Challenging rhetoric to identify the future of defensive and offensive measures against defined threat actors

Rumsey, Matthew Joseph

Frost, Eric G
Larson, Lance
Moberly, Raymond

2016-05-19

Thesis

xii, 133 pages : illustrations (some color).

Corporations and particularly defense industries have long relied on computers to automate and protect critical and national infrastructure. They have also served to advance scientific exploration in ways never thought possible. Through ever-evolving technological breakthroughs there is a constant march towards ever-improved network architectures that allow more flexible and efficient protocols to be used. The Internet has become a cornerstone of modern society at home and is rapidly moving into a world saturated by mini-, micro- and nano-sized sensor devices collectively known as the "Internet of Things." We increasingly trust our personal, private, and confidential data and information to private and public institutions that we are relying on to protect it. Because this data is so valuable and yet also continually needed, it is critical that it is kept both available and confidential so that the integrity can be maintained but still allowing near real-time use of the data. The value of data makes it the target of criminals, hackers and nation states. The media warn us to expect a "cyber Pearl Harbor", a "cyber Katrina" and a "cyber Armageddon". This thesis will analyze some of the historical and current approaches to cybersecurity, the rhetoric used to describe cyber incidents and discuss defensive and offensive measures against real threat actors. It will outline a path forward as the world enters an era of quantum computing and sensornetwork saturation unseen in past human history. By challenging rhetoric, we ensure the threat is understood accurately and that we maintain an appropriate cybersecurity posture. By not challenging rhetoric, we risk becoming a society whereby we our technology is limited by being too secure and not functional or easy enough to use. Therefore, the recommendations are multi-faceted since, in cybersecurity, there is no single implementation that can protect against all threats. The recommendations can be applied to cybersecurity concerns whether they are personal, corporate or government.

en_US

Homeland Security

Homeland Security

Sciences

San Diego State University

Master of Science (M.S.) San Diego State University, 2016

U163.2

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11929/sdsu:1535