Surviving Cyber War

Because the United States is the most Internet-dependent and automated in terms of supply chain, banking, transportation-control systems and other modern facilities, it's also the most vulnerable to cyberattack, Clarke argues. And the military's dependence on the Internet also means it would be vulnerable to disruptions of it. From Fox Business "Cyber War" author: U.S. needs radical changes to protect against attacks" April 7th, 2010 The threat of cyberattacks is one that we hear about and often equate with whimsical commercials in which a weary looking, non-shaven everyday Joe speaks in a high-pitched valley girl voice about using a credit card to pay for a prom dress and various other sundries which contradict the video images we are watching. I am of course talking about the highly entertaining Citibank ads, such as the one below regarding identity theft. However, in the virtual realms of a world in which countries such as the United States is considered to be the most dependent of any nation, the risks are anything but amusing. In fact both the threat and consequences of a cyberattack or even a cyberwar are serious enough to warrant what Karen Evans, former de facto federal CIO under the Bush administration called a "focus on continuous monitoring and situational awareness by creating an early-warning system that could sniff out attacks." In line with Evans' thinking relative to the need for taking immediate action Richard Stiennon, whose new book Surviving Cyber War examines in depth the major recent cyberattacks that have taken place around the world, highlighted in an April 13th, 2010 post on his ThreatChaos.com Blog the historic influences of why the virtual world may very well be a defining global battleground. Richard Stiennon will be my guest today to talk about his book and the implications of cyberattacks, including his suggested solutions to the vulnerabilities that made (and make) these attacks possible.