General Trends

Wired Society

Online electronic services now form a ubiquitous and essential part of life.  Banking, communications, media and shopping all take place in cyberspace.  The result is that modern governments have become dependent on computer and network security and must rely on Information Assurance to keep society functioning normally.  Recent trends have shown that it is possible to paralyse the web presence of an organisation, a group of related institutions, or even an entire nation via cyber attack alone.

Organized Cyber Crime

Criminals now employ high technology such as peer-to-peer botnets in order to more efficiently and anonymously gain access to funds and sensitive personal information.  Modern malicious code can be purchased with customised features, regular updates and even customer service.  Economically motivated criminals gladly use third-party computers and networks to attack individuals, commercial targets, government, and even military resources.

Non-state hackers and hacktivists

Lone hackers, organised hacktivists, and even terrorists now conduct damaging Internet-based attacks with ease, anonymity, and plausible deniability.  Not only can the monetary cost to government and non-governmental organisations be high in terms of tech support, but the loss of proprietary information and the propaganda value associated with successful attacks can be devastating.

The militarisation of the Internet

Modern militaries are preparing to use cyberspace as a parallel battleground in future conflicts.  This has tremendous, but as yet little understood significance for the Information Assurance community.  The attackers will have access to the most sophisticated equipment and training that a modern nation-state can provide.  Even when a purely network-based attack is unlikely, cyber attacks employed in concert with conventional weapons will become the standard operating procedure in future conflicts.