Posted by John Vinson

Warfare is something that through the years has evolved in a technological sense, but fundamentally has stayed the same — have your men kill the other men. In the cyber world, things work a bit differently but there is such a thing as cyberwarfare. And according to the GAO (Government Accountability Office) is a brand of warfare that’s on the rise.

The GAO study elaborates on the cyber threats our country faces, “Cyber-based threats to federal systems and critical infrastructure are evolving and growing. These threats can be unintentional or intentional, targeted or non-targeted, and can come from a variety of sources, including criminals, terrorists, and adversarial foreign nations, as well as hackers and disgruntled employees.”

What’s truly scary about the cyber threats our country faces is how ill prepared we are to handle them. The GAO report goes into detail about where our vulnerabilities lie, “Compounding the growing number and kinds of threats, GAO—along with agencies and their inspectors general—has identified significant weaknesses in the security controls on federal information systems, resulting in pervasive vulnerabilities. These include deficiencies in the security of financial systems and information and vulnerabilities in other critical federal information systems. GAO has identified weaknesses in all major categories of information security controls at federal agencies. For example, in fiscal year 2008, weaknesses were reported in such controls at 23 of 24 major agencies.”

McAfee reported on the US, and other countries’ lack of readiness for cyberwarfare. The report has some candid words for impending cyberwarfare, likening the problem to that of a ‘cyber-Cold War’. An interesting point made by McAfee report states that cyberwarfare is an equalizer, as very little funding is needed to successfully implement an attack – compared to directly attacking an actual nation.

The idea of cyberwarfare is a scary proposition, and what’s just as worrisome is the government’s seeming ineptitude towards the situation. The current laws we have protecting our cyberspace aren’t adequate enough to address the evolving problems. In response to this our government has had troubles devising new solutions.

There’s an argument about what measures the US should take in combating cyber threats. There are those who believe the government should mandate cyber security efforts in the private sector. The detractors believe this to be a practice going against the idea of privacy, and overall national interest. Secretary of state, Hillary Clinton said this of the matter, “Federally mandated cybersecurity standards not only would not work, but they would be seriously counterproductive to our national economic interests and our national security interests”

The practice of cyberware isn’t something that is going to just disappear. Like it has this past decade, cyber threats will continue to evolve and bypass current security standards. Therefore, it’s vital that we adapt and evolve as well. Let’s hope the pleas of the GAO don’t go unnoticed, “Multiple opportunities exist to enhance cybersecurity. In light of weaknesses in agencies’ information security controls, GAO and inspectors general have made hundreds of recommendations to improve security, many of which agencies are implementing.”

About the Author: John is a staff writer for WebProNews.