Hacked Info

“As president, I’ll make cyber security the top priority that it should be in the 21st century,” Obama said in a rare mention of the issue in a speech at Purdue University last July. “I’ll declare our cyber-infrastructure a strategic asset and appoint a National Cyber Adviser who will report directly to me.”

President Obama was not exaggerating the cyber threats and the need for enhanced cyber security essential for networks and blocking/removing threats. Newsweek reported in early November 2008 that both the Obama and McCain campaigns had been breached by foreign attackers. The attacks were initially thought to be a random phishing attack but later the US law enforcement confirmed them to be far more serious – attempts by foreign entity or organization to gather information that would be presumably helpful in negotiations with the future US administration.

President Obama has identified three potentially calamitous threats that should be addressed on priority – nuclear weapons, biological attacks and cyber warfare, all capable of posing large-scale destruction. In comparison to nuclear technology, both the biological and cyber attacks can be developed from available commercial technologies, not difficult to acquire or expensive and can be used incognito.

Obama administration will reportedly give top priority to cyber security and has identified three areas for strengthening.

1. Strengthen Federal Leadership on Cyber Security and plan to appoint a National Cyber Advisor directly reporting to the President. This Advisor will be responsible for streamlining federal agency efforts and for development of a national cyber policy.
2. Invest in Education (in Math and Science). Just as President Eisenhower strengthened the study of math and science which helped America to make great strides in space science, President Obama intends invest in math and science education a second time to develop capabilities for protecting national security (from the threats of millions of malicious computer systems) and competitiveness.
3. Initiate a Safe Computing R&D effort by enhancing information infrastructure to withstand disruption and prevent breaching of the cyber world for information. President will support development of next-generation computers and networks for national security applications.

It is expected that in the 21st century, war fighting will be dependent on cyber systems for everything from logistics to battlefield commands. It is reported that vital systems of the defense and intelligence wing in US have been broken into and much information that would be useful against enemies in a time of conflict have been deleted. President Obama will, with the help of industry and scientists, develop and put in place new generation secure hardware and software systems in the critical cyber infrastructure to enhance cyber security.

Being omnipresent, cyber threats can emerge from any corner of the world and it is somewhat difficult to pinpoint the exact source of the threat. There is a plan for comprehensive cyber security and response strategy to develop tools and capability to identify such cyber threats and combating them.

Other areas of concern to President Obama are the protection of IT infrastructure to keep America’s economy safe, prevention of corporate cyber espionage, development of a cyber crime strategy to minimize opportunities for criminal profit, specifying standards for securing personal data, requiring companies to reveal personal information data breaches, etc.

For detailed reading, please visit www.barackobama.com