A RECENT WAVE of cyberattacks against Google and other U.S. companies reinforced a long-evident fact: America needs to strengthen its defenses against terrorists and rogue nations capable of waging war with a keyboard.
Last month, the Internet giant announced it had been the victim of "a highly sophisticated and targeted" series of attacks resulting in the theft of intellectual property. Perhaps more worrisome was this revelation by Google: More than 30 companies from the tech, financial and chemical industries also were hit.
The attacks were traced back to China, where government leaders have long been engaged in a brutal crackdown on human rights activists. E-mail accounts belonging to dissidents and foreign journalists were among the targets.
rolex fakeChinese officials deny involvement, of course. But their claims aren't credible - or, ultimately, relevant to the larger debate over cybersecurity. Whether these attacks emanated from Beijing or Dubuque, it's apparent the U.S. government and private sector need to bolster protections.
replica rolexIn January, the Pentagon staged an exercise to gauge how far the nation has come in recent years in its efforts to block cyberattacks directed at power grids, communications systems and financial institutions. The answer: Not very.
Officials told The New York Times the war game illustrated again that the enemy has the advantage of stealth, anonymity and unpredictability.
"The fact of the matter is," one senior intelligence official said, "that unless Google had told us about the attack on it and other companies, we probably never would have seen it. When you think about that, it's really scary."
Since the 9/11 attacks, the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as Congress, have invested in cybersecurity programs and sought to improve coordination among government agencies and the private sector.
This month, the U.S. House passed, on a 422-to-5 vote, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act, a measure that would extend current research and expand other efforts.
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The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the House measure would cost a total of $639 million between fiscal years 2010 and 2014.
That's a significant sum, especially at a time when the nation must be aggressive in reducing spending. But cleaning up after a major cyberattack undoubtedly would prove far more expensive.
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