07389289.pdf - FEATURE CYBERSECURITY Interventions in...

18 IT Pro January/February 2016
P ublis h ed by t h e I E E E C o m pu te r S o ciet y
1520-9202/16/$33.00 © 2016 IEEE
Jawwad A. Shamsi,
FAST-National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences, Pakistan
Sherali Zeadally,
University of Kentucky
Zafar Nasir,
FAST-National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences, Pakistan
Cyberinterventions such as attacks and exploits can severely affect
critical infrastructures and people’s everyday activities. In this context,
we must understand the dimensions and scope of cyberattacks and
assess measures to enhance cybersystem security.
R
ecent advances in computing, network-
ing, hardware, and software technolo-
gies have led to their deployment in
many of our critical infrastructures,
such as power plants, air traffic control centers,
water management systems, and banking sys-
tems. Today, these infrastructures constitute the
backbone of many nations’ economies. As a re-
sult of our fundamental reliance on these infra-
structures, we have also witnessed an increasing
number of threats and attacks on them over the
years, all with the same goal—to disrupt citizens’
daily lives. However, security vulnerabilities and
threats aren’t restricted to critical infrastructure.
Interventions in cyberspace can also disrupt cor-
porate and business operations, which can have
disastrous effects.
1
On a global scale, cyberattacks
could also lead to cyberconflicts that involve a
series of cyberattacks between nation-states and
their enemies.
In this article, we provide an overview of dif-
ferent methods and modes of interventions in
cyberspace and analyze their offensive and de-
fensive aspects. In addition, we emphasize the
link between cyberconflicts in a global scenario
and highlight the need for global cooperation to
better govern and manage cyberspace.
Understanding Cyberinterventions
Defined broadly, cyberintervention refers to the
act of intervening in another entity’s cyberspace.
Because cyberspace is utilized to offer services
and manage operations, intervention can result in
harmful effects such as disruption, disturbance,
Interventions in
Cyberspace: Status
and Trends
FEATURE: CYBERSECURITY

computer.org/ ITPro 19
and espionage. The impact of intervention de-
pends on many factors, including the operation
or service being targeted, the mode of interven-
tion, the method being used, and the defensive
measures the target entity has adopted against the
intervention.
Acts and Actors
There are two modes of intervention in cyber-
space: cyberattacks and cyberexploitation .
2
A cyber-
attack refers to “deliberate actions against data,
software, or hardware in computer systems or
networks. The actions may destroy, disrupt, de-
grade, or deny access.”
2
Cyberexploitation refers
to “gathering information through intelligence or
espionage activities.”
There are different reasons for interventions
in cyberspace, including attacks to disrupt ser-
vice, espionage activities, and hacktivism—that
is, politically motivated hacking.