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10.1 The Information Security Problem 297

Attacking Information Systems major physical damage to the nuclear program, delaying it
by months or possibly even years. The attack was perpe-
The GhostNet attack was not an isolated case of cross-border trated using a sophisticated computer worm named Stuxnet.
cyberattacks. The U.S. Congress is working on legislation to This is an example of a weapon created by a country to
protect the country from what some call the “Cyber Pearl achieve a goal that otherwise may have been achieved only
Harbor” attack or a digital 9/11. In May 2014, the U.S. gov- by physical weapons. In apparent retaliation, Iranians and
ernment named five military people in China as responsible pro-Palestinian hackers attacked El-Al (Israel’s national air-
for stealing data and spying on several thousand companies line) and the country’s stock exchange. Iran is believed to
in the United States stealing trade secrets (Kravets 2014). have been behind a November 2012 attack on U.S. banks.

Types of Attacks Example 2
A suspected cyberespionage network known as GhostNet
Cyberattacks can be classified into two major interrelated compromised computer systems in 103 countries, including
categories: computer systems belonging to the Dalai Lama’s exile net-
work, embassies, and foreign ministries. The attacks alleg-
1. Corporate espionage. Many attacks target energy- related edly came from China. For more, see Wagstaff (2014).
companies because their inside information is valuable.
Almost half of all power plants and other infrastructures Example 3
surveyed have been infiltrated by “sophisticated adversar- One of the most complex cyberespionage incidents that has
ies,” with extortion being a common motive. Foreign ever occurred (2014) is the suspected Russian spyware Turla,
hackers targeted a water plant control system in Illinois, which was used to attack hundreds of government computers
causing the pump to fail. The attackers also gained unau- in the United States and Western Europe (see Apps and
thorized access to the system database. The attackers’ Finkle 2014).
Internet address used was tracked back to Russia. The above incidents illustrate the ineffectiveness of some
According to the Wall Street Journal of April 23, 2012, information security systems. For an overview of how cyber-
there were suspected cyberattacks against Iranian oil pro- warfare works, see forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/07/18/how-
duction and refineries. Cyberattackers hacked into 30,000 does-cyber-warfare-work.
of Saudi Aramco’s computers in 2012, and crippled the
national oil company’s networks, but failed to disrupt gas
or oil output. The Drivers of EC Security Problems
In 2011, cyber thieves (known as the “Rove group”)
based in Eastern Europe hijacked at least four million There are many drivers (and inhibitors) that can cause secu-
computers in more than 100 countries before they were rity problems to EC. Here, we describe several major ones:
caught. The attackers used malware and rerouted Internet the Internet’s vulnerable design, the shift to profit-induced
traffic illegally. The cyber thieves stole $14 million before crimes, the wireless revolution, the Internet underground
they were captured. The hackers also attacked U.S. gov- economy, the dynamic nature of EC systems, and the role of
ernment agencies and large corporations. insiders, and the sophistication of the attacks.
In 2013, Chinese hackers allegedly attacked the New
York Times’ computers to intimidate the American news The Internet’s Vulnerable Design
media into not reporting on China’s negative image and
the journalists’ sources of this information. The Internet and its network protocols were never intended
2. Political espionage and warfare. Political espionage to protect against cybercriminals. They were designed to
and cyberwars are increasing in magnitude. Sometimes, accommodate computer-based communications in a trusted
these are related to corporate espionage. In 2014, U.S. community. However, the Internet is now a global place for
hackers in Illinois used DDoS malware to attack the offi- communication, search, and trading. Furthermore, the
cial website of the Crimean referendum. A few days later, Internet was designed for maximum efficiency without
major Russian government Web resources and state media regard for security. Despite improvements, the Internet is
websites were also attacked by DDoS malware. still fundamentally insecure.

Example 1 The Spread of Computerized Medical Data
In December 2010, the Iranian nuclear program was attacked
via computer programs rumored to have been created by the With the requirements to computerize medical and health
United States and Israel. The attack was successful, causing care data came the danger of breaches, see Greengard (2016).