Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Social, Political,
Economic, and Cultural
ROBIN GANDHI, ANUP SHARMA, WILLIAM MAHONEY,
WILLIAM SOUSAN, QIUMING ZHU, AND PHILLIP LAPLANTE
2009,
Ukraine IT Professionals to Cybercrime
1999, Belgrade, Chinese Embassy 2008, Belarus/Eastern Europe, DoS Attack
1999, Serbia, Kosovo War 2007, Estonia / Russia, DoS Attack
1999, Germany, G8 Summit 2008, Russia / Georgia Conflict
1995, France, Web Attack 1999, CIH/Chernobyl Virus
2001, Japan, Education Ministry Website
1996, USA, 2005, Korea/Japan, terratorial conflict
DoJ Website Attack
1999, China/Taiwan, Cyber conflict
2001, USA/China, Spy Plane 2001, China/Japan, Yasukuni Shrine
2003, USA, Titan Rain 2008, China, French Embassy Web
2008, USA/China Strategic Info. 2008-9, China IT Professionals
2009, USA, 2000, Israel/Palestine, 2009, China, GhostNet
Spies on Electrical Grid 2005, Indonesia/Malaysia, Ambalat
2009, USA, Lucent Tech.
Medical Records Hostage 2008, Israel / Palestine conflict 1998, Indonesia, East Timor conflict
1998, India, BARC
1998, Mexico, 2000, India / Pakistan, Kashmir
Presidential Website
a possible link was discovered to launching an attack with irrefut- Attack Motive
a botnet services provider. Yet it able evidence [6]. Investigators The compiled record suggests that
may still be impossible to trace the often have to follow a breadcrumb many cyber-attacks are somehow
human network that is ultimately trail in both the cyber and physical motivated by deeply-rooted so-
responsible for planning and co- worlds to substantiate any claims cio-cultural issues. Attacks can
ordination. Unless certain groups with evidence. also be politically motivated or
take responsibility, it is difficult Studies show that countries used to influence government
to accuse a nation or individual of such as the U.S and China have a policy [12], [14].
October 2000:
1998: India/
Mexico, Pakistan,
Websites of May 1999 attack on April 2001:
president Indian
Belgrade, Websites U.S./China,
attacked Chinese to protest spy plane
Embassy conflict in crisis
bombing Kashmir
September
1998: March
Indonesia, June 2001:
December 1999:
1995: attack on South September
Websites Cologne, Korea/ 2003:
France, web to protest Germany, Japan,
attack against cyber attack on Titan Rain
against human attack to Japanese cyber-
French right protest Education espionage
Government abuse in against G8 Ministry’s issue, U.S.
Websites East Timor summit Website
Script Kiddies
Social protestors (hactivists)
Attack Agent
Mercenaries
Nation states
Cybermilitia
Organized attacks
Cyber Mafia organized crime
Chat rooms and Forum recuritment Un-organized Attack Co-ordination
attacks
Cybervigilante
Malware victims
Attack Origin
Malicious agents
Dissatisfaction Protest Political or Government Actions
against the launch of a Public Document, Policy or Law
Retaliation against acts of aggresion or physical attacks Political factors
Cyberespionage
Political
Land and Cultural disputes Socio-Cultural Attack Motive Cyber Attacks
factors
Anniversaries of historic events
Financial gain
Economic recession Economic factors
Greed
Immediately following an attack in the physical world
Preceeding an attack in the physical world
In parallel with an attack in the physical world Attack Timing
Uncorrelated with events in the physical world
Logical or timed activation of planted malware
Spread of Malware
Denial of Service
SQL or Code injection
Attack Means
Escalation of Priviledge
Zero-day exploits
Distribution of Attack Scripts
Pathology of SPEC-Triggered
Cyber-Attacks
Attacks triggered by SPEC events
have pathology similar to biologi-
cal pandemics [25], where each
outbreak develops in stages over
its life cycle [41]. Therefore it is
critical to identify features that
can be observed or discovered
as early predictors or indicators,
Individuals/Civilians
and monitor these factors before
the actual attack takes place or
Government
propagates.
Attack Victims Bussinesses
Cyber-defense is harder than
Critical Infrastructure
cyber-offense, and technological
Military Loss of confidence in
mechanisms alone are never suf-
technology
Technological effects ficient. To build appropriate exper-
Security budget increase
Mass panic
tise, understanding is needed in a
Psychological effects broad range of issues related to the
Induce Policy Changes
Lost productivity and time global cyber environment. We need
Financial loss to investigate a full range of factors
Attack Consequences Monetary loss
Loss of National/Business Secrets that shape and alter the cyber secu-
Indentify theft rity environment including social,
Information loss Privacy Loss
Personal Information political, economic, cultural, and
Intellectual Disclosure technological trends.
Physical system loss Property Loss Achieving global cyber security
is a matter of strategic economic
interest for all nations. Developing
a global culture of cyber security
also means assisting developing
economies in adopting the “tech-
nology, processes, and people” of
cyber security.
Author Information
Robin Gandhi, Anup Sharma, Wil-
liam Mahoney, William Sousan,
and Qiuming Zhu are with the