Cyber Warfare Update
Members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee have nominated an active duty Lt. General to head the Pentagon’s new Cyber Command.
While electronic and cyber warfare is not new, it has become an increasing worry to the sensitive government and military computing infrastructure. During the Iraq war, US forces used this same kind of technology to jam cellular phone networks in the town of Fallujah during 2004. This resulted in disruption of communications between enemy insurgents, and communications with roadside IED’s. However, with the explosion of the Internet, and the increasing reliance on technology, the future battlefield may well be on the Internet and via the airwaves, instead of the ground.
US officials struggle to put together plans on how to defend government networks, utilities along with determining just what kinds of retaliation can be taken to defend against cyber attacks. This is complicated by the fact that the source of an attack could be direct, or indirect using foreign countries, private, or business networks as the source.
Rogue nations and cyber criminals are increasing using hacking, viruses, and malware as tools for implementing cyber attacks.
How do you protect yourself from this sort of thing?
Here are a few examples:
1. Have a combination of Hardware and software firewalls.
2. Install regularly updated Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware software installed and configured.
3. Make sure that your OS level security Service Packs are up to date.
4. Have strong user and network passwords in place.
I you are unsure about any of this, please contact the CCS Retail Systems Support Department to schedule your security review.