Introducing Information Security - Secure Java: For Web Application Development - page 20

here is clearly a growing need for information security. Let us explore the causes for the grow-
ing need for security. Some of the key causes are as follows:

◾ Hackers and their backers

he Internet

◾

◾ Legal and compliance requirements

Digitization

◾

2.1.1.1 Internet

As explored in the previous chapter, one can clearly understand why the need for security is great
today and probably greater as days go by. Our lives revolve around the Internet and more of
us adopt Internet-dependent technologies in our daily lives. here is a tremendous quantum of
data from individuals and businesses, which are located on servers and databases spread all over
the world. his information is extremely useful to the hackers and malicious elements out there
because they can use this kind of information to commit a variety of cybercrimes such as card
fraud, identity theft, inancial theft, and other nefarious activities.
Another reason for the Internet being an important factor for the growth in information
security requirements is awareness . he Internet, considered as an information democracy , has
resulted in information being available extremely easily to anyone who is looking. his is
extremely beneicial as it facilitates knowledge exchange and access to diverse information
from all over the world, but this has also led to knowledge exchange of a diferent kind.
Hacking tools and hacking tutorials are easily available to anyone who makes a simple search
query on a search engine. Such hackers are known as script kiddies , as they do not have the
technical expertise to carry out an elaborate hack but have scripts, tools, and basic knowl-
edge to cause some mayhem. For instance, Barack Obama's Web site was hacked, when he
was contesting for the U.S. presidential elections in 2008. Any requests made to his Web site
were automatically redirected to his rival's Web site. he attacker was a script kiddie who
exploited some badly written code using some simple code, which could have been obtained
quite easily from the Internet. As of now, only about 9% of people have access to the Internet
all over the world; with the Internet becoming all-pervasive in the 21st century, we are likely
to see more users beneiting from the power of the Internet, but we will also see more users
being subjected to a great deal of threats from these sources. Figure 2.1 is a screenshot from
YouTube, where a cross-site scripting attack has been made into a video and posted on the site
for people to view.

2.1.1.2 Hackers and Their Backers

he term hacking is commonly used today to denote an activity involving cybercrime. he original
hackers were the folks at MIT, and the word hacking had a totally diferent meaning back then.
It mostly referred to the activity that was done out of curiosity and done to understand operating
systems and the then-nascent area of cyberspace. Hackers took pride in their ingenious ways to
break into systems and gained notoriety because of it and they pretty much stuck to that.
Today, a more disturbing trend has emerged where hackers are motivated largely by inancial
gain. Studies have shown that hackers are breaking into systems to steal valuable personal and
inancial information like banking and credit card information. What is even more disturbing is
that many hackers have large criminal and terrorist organizations backing them and using this