OK this has been a topic that I've pondered and which has interested me for years now. Back in '05 when I started my Network Security degree, the thought of a network intrusion as an act of war seemed pretty far fetched to me. I thought there was no way that our government's networks could be compromised.
I can remember back when the last Die Hard movie came out, where the power grids and communication channels, etc. were compromised and a buddy of mine asked me, "hey you are in the security field, think that could ever happen?" I was like no way, with the intelligence and security teams we have there no way possible we would let that happen.
The recent breaches of major networks such as Sony,Lockheed Martin, and countless other medium to large sized organizations have really swayed my opinion in the other direction. How secure are our power grids/water plants/oil refineries/and other sensitive government networks?
Everyone knows that the US lacks in the area of technology when compared to foreign countries, namely China. What happens if a more technology capable nation gets a burr up their ass and starts launching attacks? What about the recent take down of some key Al-Qaeda web sites and forums, suspected of being hacked by government sponsored hackers from either the US or the UK, which I doubt we ever know for sure.
I don't know enough about our defense department and government sponsored security firms to formulate an opinion on how safe I think our networks are, but just wanted to open this up for opinions. I'm strongly considering furthering my education on the security portion of my degree rather than the regular Networking portion, I think there is going to be a good job market for these positions here in the future.
Figured this would be an interesting debate/conversation.
I can remember back when the last Die Hard movie came out, where the power grids and communication channels, etc. were compromised and a buddy of mine asked me, "hey you are in the security field, think that could ever happen?" I was like no way, with the intelligence and security teams we have there no way possible we would let that happen.
The recent breaches of major networks such as Sony,Lockheed Martin, and countless other medium to large sized organizations have really swayed my opinion in the other direction. How secure are our power grids/water plants/oil refineries/and other sensitive government networks?
Everyone knows that the US lacks in the area of technology when compared to foreign countries, namely China. What happens if a more technology capable nation gets a burr up their ass and starts launching attacks? What about the recent take down of some key Al-Qaeda web sites and forums, suspected of being hacked by government sponsored hackers from either the US or the UK, which I doubt we ever know for sure.
I don't know enough about our defense department and government sponsored security firms to formulate an opinion on how safe I think our networks are, but just wanted to open this up for opinions. I'm strongly considering furthering my education on the security portion of my degree rather than the regular Networking portion, I think there is going to be a good job market for these positions here in the future.
Figured this would be an interesting debate/conversation.