CYBER SECURITY

BY K.NAGAVAMSI

DHARANI KUMAR CM

ABSTRACT
This article it is a modest attempt to explore the issues facing cyber security
awareness and training programs and potential benefits of using learning
analytics, an emerging field in data analytics, for combining existing data sources
to provide additional value to these programs. This article was written under the
assumption that awareness and training are valid preventive controls and
therefore the pros and cons of implementing such programs are not being
discussed..

This textbook chapter analyses why cyber-security is considered one of the

key national security issues of our times. The first section provides the
necessary technical background information. The second unravels three
different, but interrelated discourses about cyber-security: discourse
number one has a technical focus and is about viruses and worms. Number
two looks at the interrelationship between the phenomenon of cyber-crime
and cyber-espionage. Number three is a military and civil defense-driven
discourse about the double-edged sword of fighting wars in the information
domain and the need for critical infrastructure protection. Based on this, the
third section turns to selected protection concepts from each of the three
discourses. The final section sets the threat into perspective: despite
heightened media attention and a general feeling of impending cyber-doom
in some government circles, the level of cyber-risk is generally overstated.
This has important repercussions for decision-makers and students, which
are addressed in the concluding section

Meaning of Cyber Security:

Cyber security can be defined as the protection of systems, networks
and data in cyber space. It refers to the preventative methods used to
protect information from being stolen, compromised or attacked.
Cyber security is a complex issue that cuts across multiple domains
and calls for multi-dimensional, multi-layered initiatives and
responses. It has proved to be a challenge for governments because it
involves various ministries and departments.

The IT infrastructure has become an integral part of the critical

infrastructure which supports national capabilities such as energy,
power grids, telecommunications, emergency communication
systems, financial systems, defence systems, space, transport, land
records, public essential services and utilities, law enforcement and
security and air traffic control networks, to name a few.

All these infrastructures increasingly depend on relay data for

communication and commercial transactions. The operational stability
and security of critical information infrastructure is vital for the
economic security of the country. The evolving nature of the
telecommunications infrastructure poses further challenges. The
expanding wireless connectivity to individual computers and networks
is making determination of physical and logical boundaries of
networks increasingly difficult. The increasing inter connectivity and
accessibility to computer based systems that are critical to the
country’s economy are adding to the risk

Cyber Threats:
Cyber threats vary from simple hacking of an email to waging a war
against a state.

Cyber threats can be classified broadly into two categories:

1. Cybercrime – against individuals, corporates, etc.

2. Cyber warfare – against a state

1. Cyber Crime:
Use of cyber space, i.e. computer, internet, cellphone, other technical
devices, etc., to commit a crime by an individual or organised group is
called cyber-crime. Cyber attackers use numerous vulnerabilities in
cyberspace to commit cybercrime. They exploit the weaknesses in the
software and hardware design through the use of malware.

DoS attacks are used to overwhelm the targeted websites. Hacking is

a common way of piercing the defenses of protected computer
systems and interfering with their functioning. Identity theft is also
common.

Cybercrimes may be divided into two categories:

i. Crimes that Target Computers Directly:
They include:
a. Spreading computer viruses

b. Denial-of-service (DoS) attack is an attempt to make a machine or

network resource unavailable to its intended users. It temporarily or
indefinitely interrupts or suspends services of a host connected to the
internet.

c. Malware (malicious code) is software used to disrupt computer

operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private
computer systems. It can appear in the form of code, scripts, active
content, and other software. ‘Malware’ is a general term used to refer
to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive software, for example Trojan
Horses, rootkits, worms, adware, etc.

ii. Crimes Facilitated by Computer Networks or Devices, the

Primary Target of which is Independent of the Computer Network
or Device:
This can take many forms as listed below:
a. Economic frauds to destabilize the economy of a country, attack on
banking transaction system, extract money through fraud, acquisition
of credit/debit card data, financial theft and intellectual theft of property

b. Impairing the operations of a website or service through data

alteration, data destruction

c. Spreading pornography
d. Copyright infringement

e. Cyber stalking, outraging modesty of women, obscene content to

humiliate girls and harm their reputation

f. Threatening e-mail

g. Assuming fake identity, virtual impersonation

h. Breach of right to privacy

2. Cyber Warfare and Cyber Terror:

It is said that future wars will not be like traditional wars which are
fought on land, water or air. Snowden revelations have shown that
Cyberspace could become the theatre of warfare in the 21st century.

While there is no agreed definition of cyber warfare but ‘when any

state initiates the use of internet based invisible force as an instrument
of state policy to sabotage and espionage against another nation, it is
called cyber war’. Attacking the information systems of other countries
for espionage and for disrupting their critical infrastructure may be
referred as cyber warfare. It includes hacking of vital information

Special Features of Cyber War Compared to Traditional War:

a. Independent Theatre of War:
The development of the internet and low- cost wireless communication
is the contemporary equivalent of what airplanes were a hundred
years ago. Their use in economic, social and political transactions has
increased at a rate that far exceeds the growth in airplane use over
the last century.

b. An Undefined Space (No Specific Areas):

The defence of cyberspace has a special feature. The national
territory or space that is being defended by the land, sea and air
forces is well defined. Outer space and cyberspace are different. They
are inherently international even from the perspective of national
interest. It is not possible for a country to ignore what is happening in
any part of this space if it is to protect the functionality of the
cyberspace relevant for its own nationals

c. Disguised Attackers:
There is another feature of cyberspace that complicates the design of
security structures and policies compared to the other theatres of
conflict. In cyberspace, it is very easy for an attacker to cover his
tracks and even mislead the target into believing that the attack has
come from somewhere else

d. No Contact War:
The evolution of technology impacts the nature of conflict and war.
Amongst the recent aspects of conflict is ‘no contact war’ wherein
there is no ‘physical’ or ‘kinetic’ action across borders. Future world
war will most likely be cyber war. Future war will not be like traditional
wars which were fought on territorial borders or in air space.

Snowden Revelations of Cyber Security:

Edward Joseph Snowden is an American computer professional,
former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and former
contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).

He hogged international limelight when he disclosed to several media

outlets thousands of classified documents. Snowden’s release of
classified material has been described as the most significant leak in
US history. The US Department of Justice charged Snowden with
espionage.

Section 70 of the Act defines critical information infrastructure

(CII) as:
‘Those computer resource and incapacitation or description of which,
shall have debilitating impact on national security, economy, public
health or safety.’ CII is highly complex, distributed, interconnected and
interdependent
The technical discourse is focused on computer and
network disruptions caused by di erent types of mal-
ware. One of the rst papers on viruses and their risks was
Fred Cohen’s ‘Computer viruses—Theory and
Experiments’, initially presented in 1984 and published
in 1987 (Cohen 1987)