymous attacking a private corporation named Stratfor, a security firm which contains millions of confidential emails containing government secret, and starting to publish them. Robert Muller is quick to call them terrorists, which means they can be held in detention indefinitely with no charge or trial. However, Anonymous is also known for exposing corrupt politicians, taking down web sites containing child pornography, and using financial information of the rich to donate to charities. They are really just trying to make the world a better place, yet Robert Muller wants to label these people terrorists, even though they are non-violent. He also says he wants to connect private corporations and government to work together to bring these 'terrorists down'. These private corporations,owned by the 1%, will now have even more, direct, government influence to identify people as terrorists and send them away if they are causing trouble. While some may think Robert Muller is just trying to make the world a safer place, in reality he is using it as an excuse to take away all of our liberty such as privacy and free speech.
ReplyDelete