The scourge of cyber hackers: government and industry gear-up for new generation of cyber security

THE MIL & AERO BLOG, 9 Dec. 2014. The recent cyber warfare hacker attack on entertainment giant Sony Corp. is yet another stark warning about the dire threats that cyber attacks and hacker terrorism pose to U.S. and allied military forces, public utilities, and commercial business.

The severity of the cyber security threat cannot be overstated or overestimated; it's real, it's here, and we're only seeing the beginning of what is to come.

The cyber attack on Sony reportedly has compromised the Social Security numbers and phone numbers of Hollywood entertainers, and has led to blackmail threats to coerce the company not to release a major theatrical movie that is nearly complete.

Related: Dempsey worries about cyberattack, DoD makes plans to hire additional cybersecurity workers

Cyber breaches don't end there. Just last week police in Kenya arrested 77 Chinese nationals accused of cyber hacking and money laundering from their homes in Nairobi. Without a doubt, cyber warfare tales will dominate the headlines for a long time.

Top cyber experts in the Pentagon report that military computer networks are being probed and hit with attempted cyber attacks nearly all day, every day. Private business, public utilities, and crucial infrastructure like oil refineries, water treatment plants, banks, and nuclear power plants also are taking their share of cyber hits as a matter of routine.

Just for fun, go online to see a real-time map of reported cyber attacks throughout the world at map.ipviking.com. If this map accurately reflects anything like what's actually happening out there, then a quick glance reveals the world as it is: a cyber battlefield.

Related: Electrical grid attacked, cybersecurity more important now than ever

Government and private industry are scrambling flat-out to shore up cyber defenses, but these efforts neither are strong or fast enough. I fear it will take nothing short of a cyber Manhattan Project to shore-up U.S. cyber defenses in the short time that's available.

At Military & Aerospace Electronics we're launching a monthly Cyber Security email newsletter on the last Thursday of each month beginning on 29 Jan. 2015. We'll be covering the latest cyber security technology trends, procurement opportunities, contracts, and policy issues as they relate to military information security.

The Cyber Security e-newsletter complements the new Cyber Security topic center on the Military & Aerospace Electronics Website at www.militaryaerospace.com/cyber.

Related: NSA's cybersecurity program to protect critical infrastructure revealed

The Cyber Security e-newsletter also will track cyber warfare and information security technologies suitable for military, commercial, and public infrastructure applications.

Our expansion into cyber security is part of an overall strategy to bring you technology updates in the most important areas. At Military & Aerospace Electronics, in addition the Cyber Security e-newsletter, our latest initiatives include our quarterly Electronic Warfare e-newsletter and introduction this week of our weekly wrapup e-newsletter on Fridays.

We can't promise that we can prevent the kinds of cyber attacks that Sony has endured, but we're doing our part to draw attention to one of the most important technologies of the 21st century.

Subscribe to Military & Aerospace Electronics e-newsletters online at www.militaryaerospace.com/newsletter. Also subscribe or renew to the Military & Aerospace Electronics print or digital magazines online at www.militaryaerospace.com/subscribe.