Cybersecurity, Technology, and Society
The Ethical and Security Challenges We Face in the New Digital Age
December 10th, 2021
The Digital Age
As you are reading this, you’re most likely reading it through some sort of screen –as the digital has become the backbone of our modern world. For most of society, digital innovation is exciting and thrilling. The realm of digital innovation presents boundless possibilities, yet often overlooked are the potential pitfalls it carries. It appears that society has grown complacent, oblivious to the looming threat of unchecked corruption fueled by these technologies. The rapid acceleration of technological advancements has outpaced our human capacity to fully comprehend and manage them.
Industries, governments, and individuals alike are beginning to awaken to the profound implications of this digital revolution. It is imperative that we collectively recognize technology as a neutral force in our lives. We must acknowledge the urgent need for responsible stewardship and proactive measures to safeguard against its misuse.Technology is the means of tools humans use to live life and thrive. How the collective utilizes these tools determines the ethical aspects of our civilization. What regulations should be executed as we enter this new digital way of living? What key elements of our physical world are being affected and threatened through the digital world? And how can we implement efficient security of these two realms as they are seamlessly intergrading? A collective effort is essential in establishing a fresh framework for security and ethics in the digital realm. History has shown that without adequate checks and balances, human nature is prone to corruption, especially in uncharted territories. Therefore, it is imperative to proactively address these concerns to ensure the responsible and ethical use of technology.
Critical Infrastructure in the Digital Age
Throughout the history of mankind, humans have continuously created new forms of technology that influenced every aspect of life. Our modern world is built around critical infrastructure that is deeply woven into the digital. Due to the recent prevalent cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, special attention is being paid to how cyber technologies are impacting engineering systems, such as the electrical grid to the water and wastewater systems. They are all infrastructures that civilizations heavily rely on. Electricity and plumbing existed before cyber technologies were developed. Over the past couple of decades, industries have witnessed the seamless integration of cyber technologies into their engineering systems. This integration has led to a significant increase in productivity, as these technologies have enhanced the efficiency of existing systems. As a result, industries have experienced accelerated growth, driven by the continuous advancements in cyber technology.
However, the rapid acceleration of these advanced novel types of machinery has left society with little time to grasp the underlying consequences of their impact on humanity. Events such as the cyber hack that occurred in Ukraine in January 2016, resulting in a blackout, underscore the urgent need for deeper understanding and proactive measures in managing the risks associated with these technologies (Mutsuo, 2017). This event showed what potential impacts cyber technologies could have on any given society. No longer are adversaries separated by land and water, but fully connected through networks from across the world. As cyber technologies have created more productive and efficient systems for engineering industries, it has also however been weaponized by criminal groups, terrorist groups, and nation-states. As cyber technology has had wonderful impacts on engineering systems, simultaneously it poses a potential risk of harsh and devastating destruction that could negatively affect engineering systems and in result hurt civilizations.
Security Challenges within Critical Infrastructures
Many counties around the world are sobering up to these vulnerabilities that are riddled across critical infrastructure. Securing critical infrastructures is essential in protecting our modern world. One dilemma that our infrastructures are facing is securing the Industrial Control Systems (ICS). “The State of Industrial Cybersecurity 2017” is a report that goes into detail on the current risk, realities, and preparedness for these systems. Twenty-one countries across the world were interviewed to get an in-depth perspective of different approaches to these complex problems within the systems of critical infrastructures. The impacts of security breaches can be severe on a company, especially a critical infrastructure company where the ramifications can ripple out to adversely affect society and the environment. Such threats have had many avenues of entry to disrupt a system. Such incidents can occur through a simple social engineering attack, wherein employees unwittingly click on a link as part of a phishing scheme. The possibilities of distribution seem to multiply the more one investigates a current system. Organizations are starting to wake up to this newfound reality by implementing cybersecurity policies as well as preventive measures. Unfortunately, companies are finding themselves lacking appropriate staffing with the right skills for the job. As organizations are building up their cybersecurity, attacks are still very much prevalent. Finding a balance of skilled workers with the understanding of both fields of cybersecurity and infrastructure is vital, however challenging to find. To compact this issue, much research has been conducted to find possible solutions to this ever-growing problem. Researchers have concluded that a multidisciplinary approach is the most efficient way in moving forward to competently address these cybersecurity concerns (The State of Industrial Cybersecurity, 2017).
Cyber-Policy Legislation
In hopes of more regulations within cybersecurity, critical infrastructures that service the U.S. government have new legislation called the S.2407 Cyber Incident Notification Act of 2021. This bill was introduced in June 2021 to the House of Representatives. This bill was created to provide an awareness of cyber-security-related incidences that pose a threat to U.S. national security. If this bill is enacted, reporting data breaches to the U.S. government will become mandatory for all critical businesses that service the government. Currently, under federal law, any organizations that provide services for the government are not legally required to report any data breaches within the company. Enacting this law will require mandatory reporting on any cyberattacks on organizations considered to be critical to the government’s national security. This act will mandate all cyber incidences to be reported to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). This would establish a new office within the organization called the Cyber Incident Review Office (CIR Office). On July 21st, 2021 the bill was introduced to the Senate and was referred to the Committee in Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Library of Congress, 2021). If this bill becomes a law, more awareness of these attacks will be documented and studied. This will help the effort to prevent and defend against future attacks.
Conclusion: Final Thoughts
It is well known how quickly newer forms of technology are evolving. With rapid growth, it can be a challenge for policies and laws to stay up to date. Policies and laws can quickly feel outdated and irrelevant to the new realm of the digital age. How can growth of these technologies slow down enough to place lawful intention when the incentives for rapid growth are heavily weighted in on the financial? The ethical and security concerns can be seen as roadblocks that stand in the way of wealth and success -but is growth always good? How can we incentivize safeguards within newer forms of technology? How can we re-evaluate the check-and-balance systems within human nature to avoid corruption? Can we apply a balance of integration of new technology with ethical intentions to create less disruption and create more cohesion? Can the collective figure out these multi-million-dollar questions, in the hopes that we take the correct intentional precautions? Some believe it can be done, but a new formula of considerations and values must be contended with. Newer forms of technology convey newer ways of living life and with that brings novel security and ethical challenges we have not yet encountered. To grapple with these challenges, we are faced with a deeper level of questions we do not yet have a proper framework for. A new framework is essential for navigating the evolving digital landscape. The pressing question at hand is: How can we harness appropriate guidelines on new technologies to benefit humanity for generations to come?
References:
Business Advantage. (n.d.). (rep.). The State of Industrial Cybersecurity 2017. Kaspersky Industrial CyberSecurity.
Congress.gov | Library of Congress. S.2875 – Cyber Incident Reporting Act of 2021. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2021.
Mutsuo. (2017). An analysis of the actual status of recent cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructures: NEC Technical Journal. NEC. Retrieved November 21, 2021, from https://www.nec.com/en/global/techrep/journal/g17/n02/170204.html