Electronic computing and communication create complex challenges to engineering. Nowadays, most of the aspects of modern life rely on electronic information. Any attack to these information will greatly affect individual and society. Actually, breaches of cybersecurity in financial and military computer system have already occurred. However, research and development has not found a better way to tap into the problem. The usual way to protect computers is called “perimeter defense”, where routers and firewalls are placed at the entry point of a sub-network to block outside access. Experts know clearly that these defenses do not work, as they can be bypassed. And even without breaches of such kind, systems can be disrupted by “denial of service”. Undeniably, engineering needs to solve these cybersecurity problems. One of them is to authenticate hardware, software and data in computer systems and to verify user identities in a better way. Creating more secure software is a critical challenge. This can be done by using better programming languages that have security protection. Also, technology that detects vulnerabilities before software is installed is needed. Another concern is to secure the data transferred over the Internet so that it cannot be manipulated. Methods to monitor and detect security compromises are needed. Once problems are detected, countermeasures must be taken too. Forensics to find cyberterrorism should be part of the process as well. Engineers should see cybersecurity as a whole and should fight cyberterrorism on the personal, social, political and electronics fronts. The psychology of computer users should also be considered, where more research is needed on how people interact with their computers. The reason to what leads to computer crime have to be found. Furthermore, laws and regulations concerning cybersecurity need to be evaluated and political forces should also be part of the mission to protecting cyberspace from attack.
Reference:
National Acedemy of Engineering of the National Academies. (2008). Grand Challenges for Engineering. Retrieved 6 October, 2008, from http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/Object.File/Master/11/574/Grand%20Challenges%20final%20book.pdf.
1 comment:
The increased role of IT and the growth of the e-commerce sector have made cyber-security essential to the economy. Therefore, in my opinion, every developing and developed country should have a cyber-security regulation, which forces companies and organizations to protect their systems and information from cyber-attacks.
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