Too Close for Comfort: Cyber Terrorism and Information Security across National Policies and International Diplomacy
This article examines the development and interaction of national and international cyberterrorism policies (Broeders et al., 2021, p. 1). The focus from likelihood to possibility in security decision-making about terrorist cyber threats is examined. The article discusses how combating terrorist cyberspace use may affect human rights, notably free expression. National counter-cyber terrorism policies in China, France, the UK, the US, and Russia are examined. They compare how various nations define and combat cyberterrorism. The study also highlights how national policies affect international cyberterrorism, digital surveillance, and human rights debates.
Western countries are criminalizing “bad” online content, including actions without terrorist intent or violent results. France is a normative power on collaborative content moderation, while the UK’s Counterterrorism and Border Security Act regulates terrorist content. The UN Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security (UN GGE) stresses the need for international cooperation and capacity-building to combat criminal and terrorist exploitation of ICTs (Broeders et al., 2021, p. 13). Liberal democracies must balance cyber-terrorism with fundamental rights like free speech, according to the article. The authors warn against employing “information security” to fight cyber terrorism because it may lead to content regulation and online freedom restrictions. To solve the issue, they advocate for precise terminology and a language that links information security to democratic values.
The article also discusses cyber terrorism and surveillance sources and research, highlighting the dispute about its reality, extent, and legal and policy responses (Broeders et al., 2021, p. 6). It examines worldwide collaboration and laws/regulations to prevent terrorist content online. The article also discusses global IT companies’ role in fighting online terrorism and Russia’s internet isolation, control, and restriction. China’s cybersecurity strategy and counterterrorism laws are examined. The writers stress international cooperation, UN efforts, and online governance and regulation.
Questions and answers arising from the article include: How does “information security” impact cyber terrorism countermeasures? Answer: The paper warns against using “information security” to regulate content and restrict internet liberties. It calls for precise terminology and a language that links information security to democracy. What role do global tech businesses and social media platforms play in combating internet terrorism? Global tech corporations’ participation in fighting online terrorist content and the effects of content regulation and moderation are discussed. What are the varying definitions of cyberterrorism? Cyberterrorism definitions vary widely, as the article shows. How do authoritarian nations legitimize their cyberspace policy and control through “information security” terminology? The article contends that authoritarian regimes like Russia and China exploit “information security” to justify their cyberspace practices.
The main issue arising from the article is that the article highlights the conflict between combating cyberterrorism and protecting human rights, particularly free speech. National cyber-terrorism policies that prioritize information security may compromise free speech (Broeders et al., 2021, p. 5). The article emphasizes the difficulty liberal democracies confront in addressing cyberterrorism while protecting fundamental liberties. This balance demands precise terminology and a language that links information security and democratic values. The article discusses the debate over the concept of cyberterrorism. The definition of a cyber-terrorist act is disputed; thus, governments take diverse approaches. The article explores the role of tech corporations and social media platforms in combating internet terrorism. The effects of content regulation and moderation and the pressure on Western countries to discuss information security generate concerns about internet freedoms (Broeders et al., 2021, p. 18).
The paper highlights authoritarian regimes utilizing “information security” to justify their cyberspace policies (Broeders et al., 2021, p. 9). This shows that engaging liberal democracies on information security may lead to content control and internet freedom limits. To consider the impact of fighting disinformation and information operations on speech and internet freedoms. Using this information, security can address this issue and lead Western states to speak in a language authoritarian governments have promoted without threatening internet liberties. Lastly, the article puts more emphasis on the importance of precise terminology and creating a language that aligns information security with democratic values (Broeders et al., 2021, p. 5).
Hannibal at the Gates: Cyberwarfare and the Solarwinds Sunburst hack
The SolarWinds Sunburst attack is used as a cyberwarfare case study to demonstrate the need for corporations to reengineer their cybersecurity measures (Datta, 2022, p. 4). Preventing sophisticated cyberattacks requires preemptive efforts. The article describes the attack vector and how the criminals created an attack infrastructure. Organizations must secure their software supply chain and adopt a perpetrator’s mindset to find system weaknesses. Understanding how attackers think and act helps organizations fight against cyberattacks. The paper also stresses the necessity of defensive analytics, which monitors and analyzes network traffic to identify and address threats. The author recommends reengineering network architecture to improve security and resilience.
Current cybersecurity vulnerabilities are shown by the Solarwinds Sunburst attack. The essay details how the attack exploited system weaknesses, emphasizing the necessity for enterprises to reevaluate and reinforce their cybersecurity processes. It is important to note that firms must proactively reengineer their cybersecurity processes and protocols. Organizations can defend against sophisticated cyberattacks by safeguarding the software supply chain, adopting a perpetrator’s attitude, using defensive analytics, and reengineering network architecture. This article emphasizes the necessity for enterprises to reengineer their processes and cultures to combat cyber warfare. The Pentagon’s misrepresentation and publication of sensitive information and the Solarwinds Sunburst attack show cybersecurity flaws (Datta, 2022, p. 2). The article also discusses cyberwarfare evolution. Once about physical territory, now about deceit, sabotage, and impairment. State-sponsored hacks can hurt larger opponents using operational processes and response cultures.
An important takeaway from the article is proactive process reengineering. Organizations should prioritize preventive preparation over-reactive measures like isolating affected assets and repairing systems after an attack. To prioritize cybersecurity, they must rethink their operational procedures and cultures. User processes are also stressed in cybersecurity. Malicious actors can exploit analog or automated user failures. The Github misconfiguration error that caused the Sunburst attack shows the necessity for robust user routines and error prevention (Datta, 2022, p. 2). Cyberwarfare evolution: Once about physical territory, now about deceit, sabotage, and impairment are all issues pointed out in the article. State-sponsored hacks can hurt larger opponents using operational processes and response cultures.
Many questions, thoughts, and difficulties come after reading the article: The article emphasizes the importance of proactive process reengineering in cybersecurity, questioning How organizations effectively reengineer processes and cultures for preventive readiness. Misclassification and leaking of sensitive material, like the Pentagon’s Red Disk data, highlight user error dangers. How can companies establish strong user workflows to prevent data leaks and invite bad actors? The SolarWinds Sunburst breach highlights software supply chain weaknesses (Datta, 2022, p. 3). How can companies reengineer the software supply chain to protect data packets and code? The article highlights the shift in cyberwarfare towards concealment, sabotage, and impairment rather than physical territory. How can corporations adjust their cybersecurity strategies to these new tactics? The article discusses Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) (Datta, 2022, p. 5). How can companies detect and stop APTs to secure their infrastructure and operations? The article stresses error prevention and robust user routines. What are the best ways to reduce errors and promote cybersecurity in organizations? The article suggests reassessing organizational processes, culture, and mindsets to combat state-sponsored assaults. What are some practical ways firms may reengineer their processes and cultures to tackle cyber threats? Generally, this article emphasizes the need for proactive cybersecurity, user error vulnerabilities, and reengineering processes and cultures to keep ahead of evolving cyber threats. It pushes enterprises to critically assess their cybersecurity plans and seek proactive measures to protect vital infrastructure.
Europe in Crisis: Crime, Criminal Justice, and the Way Forward Essays in Honor of Nestor Courakis
After reading about the Greek economic crisis and its effects, the problem and decision-making and judgment are discussed, emphasizing the necessity for logic and ingenuity to resolve the problem. Greece’s prolonged austerity and its effects on stability, unemployment, and society are analyzed. Interregnum, the gap between two typical periods, and the necessity to dismantle preconceptions and prejudices are introduced. Different crisis responses, despair, pragmatism, optimism, and denial, and their manifestations are examined. The essays discusses crisis coping mechanisms like denial, fatalism, new starts, humor, and therapeutic amnesia. Fairness, equalization, reconciliation, and non-exploitation are crucial to building confidence in Europe, as the text examines modernity’s failed promises and Greece’s current dilemma. The breach of democratic norms and human rights by odious and illegitimate debt is discussed. Discussion of criminalizing purposeful sovereign indebtedness and the Penal Law Act’s impact on unpaid obligations amid economic recession. Nationality and domicile as connecting variables in choice-of-law processes are also discussed, as well as the growth of European private international law and the trend toward habitual residence. The essays examine how nationality, domicile, and habitual residence affect personal law’s role in deciding jurisdiction, personal status, and the validity of juridical activities. The essays covers the Greek economic crisis and its many effects.
It’s evident from the text that the authors are emphasizing austerity’s harmful effects on society, notably education. The author claims that eliminating public sector teachers and using quantitative evaluations instead of qualitative ones worsens education (Spinellis et al., 2017, p. 153). The authors also discuss “hidden persuasion” in social institutions, which reinforces the belief that people get what they deserve. Misinterpreting these patterns as natural causes of unjustified injustice and symbolic violence. Bourdieu defines “symbolic violence” as a sort of dominance that forces subjects to accept societal values and postulates without challenge (Spinellis et al., 2017, p. 26). The authors discuss a two-speed Europe and European cooperation and integration ambiguity, which hurts the growing underclass. This shows that European cooperation’s meaning and purpose are being questioned, causing societal hardship. Despair to hope in crisis attitudes and responses are addressed too. Some pragmatically see things and stay hopeful, while others may dismiss the issue or go into psychic denial. Reality-knowledge, interpretative, implicatory, bipolar, and conscious/unconscious denial are Stanley Cohen’s five techniques for denying real-life facts (Spinellis et al., 2017, p. 1202).
Questions arising from these essays include: Do austerity measures affect public education quality? What is “hidden persuasion,” and how does it contribute to social inequality? How does European cooperation and integration ambiguity influence the new underclass? In times of crisis, how do people react? How do people respond to catastrophe with psychic denial? How do social norms perpetuate inequality and symbolic violence? How do people deny real-life facts, according to Stanley Cohen? How do future expectations and present enjoyment affect crisis response? How does interregnum apply to the Greek economic crisis? How might robust pragmatism and dismantling preconceptions help solve social problems?
Issues like austerity measures hurt education, emphasizing the need to invest in public education and support teachers. The concept of “hidden persuasion” raises issues about how social systems perpetuate inequality and how to oppose them for true social justice. Thoughts of European unity and exclusion of groups being threatened by ambiguity in collaboration and integration arise too. Crisis attitudes and behaviors raise issues regarding their causes and how they affect individual and communal well-being (Spinellis et al., 2017, p. 26). Psychological support and understanding during crises are needed due to the complexity of human psychology and the many ways people use psychic denial.
Social structures and ideas perpetuate inequality and symbolic violence, raising questions regarding how to oppose and remove them. Stanley Cohen’s five strategies of rejecting real-life facts encourage consideration of how people and societies distort or dismiss painful realities and their repercussions (Spinellis et al., 2017, p. 21). The link between future expectations and present enjoyment raises problems concerning pragmatism and optimism and how this affects crisis reaction. In light of the Greek economic crisis, the interregnum raises questions regarding its long-term implications and societal transformation. Lastly, Robust pragmatism and deconstructing assumptions provide a framework for analyzing and addressing social concerns, but their practical implementation and impediments to adoption are unclear (Spinellis et al., 2017, p. 18).
References
Broeders, D., Cristiano, F., & Weggemans, D. (2021). Too Close for Comfort: Cyber Terrorism and Information Security across National Policies and International Diplomacy. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 0(0), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2021.1928887
Datta, P. (2022). Hannibal at the Gates: Cyberwarfare & the Solarwinds sunburst hack. Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases, 12(2), 115–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043886921993126
Spinellis, C. D., Theodorakis, N., Billis, E., & Papadimitrakopoulos, G. (2017). Europe in Crisis: Crime, Criminal Justice, and the Way Forward Essays in Honour of Nestor Courakis. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3009257
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