http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/technology/26cyber.html
For my first blog of the semester I am going to comment on an article from the NYT's that is about a week old. The overview is that the Pentagon just confirmed that in 2008 a foreign intelligence agent in the Middle East used a thumb drive to infect DoD computers. The thumb drive installed malware that could and might have transferred sensitive data to Russia. Numerous computers were infected and at least one highly protected classified network was penetrated. It was so bad that the President at that time, George W. Bush, was briefed up on the situation.
In the military, as in business, information is power. The ability to send, share, and analyze data quickly is key to staying ahead of your adversaries or your competition. IT helps us to manage all this data and share it quickly with people who need to make decisions. The better your network systems are connected internally and externally the better your business or organization will function and the better your managers can make sound decisions.
The drawbacks to relying on very tightly connected IT systems are the issues of security and privacy. If hackers or competitors can install malware, viruses, or steal data from your systems then you lose the competitive edge and your "trade secrets" can be vulnerable to being compromised. Not only that but if your IT systems are infected and no longer function your entire business may be in jeopardy, especially if that is the medium by which you conduct a majority of your business. The military has realized the importance of IT security and has just formed its own US Cyber Command a few months back to bring many different agencies under one consolidated command in order to effectively combat cyber threats.
IT can help us run our businesses more efficiently and help us keep the competitive edge, but we have to ensure we have sufficient protections in place such as virus protection and limiting access to our systems by unauthorized personnel. If not, the technology that is so important to us and our business can be used by one single person, in an instant, to our competitor's advantage.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704398804575071103834150536.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories
ReplyDeleteThis blog post reminds me of the above article on Wall Street Journal back in February 2010, it is about International hackers breaking into approximately 2500 US Companies and compromising classified data such as credit card transactions, business secrets and personal information of employees.
IT security is probably the most underrated aspect of business, especially considering how dependent we are on IT in today's market. Inspite of knowing the importance of IT security, firms are not investing enough in that particular sector, as a result of which we are seeing hackers breaching security firewalls of various firms for fun everyday. Proper IT staff in place is as important to a business as recruiting able marketing or accounting employees. Most of the firms do have an IT department just for the sake of it, but they have to realize that they can go out of business within hours if they won't take it seriously.
This is something that I definitely took for granted when I was working full time. There was a full time IT staff and I did the normal things like lock my computer when I was away from my desk, stay away from sketchy websites, etc. But when you cannot see an actual threat it's hard to realize your true vulnerability. If the necessary precautions are not taken you are putting your company at great risk.
ReplyDeleteGood article Josh.
ReplyDeleteThe advancements in IT have allowed us to be more efficient in the way we conduct business decisions, operate our military, and send and receive vast amounts of information electronically.
As you pointed out these advancements in IT have also had setbacks. The setbacks resulting in the security and privacy issues generated from hackers.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, the benefits that our technological advancements generate outweigh the disadvantages.
As our military has realized, the best way to counter these security and privacy issues in IT is by installing the necessary barriers in place to prevent the problem from ever accruing. (US Cyber Command)
Nice post Josh.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail when you said "the technology that is so important to us and our business can be used by one single person, in an instant, to our competitor's advantage."
According to the Anti-Virus giant McAfee, the number of connected devices is expected to grow from 1 billion to 50 billion by year 2020. This explosive growth of Internet and the IP-enabled devices is fundamentally reshapping communication and commerce opportunities for individuals, governments and businesses around the world. Unfortunately, cyber-criminals and cyber-terrorists are misuing the Internet's open and any-to-any communication architecture for malicious purposes, leaving many users at risk and future of the Internet as we know it in question.
Currently, cybercrime costs over $1 trillion to the society and yet dozens of governments and individuals have already been targets of the cyberware.
Hopefully, the recent merger/take-over of McAfee by Intel Corporation might contribute in making the security systems even stronger and stringent. Both the companies have a common belief that security is a fundamental component of modern computing, and this acquisition reflects its increasing relevance in a completely connected world.
The one question that popped up in my mind, when I read your article is : Can we practice few simple rules to solve this ever growing gigantic problem. Does the solution to reduce this, lies within the organizations that are threatened!!
ReplyDeleteWell here are some of my views:
1. To increase their marketing, most organizations end up exposing more data online than what is required. This acts as a catalyst for Hackers!!! Why not a regulatory board that recommends, advises and reviews what data needs to be online with respect to a particular organization? This way we can assure knowingly / unknowingly no organization reveals data that could be a national threat or personal threat to the customers.
2. Also, what organizations need to monitor is the information leakage through 3rd party sources. Some of them could be potential customers, supplier or even employees. Care should be taken, such that no more information should be provided for personal beyond their need of knowledge.
These could be some of the simple, yet effective measures organization can reinforce to curb online hacking and security breaches.