Cyber danger: how worried should we be?
Published 07 May, 2009, 08:05
Internet usage has expanded at the speed of light in recent years, making it a vital part of everyday life. But are we really prepared for the dangers that lurk online.
The Worldwide Web thinks not, and is calling for ‘traffic rules’ and ‘driving licences’ to keep users safe.
Vladimir Kremlev for RT (click to enlarge)
Hollywood is often quick to identify and cash in on public fears. And if recent films on global information networks are anything to go by, we are already very frightened indeed.
In the fourth Die Hard movie, a small group of criminals led by an IT genius wreak havoc in New York by hacking into the city’s computer networks.
In Terminator: Rise of the Machines, artificial intelligence SkyNet operates on millions of computers throughout the world, triggering a nuclear holocaust.
An earlier example is the 1995 film The Net, where all personal records of the main character are erased by a hacker cabal when she discovers their secrets.
No matter how far Hollywood fiction may be from reality, it serves as a mirror, reflecting society’s subconscious fears and expectations.
“It’s like cars. I think soon everyone will need to have some kind of ‘internet driving licence’, and people will need to have basic education on what the internet is, how to use it, how not to use it, who the bad guys are, what the regulations of the internet are. I am sure about that.”
Eugene Kaspersky
Head of Kaspersky Lab, a leading producer of computer security software
Today we use the internet in everyday life, and its importance is growing rapidly as it transforms from a mere communication media into an essential part of society’s spinning gears. Ten years ago if the internet shut down, it would result in confusion. Today it could cost lives, and in some part of their brain people feel the threat.
The problem is that the technology has developed so fast that humanity can’t keep up with it. Like Alice in the world behind the looking-glass, we have to keep running just to stay in the same place. Generally speaking, we are pretty immature in how we use the internet, oblivious to the real dangers waiting for us in cyberspace.
Vladimir Kremlev for RT (click to enlarge)
In fact, users are the weakest links in cyber security. From a person giving away his banking password to a phishing website to civil servants misplacing notebooks with confidential information – the signs of how careless we can be are everywhere. Like children in a playground, it is only when we fall down and hurt ourselves that we start to grow up and learn responsibility.
In 2007, a big offline scandal erupted in Russia over an alleged lack of courtesy during an internet discussion. Victor Alksnis, an MP said he would sue a popular blogger for insulting him and claimed he should be protected as a public servant rather than an ordinary citizen. Moreover, he pledged to start a crusade against obscene language on the net. So far there have been no reports on whether his campaign has progressed.
The scandal left a new meme on the internet. Users enraged by Alksnis attempts to use offline rules to govern the internet called him ‘category A blogger’, referring to his official status as a Russian public servant.
A saying popular among Russian Internet users reads: “It’s the internet, baby. Here you may be told to f**k off!”
From the very beginning, the ‘internet playground’ had few rules and many people were ready to abuse the system. First, hackers wrote viruses out of pure hooliganism, unlike the profit-seeking criminals of today. Web forum users often hide behind aliases to offend people, knowing they will not be called to answer for their insults. People willingly download trojans to their computers by clicking on outwardly suspicious ads and use predictable passwords like “12345”.
The latest fad of computer-related ‘time-to-panic’ news is cyberwarfare. Sinister stories about hackers are everywhere, ranging from nerds wearing Chinese People’s Liberation Army uniforms planting viruses in America’s electricity grid to inconspicuous-looking people crashing Estonia’s government servers from underground rooms with portraits of Putin hanging on the walls. It has never been proved that a government has ordered a cyber attack against another country, but the implication is in the air.
It’s difficult to tell fact from fiction here. For one, a hacker attack is difficult to show on the screen, as any TV journalist or movie director will tell you. No shooting tanks, no missile-launching aircraft, just invisible bits and bytes moving through wires and IT whiz kids telling us how dangerous it is. Without a vivid picture, the public, spoiled by 24/7 news channels, turns to its imagination to find out exactly how dangerous it is.
The Internet is a breeding ground for all sorts of terrorists, some security experts warn. They use Google Maps to plan attacks, upload video clips to explain how to make bombs, communicate through Twitter microblogs and use extremist forums to preach their ides to recruits. As they recruit more computer specialists, terrorists may start striking directly at their enemies from thousands of miles away.
Supply follows demand. People expect worse-case scenarios and journalists look for them. And budget-seeking IT security experts are ready to deliver. It’s not that there is no threat on the net, quite the contrary. But its public image is far from being accurate.
Perhaps once the generation born after the internet takes charge, the situation will change. For them, living in cyberworld will be as natural as breathing and they will know how not to get hurt there. It will be a dangerous future, like the present days is dangerous, but hardly an apocalyptic one.
Alexandre Antonov, RT
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