Cyber Attacks a Growing Threat, Congressman Says

By

A recent rash of cyber security attacks has drawn the attention of Congress, Pat Meehan, R-PA, writes in The Mercury. The attacks have been focused on U.S. bank accounts.

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam is connected to the attacks; the group is connected to and working with the Iranian government. Citigroup, PNC and Capital One, among others, have all been affected by the attacks, either by service disruption or by shutting down the sites.

U.S. security officials have predicted that Iran has been growing more capable of cyber attacks such as these. In April 2012 Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University said “there is little, if any, reason to think that Iran would hesitate to engage proxies to conduct cyber strikes against perceived adversaries.”

Online attacks can have larger targets than just personal bank accounts. Air-traffic and rail control systems, the power grid, water systems, power plants, wireless networks and defense networks are all potential targets. While taking down online banking functionality only causes an inconvenience, infrastructure attacks can cause blackouts, damn failures, communication failures and an inability to mobilize defense. Anything that is controlled by a computer and is connected to another computer is at some level of risk from cyber attacks.

In the summer of 2012, two large companies in the Middle East had important business information wiped from databases and tens of thousands of computers destroyed in an attack. In much the same way business data can be erased, bank account balances can be erased, as the information is now saved on computers; as more records are digitized, more personal information is subject to theft and unwanted deletion. The subcommittee on cybersecurity, infrastructure and protection as well as security technologies will be creating a plan to prevent such attacks on Americans.




Edited by Rachel Ramsey
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]

TechZone360 Contributing Writer

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Related Articles

Can Science Outsmart Deepfake Deceivers? Klick Labs Proposes an Emerging Solution

By: Alex Passett    3/25/2024

Researchers at Klick Labs were able to identify audio deepfakes from authentic audio recordings via new vocal biomarker technology (alongside AI model…

Read More

Top 5 Best Ways to Integrate Technology for Successful Project-Based Learning

By: Contributing Writer    3/19/2024

Project-based learning, also popularly known as the PBL curriculum, emphasizes using and integrating technology with classroom teaching. This approach…

Read More

How to Protect Your Website From LDAP Injection Attacks

By: Contributing Writer    3/12/2024

Prevent LDAP injection attacks with regular testing, limiting access privileges, sanitizing user input, and applying the proper encoding functions.

Read More

Azure Cost Optimization: 5 Things You Can Do to Save on Azure

By: Contributing Writer    3/7/2024

Azure cost optimization is the process of managing and reducing the overall cost of using Azure. It involves understanding the resources you're using,…

Read More

Massive Meta Apps and Services Outage Impacts Users Worldwide

By: Alex Passett    3/5/2024

Meta's suite of apps and services are experiencing major global outages on Super Tuesday 2024.

Read More