Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
ernized to include cyberattacks on computers in the Americas as hostile actions
that the U.S. government would regard as belligerent.
In fact, truly successful attacks may not be recognized by the country receiving
the attacks for months, if at all. This kind of warfare is new and plays by different
rules from wars fought with conventional weapons.
When a country explodes an atomic bomb or launches a new missile or satel-
lite, everybody knows about it the same day. When a country attacks computer
systems in another country, a major part of the attack strategy is to keep the attack
secret so that no one knows about it.
The antivirus company Symantec publishes lists that show where hacking at-
tacks originate that have U.S. targets. The top, according to this list, are the fol-
lowing:
• United States
• China
• Brazil
• Germany
• India
• United Kingdom
• Russia
• Poland
• Italy
• Spain
Computer usage is now global, and computer crime is a phenomenon that re-
quires global cooperation on the part of cyberdefenders.
Technically, cybercrime and cyberwarfare are about the same, but cybercrime
is carried out by individuals or criminal groups, while cyberwarfare is carried out
by military personnel, government organizations, and their civilian contractors un-
der the command of senior officers or senior government officials. Both cyberat-
tacks and cyberwarfare present increasingly serious threats to individuals, com-
panies, governments, and military services.
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