Page 22 - index

Recognizing and Mitigating Dangers of the Cyber Universe

by David Morton, Senior, East Carolina University

How would society react if the Internet was completely taken away from us forever? With the
number of attacks that are attempted every day, that day looks closer than ever. As a
society, we must know how to protect our systems whether we have technical skills or not. In
2014 alone, information has been breached from major enterprises such as Target and
Microsoft. This article will explain how we can protect our personal systems, differentiating
between the types of hackers there are in the cyber universe, what intrusion prevention
systems can do to mitigate attacks, the significance that cyber-terrorism and cyber-warfare
have on the United States, and different types of punishments likely to be given out to
cybercriminals.

The most important thing that someone getting on their network can know is how to protect
their information and what to do if they get hacked. The first thing to remember if you are
getting attacked or have gotten attacked: know that you are not alone. According to the
nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center, “662 organizations publicly disclosed data
breaches” (Worthen). If there were 662 organizations who are filled with highly trained
information security staffs that were victims of data breaches, imagine how many untrained
individuals around the country have been victims of data breaches.

Take this scenario for example: you are writing a quarterly report that is due tomorrow by
noon. All of a sudden you see all kinds of ads popping up on your screen and cannot get
them off. You realize that your network has been breached and your data is probably being
compromised. You are thinking to yourself, “If I unplug my computer from the wall, I can stop
the attack.” The machine has been unplugged and the attack has been terminated. You plug
the cord back in, turn the computer back on, log back in, and put your flash drive with saved
work into the USB slot. As soon as the flash drive is plugged back in, the device gets wiped
clean. All the information that was written into the paper is now gone.

You try to open another document, but Microsoft Office software has been removed and
replaced by a malicious script that has rerouted information to the attacker. Report it to the
authorities? No, because “turning off a computer erases the memory, and with it many traces
of the hack” (Worthen). There is no evidence of a data breach. With no evidence left to
present to authorities, they have no reason to pursue an investigation. What you need to do
is know how to protect your information so data breaches will become less prevalent on your
network.

A hacker is someone who breaks into a computer and spreads different types of malware
into the system whether it is on the hard drive, memory, through the Internet, or through a
backdoor that was exploited in a previous attack. There are five types of hackers: white hat,
black hat, grey hat, elite hacker, and script kiddie. A white hat hacker is a professional
hacker who has benign intent in the network. These are also known as ethical hackers. They
go into the system, perform vulnerability assessments, and they report to the owner telling
them whether their system is compromised or not.

On the contrary, a malicious hacker can be described as a black hat hacker. These are
individuals who are most likely not professionals who go into systems with malicious intent.

22 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – April 2014 Edition
Copyright © Cyber Defense Magazine, All rights reserved worldwide