Published in Computer User at http://www.computeruser.com/pressreleases/view/d518613c798791a8d2c22dbb2741e318
22 April 2008
The news that NATO has announced the creation of a 24-hour emergency response team to manage CyberAttacks - in the same way that it responds to chemical, biological or radiological attacks - highlights the increasing vulnerability of organizations and businesses in the information era. A new book by defense and commercial security expert, Dr Julie Mehan, CyberWar, CyberTerror, CyberCrime published by IT Governance, provides a stark and timely analysis of the increasingly hostile online landscape that today’s corporate systems inhabit, and gives a practical introduction to the defensive strategies that can be employed in response.
‘CyberWar, CyberTerror and CyberCrime are a real and present danger, and organizations that are unprepared for them are organizations that are wandering blindly into a destructive future,’ warns Dr Mehan
While targeted at professionals with a general understanding of security engineering, this timely, balanced and far-sighted book should provide sobering yet illuminating reading for business, technology and security leaders around the world. Layman and specialist alike will be engrossed by Dr Mehan’s insights into the psyche and modus operandi of the CyberTerrorist and the CyberCriminal. Of particular value to security professionals are the chapters addressing CyberDefence, Governance, Laws and Standards, which discuss the current regulatory landscape and suggest practical methods for applying international standards and best practices to create a culture of security within organizations.
Comments Dr Mehan ‘While the Internet has emerged in the past two decades as a powerful business tool and enabler, the online world remains a largely unstructured terrain with few legal limitations and rules. The result has been a digital ‘Wild West’, with the Internet providing a fertile feeding ground for CyberWarriors, CyberTerrorists and CyberCriminals.
To demonstrate the scale of the problem, Dr Mehan points to recent cases such as the 2007 CyberAttack by Russia on Estonia’s state and financial IT infrastructure which brought the country to a standstill for two months. She also highlights the high cost of malware attacks by groups such as the Storm Trojan gang, whose efforts infected millions of computers and cost companies billions of dollars.
‘CyberTerrorism, CyberCrime and CyberAttacks pose a serious risk to national, individual and corporate security,’ concludes Dr Mehan. ‘The weapons of the CyberTerrorist or CyberCriminal are subtle, insidious, difficult to trace, low cost and easily deployed globally. Vital organizations on which we all depend are potentially vulnerable to this kind of attack, particularly financial, defense, telecommunications and energy networks, and no-one can afford to ignore the level of threat. CyberWar, CyberTerror, CyberCrime is a valuable tool for CIOs and IT professionals in assessing how to utilise the best standards and practices to secure their information systems against attack.
In the course of 280 pages, CyberWar, CyberTerror, CyberCrime makes a convincing case for the application of international standards and practices as the key counter-measure to the global threat of CyberAttacks. The book also provides a useful glossary of wider reading and current international standards.
CyberWar, CyberTerror, CyberCrime is priced at £39.95/$79.10/€51.94 and is available in hard copy (ISBN 978-1-905356-47-8) and e-book (ISBN 978-1-905356-48-5) formats. To purchase a copy for immediate despatch or download, visit http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/products/1731.