A number of recent events have alarmed security experts of a full-scale cyber war among nations. The leakage of diplomatic cables of U.Ss State department by WikiLeaks, counter attacks on WikiLeaks website, increased hacking attacks on Chinese websites, hacking attacks on websites of key Indian and Pakistani agencies have added to the fears. Consequently, governments and
internet security experts are under pressure to secure websites of government agencies and crucial installations. Usually, security professionals use ethical
hacking to reveal the weaknesses in IT infrastructure.
The leakage of diplomatic cables has revealed conflicting public and private positions on important issues by different governments. While these may not result in any diplomatic fallout, governments are likely to more cautious in diplomatic engagements. Servers hosting WikiLeaks have suffered denial of service attacks forcing them to stop hosting WikiLeaks. The attacks may be either in retaliation of the leakage or may be done by forces, who would like to have access to the confidential documents in possession of WikiLeaks. The released documents not only put U.S in a tight spot, but also reveal that Chinese Security firms close to Chinese Military hired hackers in the past. Incidentally, around 300 websites of Chinese government departments and military organizations have been targeted by hackers in the recent months. The website of Chinas defense department was reported to be hacked over 2 million times within a months time.
Over the last decade, hacking has evolved into an organized crime. Further, automated hacking tools are easily accessible at low prices. Hackers sell the stolen information to their underground peers. As such, there is a possibility of their ties with terrorist organizations. Security experts fear a shift from military warfare to cyber warfare by nations as well as terrorist organizations to establish their supremacy. Security experts are urging nations to establish cyber treaties in the lines of military treaties with provisions such as no-first use policy for cyber weapons.
Internet security experts across the world including China and U.S are under pressure to secure websites of key departments and agencies from hacking. The Indian government issued fresh guidelines for security audit of government websites after the hacking of website of one of its premier investigative agency. The government intends to spend INR10,000 crore (US$ 2229 billion) on cyber security. China has issued a new regulation, which holds owners of computers and Internet Service providers connected to public network with privileged data responsible for reporting
information security professionals violations.
Regular security audit of web applications, multi-factor authentication, adequate monitoring and regular upgrades are crucial to secure websites from hacking.
