The fictional stories and characters we see in the media showed us how dangerous cyber attacks can be. It can change individual lives, cripple companies or hold entire nation hostage. In the real world, they appear to be more dangerous than that.
For this reason alone, Australian defense officials prepared enormously against attempts to hack online accounts during the G20 leaders’ summit last 15-16 November in Brisbane.
"Targeting of high profile events such as the G20 by state-sponsored or other foreign adversaries, cyber criminals and issue-motivated groups is a real and persistent threat,” a defense department spokesperson told FoxNews.com.
Among the dozens of groups who conducted physical protests on the sidelines during the annual meeting of the world’s largest economies is Anonymous. Group members often wear their signature Guy Fawkes masks while appearing in public, but they’re most notorious for cyber attacks on high-profile government and corporate websites around the world.
Anonymous attacks have targeted the websites of PayPal, the FBI and many others. One of the group’s signature strategies is to use "Denial of Service" attacks, which floods networks with useless traffic, effectively crippling them.
Since the debut of the G20 leaders' summit in 2008, activists have used the event to spotlight social injustice, corporate corruption and climate change. But it’s also an opportunity to gain attention through cyberprotests, according to Dr. Ernest Foo, a computer scientist with the Queensland University of Technology.
"Certainly, in the case of the G20, with all the heads of state here, it means there’s a lot more eyes from all over the world who are looking at this particular location, and there’s an opportunity for people to protest without actually being here,” Foo said.
Beyond so-called “hacktivism,” digital espionage is also a concern.
"It’s more than likely that some espionage may occur," Foo said. “Hackers might be able to take over a telephone or a computer or something like that and be able to extract files or listen in on conversations.”
It’s a growing threat at high-profile gatherings of world leaders.
"It’s basically become the next frontier now," Foo said. "Information is power."
In 2011, the French government said a “spectacular” cyber attack from hackers traced to China targeted documents about international economic affairs related to the G20 in Paris. The attack reportedly forced the country’s finance ministry to shut down 10,000 computers.
The National Security Agency, along with Canadian intelligence officials, carried out spying operations during the G8 and G20 summits in Toronto in 2010, according to a CBC News report based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
For this reason alone, Australian defense officials prepared enormously against attempts to hack online accounts during the G20 leaders’ summit last 15-16 November in Brisbane.
"Targeting of high profile events such as the G20 by state-sponsored or other foreign adversaries, cyber criminals and issue-motivated groups is a real and persistent threat,” a defense department spokesperson told FoxNews.com.
Among the dozens of groups who conducted physical protests on the sidelines during the annual meeting of the world’s largest economies is Anonymous. Group members often wear their signature Guy Fawkes masks while appearing in public, but they’re most notorious for cyber attacks on high-profile government and corporate websites around the world.
Anonymous attacks have targeted the websites of PayPal, the FBI and many others. One of the group’s signature strategies is to use "Denial of Service" attacks, which floods networks with useless traffic, effectively crippling them.
Since the debut of the G20 leaders' summit in 2008, activists have used the event to spotlight social injustice, corporate corruption and climate change. But it’s also an opportunity to gain attention through cyberprotests, according to Dr. Ernest Foo, a computer scientist with the Queensland University of Technology.
"Certainly, in the case of the G20, with all the heads of state here, it means there’s a lot more eyes from all over the world who are looking at this particular location, and there’s an opportunity for people to protest without actually being here,” Foo said.
Beyond so-called “hacktivism,” digital espionage is also a concern.
"It’s more than likely that some espionage may occur," Foo said. “Hackers might be able to take over a telephone or a computer or something like that and be able to extract files or listen in on conversations.”
It’s a growing threat at high-profile gatherings of world leaders.
"It’s basically become the next frontier now," Foo said. "Information is power."
In 2011, the French government said a “spectacular” cyber attack from hackers traced to China targeted documents about international economic affairs related to the G20 in Paris. The attack reportedly forced the country’s finance ministry to shut down 10,000 computers.
The National Security Agency, along with Canadian intelligence officials, carried out spying operations during the G8 and G20 summits in Toronto in 2010, according to a CBC News report based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
No comments:
Post a Comment