Cyber Threats Could Lead To Economic Instability

By Author: eccuni
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Every boxer knows that seeing that an attack that is directed at them is much better than not seeing them at all. In fact, most punches that would knock down boxers are those they did not see coming; the only thing that they would remember is falling on the canvas and hearing the referee counting. Sadly, the same concept could happen to our country and its economy.
The sad truth is that, even if the best internet security experts and computer forensics work hard all day long just to stop cyber criminals on track and deter hazardous malware and cyber threats that grazed the headlines of internet security publications. There is that possibility of a much more destructive cyber attack that is inching its way into the economic system of our country and is slowly disrupting it and bringing it down in to the gutter.
Many would think that it is less likely to happen and that idea is too farfetched, even to some degrees, but there is a publication that is supporting that claim. According to United Kingdom's Times ...
... newspaper, there are ongoing attacks happening on the electronic trading system between the United States and the United Kingdom, clearly someone wants to destabilize the economy of these 2 countries. You may wonder what their reason for such crazy idea is. Clearly even economic systems are a possible victim to cyber attacks.
According to the interesting report from the said publication, many unnamed officials are concerned about the recent attacks of cybercriminals and how they were able to successfully breach the electronic trading networks and systems of the 2 countries. The purpose of these criminals is not just to steal funds, but instead to spread panic in the market to destabilize the financial institutions of the western half of the globe. It is also pointed out in the report that there are coordinated cyber attacks that forcibly shut down the European Emissions Trading Scheme's market few weeks ago.
Because of the attack, the European Commission was forced to suspend the trading on that exchange; that attack resulted to the loss of permits that are worth millions not in dollars but in euros. Indeed, if some sick psychopath conducted a cyber attack on nuclear power plants that could lead to disaster, is obviously very awful and the end result could be hard to swallow. But if these psychopaths decide to screw up not just one part of the global economy but instead disrupt the flow of money and commerce around the world, then definitely all of us are screwed.
Big names in the economic market as well as security industries pointed out, that the internet is like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode in a certain time. As the power of internet accessibility and connectivity increases for the next years to come, so should the danger of internet crimes. More and more hackers and cybercriminals will invade the internet and sooner or later, we sill not be surprised to see coordinated and specialized cyber attacks on large foreign exchange markets in the world such as the New York Stock Exchange. Attacks to these institutions and their systems will have a profound impact not only to our country but to the global economy as well. Once this happens, it is expected to have week long or month long hiatus in foreign exchange or trading, which could directly affect all kinds of business.
The fear of DDoS attacks on electronic markets has not yet subsided and here comes another threat that could possibly turn the world upside down. Criminals could do some tweaks and or some sort of modification in the numbers behind the market and it could possibly lead to different sorts of events. It could suddenly change the tide of market; valuable commodities become invaluable and some currencies would take lots of beating. When that happens, a chain reaction will occur, people will overreact and panic and countries will either sink or swim with their economy.
We may not be sure, if the report is really true, but the idea itself is far from fiction. Subtle manipulation in electronic markets is possible and companies and agencies have to look for ways to prevent it from happening. One thing is for sure, they need experts who are capable in stopping or preventing this from happening and they would need someone who has completed computer forensics training or a computer forensic course.
The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cyber security and e-commerce. It is the owner and developer of 20 security certifications. EC-Council has trained over 90,000 security professionals and certified more than 40,000 members. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies. They also offer trainings in computer forensics.
More information about EC-Council is available at www.eccouncil.org.