Snowden case shines spotlight on necessity to maintain IT security
The Edward Snowden case has served as a wake-up call for business and government executives who are responsible for the security of their information-technology systems.
Tony Cole, vice president and global government chief technology officer at FireEye, a US-based IT security firm, says: "The Edward Snowden case is very interesting, regardless of whether you think he is a traitor or not, as it shows what a data leak can do regardless of whether it’s national secrets or intellectual properties for a company.
"It’s a major wake-up call for business and government executives. Regarding the Prism programme [in which the US government was accused of spying on its own citizens], the voters will decide.
"The Snowden case shows it’s an insider’s job. Just think of the implications for that if someone has a nuclear [cure] for cancer and somebody think it should be leaked – not one medical company makes a lot of money but put it out there so that every other company can also do it.
"There are idealistic people who think that way, and of course it could be a nation-state or crime syndicate who steals that data by trying to break in in a stealthy manner.
These are the two challenges that business executives must be aware of in today’s interconnected world.
"For business organisations, they need to focus on data protection."
Chaiyakorn Apiwathanokul, chief executive officer of S-Generation Co, a Thai IT firm, says: "A case study on the latest technology on Internet or cyber-surveillance is that a group of UK youngsters recently planned to fly to the US, and before boarding their flight they tweeted something with friends in Los Angeles using words like ‘let’s destroy America’ and ‘dig up Marilyn Monroe’s body’.
"Maybe that was just for fun, but when they arrived at the LA airport they were met by security officials wanting to talk to them. This shows how quickly authorities can respond and get hold of someone with suspicious tweets – to the extent that they knew their flights and what time they would be landing in LA.
"In the US, the Internet or cyberspace is now regarded as the fifth domain of warfare in addition to space and the three branches of the armed forces, so there is now a cyberspace command.
"Thailand recently also set up a national cyber-security committee chaired by the prime minister, as we’re aware of the cyber-threats affecting individuals and companies as well as national security, such as data theft and destruction of the enemies’ databases, among others.
"In fact, the world in 2007 witnessed what could be regarded as Web War I or cyberwar in a tiny state called Estonia, which faced a devastating cyber-attack by citizens some of its neighbouring countries.
"Estonia’s official government website was down and defaced, while e-mails did not work, so [and neither] did the country’s Internet banking system for three weeks. The economic and other damages were enormous.
"There are two major types of cyber-attacks, active and passive. Active attacks mean business and other organisations’ websites are hacked for business secrets such as intellectual properties using viruses, worms and other methods to steal data.
"As for passive attacks, it means data security is breached, and in many service agreements there are fine letters is fine print warning that your personal data could be provided to authorities in case there are applicable laws requiring compliance.
"In other words, business executives must be aware of these passive and active attacks."
