First, man fought with spears. Now, he fights with Internet.
More than ever, companies are facing increased pressure to increase their Internet security.
In recent headlines, we’ve seen companies like Sony hacked. They’ve not only been attacked multiple times across the globe, but had its Playstation Network temporarily shut down. Additionally, Sony Online Entertainment, another branch of the company, was recently breached, taking 24.6 million users’ information.
Eidos Interactive, maker of games like “Deus Ex” and “Tomb Raider,” was hacked shortly afterwards. Epic Games, maker of the well-known “Gears of War” franchise, reported its site had also been hacked. Other developers soon followed.
Is it an elaborate attempt to strategically attack one game developer after another? Maybe, but its unlikely.
That’s because game developers aren’t nearly the only ones suffering from the attacks.
Cyber-security company Black and Berg CyberSecurity Consulting, LLC posted an online contest that openly challenged anyone to hack the page — offering a job and $10,000 for the trouble.
It wasn’t long before the page was hacked by the notorious group LulzSec, short for LOLs and Security. A photograph was changed, and the text “Done. That was easy. Keep your money we do it for the lulz,” added to the page.
Joseph K. Black, founder, responded cleverly on Twitter: “Black & Berg Cybersecurity Consulting appreciate all the hard work that you’re putting in. Your Hacking = Clients for us. Thx ~Joe.”
While it’s witty banter, the fact their own hack-proof site was attacked successfully, and so quickly, leads me to think they won’t be getting many clients from the contest.
These are small on the scale of cyber attacks, however. Many, like the Wall Street Journal, don’t consider them real cyber terrorists because of the nature of their attacks. Some people have even designated their attacks “Grey Hat,” a play off the online convention where malicious attacks are “Black hat” and benevolent hacking “White hat.”
But as sophisticated communications systems link nearly everything across the globe, the dangers of the Internet are becoming more and more apparent.
Last June, a virus called Stuxnet was found in factories, control centers and power plants around the world. At least twenty times more complex than any previous virus found, according to an online video by “Hungry Beast,” the virus had capabilities including turning up the pressure in nuclear reactors and shutting off oil pipelines — all while telling controllers everything was alright.
And the virus didn’t just shut down facilities aimlessly.
The target? The centrifuges in Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.
By the way, Iran’s facilities were shut down for some time without explanation. It seems the attack was successful.
It was a weapon made entirely of code, and it surely will not be the last. In fact, Stuxnet, or a version of its code, is available readily online for anyone to download. Obviously, industrial systems around the world have upped their security systems to prevent damage from the Stuxnet virus, so the danger seems to be mitigated.
A little closer to home, founder of Netscape and author of, “The Cyber Commander’s eHandbook,” Kevin G. Coleman reveals that similar botnets and worms, two kinds of viruses, could be used to do everything from shutting off intravenous drips in a hospital room to cutting the brakes out on a car — all while operators get an A-okay signal at the controls.
Researchers at Rutgers University were able to hack into a car moving 60 mph last year, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. The way in? The wireless systems monitoring air pressure in the tires. Once you’re in, you can control nearly everything — engine, brakes, transmission, etc.
With such a terrifying and awesome danger on the horizon, companies and countries are scrambling to tighten their lacking Internet security.
The U.S. National Security Agency Director, General Keith Alexander, put it well in his interview with Charlie Rose for Bloomberg Businessweek, “We’re the nation that created the Internet. We ought to be the first ones to secure it.”
Devin Graham is a 22-year-old economics senior from Prairieville. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Dgraham.
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Contact Devin Graham at [email protected]