Cyberattacks, Espionage and Intelligence: Policy Brief on Issues

This policy brief delves into the complex realms of cyberattacks, espionage, and intelligence, with a specific focus on the Australian context. It begins by defining key terms like espionage and its role in gathering confidential information, providing a background on the Australian security intelligen...Read More

CYBERATTACKS
POLICY BRIEF

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................1
ISSUES............................................................................................................................................1
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Getting secret or the confidential information without the permission of the holder to
which the information actually belong to is known as Espionage (Taylor and et.al., 2014). This
process is generally used by the government to uncover or obtain the secret information from the
doubtful persons. The gathering of illegal information or espionage from public sources through
intelligence. Here the topic taken is ' Espionage and intelligence & cyber attacks, its issues,
purpose and uses will be discussed.
BACKGROUND
The Australian security intelligence organisation is the domestic spy agency of the
country. It plays an important role to collect the information related to the security or the factors
that can cause threat to the country. These spies helps to fight or make the strategies to avoid the
harmful planning of the other countries. Only the intelligence organisation has the right to both
analyse and gather the information. The Espionage is crime in Australia and the person who does
this is punishable by the government for 25 years imprisonment. The Australian secret services is
the spy that looks after the overseas (Bodenheimer and et.al., 2014). Espionage and intelligence
helps to provide wealth of information and documentation on the aspects of the intelligence
organisation and the operations during and after the cold war. The present unique look into the
internal workings of the Australian intelligence community helps to gather the documents or the
information for the future planning of the nation during the cold war. It helped to consolidate and
re-evaluate the intelligences and espionage before the war era. The Espionage and intelligence
agency helps to fight the terrorism in the countries by making the strong decisions and the
strategic planning against it as well as other countries.
ISSUES
The theft of Australian information or data by someone either acting on behalf of a
foreign power providing the information to another country to seek the personal data and to gain
the advantages from that for the development or to lessen the power of the country whom the
data is been taken. Espionage and intelligence can target the defence, political, industrial or any
other background (Banks, W.C., 2016). For example : the relationship between the countries
such as Indonesia and Australia are at their lowest point, after Australia emerged its spy agencies
tapped the mobile phone of the president Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono of Indonesia in 2009 the
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relation between the countries are unhealthy. Indonesia is demanding for the apology which the
prime minister of Australia ' Tony Abbott has refused.
Its helps to protect the country from terrorism by making the different strategies and
planning Australia has the main issue of the terrorist attack and Espionage and intelligence, to
work on this the agency is working on the information collected by the spies (Rid and Buchanan,
2015). The produced intelligence that will enable to warn the government about the criminal,
illegal and terrorism activities and the situations which might endanger the Australian security or
it interests abroad. The spy helps to collect the information about the important issues to be
worked upon. Espionage and intelligence plays an important role in the protection of the country.
The international environment which is one of the most powerful forces to change the re shaping
concept of the security, recalibrating the interactions between the state and people and between
the individual.
The enhancement in the citizenship and the capabilities of the non state actors forces the
international change to frame the foreign policies and the national security interests. Creating the
new challenges for the Australian spies to enhance their planning strategies for the oversea as
well as for the terrorism activities (Banks, W., 2014). Australia has pursuit the global and
regional interests which is influencing the perception of the individual to accept the role of the
intelligence agencies and to create new requirements for more effective and efficient working of
the cooperation between the Australian public and private sectors or the national security issues.
Australia is a target of hostile foreign intelligence services as a result of :
 Strategic alliances and the defence relationship we share with other countries.
 A desire to gain privileged insights into our strategic interests and positions on
international diplomatic, economic and military issues.
 A desire to gain commercial advantage over Australia, on matters including our energy
and mineral resource.
 A desire to gain access to our innovations in science and technology.
 A desire to shape the actions of Australian decision-makers and public opinion in favour
of the adversary. The reach of online technologies enabling hostile cyber activities.
The attacks that locks the computer and holds the users files for ransom is known as the
cyber attack. On of the Australian companies have faced this dangerous issue and have been
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tragedy by the attacks (Cyber Security, 2017). The most of the attackers uses the method of
encryption to lock the file and demand for the ransom from an individual to access his/ her
personal documents. The attack appeared to be caused by a self replicating the piece of software
that takes advantages of vulnerabilities in version of Microsoft windows, security experts said
that it spread from computer to computer as it finds exposed targets Government cyber security
arm CERT-IN has alerted vital institutions including RIB, stock market and the NPIC against
the latest cyber attacks that has infected a thousand of the system globally (Danks and Danks,
2015).
The cyber attack can be over come by using the software such as Kaspersky, quick heal,
etc. they are looking into the technical clues that the suggested software can help to avoid the
virus which causes the cyber attack. The investigation by the government will focus on the legal
actions taken by the government to reduce or stop the cyber attack. The different types offensive
employed by the government of the nation for an individual, groups or the organisation that
targets the computer information system, infrastructure, computer network and counted as the
serious crime (Watkins, B., 2014). The cyber attracts is made increasingly sophisticated and
dangerous to the behaviour and the used to prevent these attacks. The legal experts are seeking
the limited use of the terms and the incidents causing the cyber attract This has been criticized by
the government and termed as the cyber crime, it can also cause the physical damage,
distinguishing it from the routine activities in the data base. The functions of ASIS intelligence
services act 2001 :
 To collect the foreign intelligence which is not available by other means which may
cause impact to the Australian policies.
 Engagement of the other intelligence and security services in the overseas of the
Australian national interest.
 Distribution of the intelligence information with the government for strict action against
it.
The attacks that are caused by the social, political motivation which are carried out
primarily through the internet to cause the damage to the personal documents of an individual
(Fidler and et.al., 2016). These attack targets the local public or the national and international
cooperate organisation. Theses are carried out by spreading of viruses, unauthorized web access,
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fake websites and the means of stealing personal or institutional information from the targets of
attacks, causing far reaching damage (Cameron, P., 2013). The attack which is generated in a
particular organisation, services and individual to obtain private, technical and institutional
information to assets for the purpose of monetary gain. The techniques of defending and
attacking information and computer network that inhabit cyberspace, often through a prolonged
cyber campaign or series of related campaigns.
The cyber attacks can hamper the brand image of the company from positive to negative
by hacking the system an individual can maker miscommunication or unawareness of the latest
products (Lee and et.al., 2016). The company and the government has taken some measures to
protect the workplace from the cyber crime by enforcing the laws for the employees of the
company. The laws will help the employees to stay out of the issues in by the internet. The
awareness about this issue will help the employees to do their work on time, with security and
alertness (Applegate, S., 2015). The employees will be aware of the dangerous virus and well
take the measure to overcome it by installing the software. Some virus can bear the security alter
system by the attack of the cyber. The security of the computer is must for the government to
grow the economic conditions.
The increasing demand of the internet can make the user addicted to it which can lead to
various illegal issues such as cyber attack, crime like to lock the personal data of an individual or
the organisation which can lead to unlawful use of the brand image or the documents of the
company. The increasing demands of the use of the internet or the illegal activities of the hackers
to analyse the accurate, actionable and properly qualified to make the proper decision for the
warrant (Wilson, and Drumhiller, 2015). The both sectors public and private should work
together for the mutual cooperation to build the trust among the people. The opportunities for
discussion and to resolve the issues that are related to the law can be solve by using the law
enforcement and the private sector having the open and constructive discussion on the present
issue of the cyber crime. The law enforcement activities and the private sector working for the
companies should follow the rules and regulation for the security of the cyber attacks (Nguyen,
D., 2015). The cyber attacks can ruin the life of the person involved in it by make him/ her
engaged in the unlawful activities which will lead the government to take some legal action
against.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
From the above discussion it can be recommendation that to stop the cyber crime and the
related illegal activities the government can create of permanent and secured information sharing
channels between law enforcement authorities and the private sector. The real time sharing
information of both the computer emergency response team and the law enforcement, the
hacking cases of the software should be stopped by creating a punishment to the criminals. The
experiences from investigations and prosecutions should be very tight and harsh for the
technical prevention and protection measures. The information on technological development
trends and achievements and best practices related to IT education and training of end users
should be kept in mind for the best use. The common cybercrime taxonomy and fostering of
technology innovations and investment to meet global security challenges (Espionage and
intelligence, 2017). Espionage and Intelligence in the foreign interference is trying to target the
Australian interests which remains pervasive and enduring. Australian security intelligence
organisation (ASIO) has observed the increasing targets of Australian interests in Australia and
as well as in abroad through a variety of methods or less protected things against an array of
sectors.
The community seeks to reduce the uncertainty and provide warning about the potential
threats to the national security of the Australian government. The increasing demands to analyse
the accurate, actionable and properly qualified to make the proper decision for the warrant. The
both sectors public and private should work together for the mutual cooperation to build the trust
among the people. The opportunities for discussion and resolution of issues related to the
cybercrime that includes : the law enforcement and the private sector having the open and
constructive discussion on the present issue of the cyber crime. The law enforcement activities
and the private sector working for the companies should follow the rules and regulation for the
security of the cyber attacks.
The government has taken some measures to protect the workplace from the cyber crime
by enforcing the laws for the employees of the company. The business today are constantly
threatened by the cyber attack which can block the important files or the documents by the
hackers for some ransom. The increased frequency of the cyber crime has made the organisation
realised that drawing within the government and industry that collaborated with the coordination
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of the government has faced the less cyber crimes and growing faster with lesser risk. The
Australian governments expect to be adaptable and to respond the data collected effectively to
the growing numbers and diverse nature of the threats facing towards Australia and its citizen.
The working of the ASIS government is to collect the data by the national defence, international
relations and economic issues.
The information collected by the Australian spies for providing the information or the
data in the another country. It sometimes helps to obtain the personal data and to of the country
but is used illegal can leak the organisational structure or the defences planning of the country.
Espionage and intelligence can target the defence, political, industrial or any other background.
The crime can be overcomes by the various anti software and following some easy steps :
 One should never reply to a spam.
 The use of email should be only to the known persons and the company.
 Do not ever give the access or the password to any unknown or known person.
 When requested to ‘permit’ or ‘reject’ a request access to the Internet, select reject except
you are sure about security of the site
 one should be careful enough while doing online shopping
 never access the computer with any stranger
 Use difficult passwords for difficult guess by the strangers
 there should be a backup of the files used
 the computer should be disconnected from the internet when it is not in use
The growing dead of the internet use has made the hacker skilful and smart. The white
hat hacking is very powerful solution to met the critical situation to meet the economic needs. To
achieve the attractive professional track for young people, veterans and others looking to learn
new skills. The public servants committed to defend the country from the other country by
making the security of information, risk, and the private companies to make the infrastructure
more powerful. The stoppage of the cyber crimes helps to grow the economy of the country and
to make the country eatable. The cyber crime bears the little respect to the broader of the nation.
The global phenomenon with the criminals in one domain able to launch the attacks on the
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victims in the another country. The government needs to make the customers adware about the
disadvantages of the cyber crimes and the punishment for the dangerous crime.
The massive cyber data breaches making the headlines on the regular basis which is hard
to ignore the facts that data security is becoming increasingly important and there are still no
measure to control the cyber crime or cyber attack in many of the business. The research
demonstrates that the growing cyber security threat is not only the trend which is affecting the
big business but also affecting the small business and the government bodies in this dangerous
attack. The cyber crime or the attacks can be controlled by the updating the software in the
organisation, this help to build the security of the country. The countries such as Australia has
made the punishable laws of 25 years on the activities related to the illegal cyber crime.
The laws and regulation made by the government helps to protect the country from
terrorism by making the different strategies and planning This can lead to the cyber bullying
which can occur anywhere even at home via email, cellphones and social media websites. It is
important not to respond any unknown message and emails to ignore this. It helps to enhance the
capabilities of the individual to force the international change and to frame the foreign policies to
make increase the national security interests. Australia can create the new challenges for the spy
agencies to enrich the planning and strategies for the countries which are oversea and to fight
against the terrorism activities. The country has adopted the global and regional interests to
influence the perception of the individual to accept the role of the intelligence agencies. It will
help to create new requirements for more efficient working of the organisations and the agency.
It helps to create awareness among the employees to use the system carefully to protect it from
cyber attack. The company conducts the program about the deploy and advancements of the use
of the internet.
CONCLUSION
In the above report it can be summarised that the Espionage and intelligence in a country
or in Australia plays an important role in the security purpose. The Australian security
intelligence organisation is the country's oldest existing intelligence it helps to prevent the
country from terrorism. The issues, background and the recommendations on the Espionage and
intelligence has been discussed above. The Australian secret services is the spy that looks after
the protection of the country in the overseas.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Applegate, S., 2015. Cyber Conflict: Disruption and Exploitation in the Digital Age. In Current
and Emerging Trends in Cyber Operation. (pp. 19-36). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Banks, W., 2014. Cyber espionage, surveillance, and international law: Finding common ground.
Banks, W.C., 2016. Cyber Espionage and Electronic Surveillance: Beyond the Media
Coverage. Emory LJ. 66.p.513.
Bodenheimer and et.al., 2014. PILLAGING THE DIGITAL TREASURE TROVES: THE
TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND LAW OF CYBER ESPIONAGE. Scitech
Lawyer. 10(2). p.16.
Cameron, P., 2013. Cyberlaw Linguistics-Referents to Techniques, Places, and Identity of
Cybercrimes and Cyberattacks Under International Law. In Proceedings of The 2 nd
International Conference on Law, Language and Discourse: Multiculturalism,
Multimodality and Multidimensionality. (p. 217).
Danks and Danks, 2015. Beyond machines: Humans in cyber operations, espionage, and conflict.
Fidler and et.al., 2016. NATO, Cyber Defense, and International Law. Journal of International
and Comparative Law. 4(1). p.1.
Lee and et.al., 2016. Study on Effective Management of Cyber Incidents in Graph
Database. EMERGING 2016. p.54.
Nguyen, D., 2015. State Sponsored Cyber Hacking and Espionage. Infosec Writers. Last
modified April. 13.
Rid and Buchanan, 2015. Attributing cyber attacks. Journal of Strategic Studies. 38(1-2). pp.4-
37.
Taylor and et.al., 2014. Digital crime and digital terrorism. Prentice Hall Press.
Watkins, B., 2014. The impact of cyber attacks on the private sector. Briefing Paper, Association
for International Affair. p.12.
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Wilson, and Drumhiller, 2015. US-China Relations: Cyber Espionage and Cultural
Bias. National Security and Counterintelligence in the Era of Cyber Espionage. 28.
Online
Cyber Security, 2017. [online]. Available through:
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-24/turnbull-declares-cyber-security-the-new-
frontier-of-warfare/8207494>. [Accessed on 7th October 2017].
Espionage and intelligence, 2017. [online]. Available through: <http://theconversation.com/the-
australian-government-needs-to-be-more-open-about-the-cyber-threat-from-china-
64549>. [Accessed on 7th October 2017].
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