CENERS-K IN ASSOCIATION WITH BCC&I
ECONOMIC SUMMIT- Cyber Terrorism and the Economy – A Gathering Storm
JANUARY 2019
Background Note
The Rise of Cyber Terrorism
“Cyber weapons provide the tantalising possibility of being able to cripple the enemy without inflicting lasting damage on them – Philip Hammond”
Cyber Terrorism is a much talked about subject these days and is widely regarded to be The most potent threat in the modern world as our reliance on technology continues to grow. Several serious Cyber incidents over the past few years have forced governments, public and private sector enterprises and traditional and social media to take cognizance of the gravity of the threat.
Cyber terrorism is capable of inflicting catastrophic damage to just about every aspect of society. Sophisticated cyber-attacks are now the chosen weapon to cause widespread devastation because of the insidious anonymity it offers, thereby avoiding the risks associated with violent acts in the physical world.
This event primarily aims to discuss and debate the various aspects regarding the importance of protecting the national business interests from being subjected to the crippling effects of cyber terrorism whether directly targeted at the economy or as a spill over from the initial target to the economically linked entities.
Who are these cyber terrorists?
To bolster one’s defences and reduce vulnerabilities, there is a need to understand the profile and motivations of those who launch these electronic attacks from cyber space.
The agenda behind cyber terror attacks is similar to acts of physical violence – to cause widespread fear and chaos driven by social, political, economic, religious, and cultural motivations with the objective of gaining publicity and notoriety.
The attackers are skilled, use sophisticated technology and are constantly evolving to successfully evade intelligence and security forces. They can attack individuals, businesses and Governments by exploiting vulnerabilities in the system by stealing sensitive information and data, introducing lethal virus, malaware or ransomware to impair operational capabilities resulting in severe damage to the reputation of the organization, significant monetary loss, and instability.
The cyber terrorists normally target high profile components of a country’s critical infrastructure or business operations in order to cause major physical and /or psychological impacts.
What is the economic impact of Cyber Terrorism?
$1,000,000,000,000
Or $1 trillion is the estimated overall impact of cyber-attacks to the US economy alone, as per surveys conducted by leading cyber security consulting firms like Symantec, Cisco, Websense, with $100,000 being the average loss for an individual firm. These costs are significant!
The size and effect of these strikes are enormous but quantifying the economic impact is a complex task due to the limited ability to measure the costs and probability of cyber-attacks. There are no standard methodologies for cost measurement or the heads of cost and the process is also hindered by a degree of reluctance by businesses to make public their own information on security breaches because of multiple reasons such as :
- Financial market impact
- Litigation concerns
- Liability concerns
- Job security issues emanating from lapses
- Acknowledgement to attackers
What are the expectations from the event?
Cyber connectivity is the key requirement for the Economy today and will therefore continue to grow at a rate higher than that ever witnessed before. Effective effort by public and private enterprises to combat this malaise must essentially centre around understanding the vulnerabilities, gaining more knowledge of the methods on an on-going basis as they proliferate, analyse and manage risks to create a response strategy which involves measures both internal to the firms and external cooperation among all stakeholders.
This event will provide a platform for business leaders, Cyber Security experts from Government, Private and Public sectors, software professionals, and subject matter specialists to share their knowledge and experiences and discuss strategies to be better prepared for the modern-day warfare.