Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques for Ensuring Global Security

Chapter 13

Predicting Global Threat

Today's world is interconnected in ways we could have only dreamed about just one or two decades ago. The European market drops and our stock market drops hours later. There is a rebellion in Libya and we are joining NATO forces to intervene. China wants to increase its global status so it intrudes into networks to steal technology shortcuts. The advent of the Internet connects us to the point that we can communicate with almost anyone worldwide in seconds, and CNN is on the spot as we watch coups unfold and battles wage in Iraq and Afghanistan. In short, we are now a globally connected community of diverse individuals, ideas, and cultures with events observed worldwide as they occur.

The interconnectedness we now have has been a boon to communication; however, in a global economic slump, we cannot say it has been good for business. Perhaps this will change as we learn how to better use the networks that connect us all. In the meantime, the global network has created new means by which espionage, cyber attacks, and proprietary and classified information theft can occur in seconds. At the same time, perpetrators are afforded anonymity as they commit these attacks. Threat today can come from any direction globally. Whether it is a group of al-Qaeda terrorists hijacking airliners, the Chinese invading networks to steal technology, or the potential for a massive biological agent attack, the United States and its allies are facing new global threats. ...