The year is 2012.

Date?

The 23th of December.

People all over the earth are huddled near their television sets after stockpiling groceries, causing a shortage of food for many urban areas in the world. They are anxious to learn if the Ancient Mayan prophecy of the end of mankind is true. The evening news restarts the repetition of it's major headlines. Flashes of the worldwide riots, the hunt for the domestic terrorist group calling themselves Vendetta Valiente who broke into the US Department of Defense a couple of months ago, and heavy advisement to stay indoors appear, nothing new. Then it happens. Every television, mobile device, and computer screen turns a very dark shade of blue. Traffic in Times Square is at a standstill as men, women, and children get out of their vehicles to stare at the large blue Times Square screens surrounding them. Even many of the riots halt to catch a glimpse of nearby television screens. Faint music is heard. Radical Neo-nazi groups everywhere imediately stand up for respect as they recognize the anthem of the German Third Reich. It has begun. People gasp as a logo suddenly appears on the screen, two letter V's attached to sleek metal wings under a halo. Vendetta Valiente. Another gasp as a suited, bald man wearing heavy glasses appears on the screen. It is Henry Styletti, the most wanted madman on earth, leader of Valiente. A sorrow look is upon the man's face as he prepares to address his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, many of you know me as Henry Styletti, President of Vendetta Valiente International. I am here to personally tell you some horrible news. I am here to tell you that your governments have been hiding something of vast importance from you."

The world is immediately lost in Styletti's word's. He knows this due to his exceptional ability to publicly speak.

Styletti resumes.

"Every government on this earth has promised it's citizens cyber security, that the threat of an international cyberspace attack is impossible. I am here to tell you they are wrong. At aproxiamately midnight, Vendetta Valiente International will engage in one last crusade to save mankind. We will proceed to shut down all communications, utilities, and power. Do not try to stop us. Resistance will be ineffective."

Styletti leans closer to the screen as he explains.

"It is for the greater good." The broadcast ends and resumes to its regular programming.

Similar incidents have been portrayed in popular Hollywood films such as Live Free or Die Hard starring Bruce Willis. Pop culture calls it a fire sail, an attack where all communications, utilities, and power is controlled by the attacker. However, the question is, can something like this really happen?

"The truth is every computer network is vulnerable. There is no such thing as an 100% secure system, PERIOD." says Gregory Evans, CEO of LIGATT Security.

Scarier still, is that humans are totally dependent on computers. If all the computers that perform tasks that once required human intelligence to perform were penetrated, civilization would literally be at a standstill. There would be economic stagflation and no means of recovering due to limited technology.

The targets of anti cybercrime activity are built upon an hierarchy. Lowest on this hierarchy are the ankle biters. Ankle biters are small time hackers, usually teenagers, attempting to deface websites, or breaking into a system for the thrill of the game. Then there are those who hack for a living, stealing millions from banks and other financial institutions to wire them overseas for safekeeping. The highest on the hierarchy are the ones responsible for information warfare, a term coined for attacks undermining sovereignty by hacking, and can come from terrorist organizations or even well funded nation states.

Furthermore, there is already much evidence of large scale hostile information attacks being launched against the United States. In 2003, a discreet cyber attack infiltrated the headquarters of the army's elite helicopter units, Fort Campbell. For months the attacker monitored the network's activity, however the military has not disclosed information on damages.

The threat is very real. National Cyber Security's main goals are to aware the you of the types of cyber threats and how to protect yourselves, help create a perfect impenetrable system to prevent any information warfare horrors, and lead a colossal driving force on the National War on Cybercrime.

by Sheehan Toufiq
IT Department
LIGATT Security