Cyber Espionage
ABSTRACT
The aim of this report is to examine the topic of cyber espionage. Incidents and threats of espionage committed using software tools have become frequent headlines in news stories in recent years, thus the existence of cyber espionage is undeniable. This report begins with an introduction of the topic, followed by a literature review. Moving on, two case studies specifically involving the use of Trojans and sniffers to commit espionage will be discussed. The scope of these case studies includes the attack mechanisms used and the countermeasures that could plausibly be adopted, as well as a discussion of each case. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Cyber espionage is the use of software tools to obtain secret or private information about another government or business competitor. According to a study by research firm SANS Institute, cyber espionage is ranked Number 3 on its Top Five Menaces for 2008. Hence cyber espionage is an increasing concern in today’s society. Over the past decade, globalization has led to an increase in espionage activities. As businesses become global and competition intensifies, the tendency to steal information to gain a competitive edge increases. Another explanation for a rise in espionage levels is the growth of computer technologies. Computers have shortened the time spent to steal data as individuals can download information and save it in a few seconds, as opposed to spending hours secretly duplicating documents. Computers are interconnected via the company’s network, which is linked to an internet, thus increasing the points of entry through which hackers can gain access to information. Besides making confidential information easier to steal, the computer has enhanced the theft. A group of Russian hackers who stole US$10 million from the Citibank computer network commented “A computer is a much better tool than a handgun… it would take us a long time to get $10 million with a handgun.” In the remaining sections of our report,
The aim of this report is to examine the topic of cyber espionage. Incidents and threats of espionage committed using software tools have become frequent headlines in news stories in recent years, thus the existence of cyber espionage is undeniable. This report begins with an introduction of the topic, followed by a literature review. Moving on, two case studies specifically involving the use of Trojans and sniffers to commit espionage will be discussed. The scope of these case studies includes the attack mechanisms used and the countermeasures that could plausibly be adopted, as well as a discussion of each case. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Cyber espionage is the use of software tools to obtain secret or private information about another government or business competitor. According to a study by research firm SANS Institute, cyber espionage is ranked Number 3 on its Top Five Menaces for 2008. Hence cyber espionage is an increasing concern in today’s society. Over the past decade, globalization has led to an increase in espionage activities. As businesses become global and competition intensifies, the tendency to steal information to gain a competitive edge increases. Another explanation for a rise in espionage levels is the growth of computer technologies. Computers have shortened the time spent to steal data as individuals can download information and save it in a few seconds, as opposed to spending hours secretly duplicating documents. Computers are interconnected via the company’s network, which is linked to an internet, thus increasing the points of entry through which hackers can gain access to information. Besides making confidential information easier to steal, the computer has enhanced the theft. A group of Russian hackers who stole US$10 million from the Citibank computer network commented “A computer is a much better tool than a handgun… it would take us a long time to get $10 million with a handgun.” In the remaining sections of our report,