‘Hacktivists’

This year has seen numerous high profile attacks against high profile targets in the information and cyber spaces of government and industry.

The SC Magazine 2011 Data Security Conference featured a panel led by SC Editor Illena Armstrong that included: Jeffrey Brown of GE Capital, Pedro Cordero of the FBI, and Gene Fredriksen CISO of Tyco International.

‘Hacktivists’ were described by Mr. Cordero as a “respected  adversary,” commiting network intrusions from outside and inside of organizations, for the purpose of theft and disruption. Ms. Armstrong said hackivists want “messages about their political and social ideologies to be heard.”

LE asked Mr. Fredriksen if the U.S. government and industry were at war in cyberspace? He said: “Yes, with no end in sight.” He characterized it as “a war of attrition with the last man standing.”

Commentary: With growing injustice and revolution in many parts of the world — and anyone with a computer an actor, the point of no return may have been reached for depleted Western societies. Teddy Roosevelt’s description of Europe before World War I seems an apt description for this moment: “The storm that is raging is terrible and evil but it is also grand and noble.”