If it is proved to be true that yesterday'scyber attacks on Google, Twitter, Facebookand other
sites were aimed at closing down the activities of one individual,
it would be another striking example of how commercial
organisations can become the indirect target of geopolitical
threats,writes Steve Cummings.
It also shows how businesses and the people who depend on the
services they provide can suffer collateral damage from an attack
aimed at a specific target.
There are already security measures in place that limit the
possibility of distributed
denial of service (DoS) attacks; intelligence and information
sharing in real time (or near real time) between corporations,
internet monitoring services, government and national
infrastructure bodies are among these. Attacks can be detected in
the early stages, and their journey on through the internet can be
prevented.
But the fact that this attack took place shows how serious the
threat is and how much more needs to be done.
Companies have a responsibility to ensure that their systems are
not compromised or solicited in DoS attacks. Apart from the wider
impact, their own IT capability will be diminished and they will
have lost control of their systems, clearly demonstrating a glaring
hole in their data security strategy. This is something that we all
need to be concerned about.
These attacks present a major challenge to blog hosting
organisations and social networking sites such as
Twitter and
Facebook that need to be able to deliver a service that
respects civil liberties and freedom of speech without becoming the
target of a cyber attack. These organisations have to know who they
are providing a service to, as well as what contributors are
writing about, to anticipate attacks and take protective measures.
Only once organisations understand the nature of the threat will
they be able to respond effectively in managing the risks from such
attacks.
Steve Cummings, is a special adviser to Deloitte's Enterprise
Risk Services division. He was formerly director of the UK Centre
for the Protection of the National Infrastructure