Data Security and the White House’s E-Mail

Lost in the headlines the past few weeks amongst the Egyptian crisis, our struggling economy, and blizzards covering the Midwest was a peculiar story that caught my attention. When I first read in a tweet from Obama Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer that the White House’s unclassified e-mail had shut down on the morning of Feb. 3, I was puzzled. How could the most powerful building in the world’s e-mail suddenly turn off? Doesn’t the government have some special top-secret military protection from these sorts of things? While it was for the unclassified e-mail and not the highly sensitive classified e-mail system, it still seemed odd that this could occur. Before long, the servers were back up and running normally, it made a small blip in the news, and everyone moved on with their lives. But still, it seemed unusual.

Then in an unrelated incident almost a week later, several high-ranking British officials suffered cyber attacks by e-mails that resembled those that are sent from White House computers. Though a subsequent investigation showed that the e-mails actually originated from China and the perpetrator used a hoax e-mail address, it still was an alarming occurrence. Both episodes depict the growing need to further the world’s cyber security presence. What is arguably one of the most pressing and urgent needs today within the technology community – the need to establish secure data protection – is of the utmost importance for all Internet users. With individuals, businesses, and governments alike all requiring that their personal information be kept private, the need for comprehensive data security has never been more crucial.

According to a November report released by security software company McAfee, Inc., there are more than 14 million unique pieces of malware available on the Internet. Furthermore, in the third quarter of 2010 more than 60 percent of the top Google search terms delivered users to malicious sites in the first 100 results. Though this is certainly a scary number, businesses are also incredibly vulnerable to such attacks. In fact, in the same analysis a single botnet virus led to small businesses in Ukraine losing $70 million. Multiply the same effect globally and it would be a catastrophe. Recall last summer when the Stuxnet virus wreaked havoc on the Iranian nuclear program. An analysis by Symantec estimated that more than 62,000 of Iran’s computers were infected. Many have even speculated that the virus pushed back the nation’s nuclear technology development by two years. We are now living in an era where instead of using bombs and bullets it seems a more effective way to attack an enemy is using the power of cyberspace.

If malware developers can write software that can hack into some of the world’s most top secret government databases, imagine what can happen to the CIA, FBI, White House or even America’s laboratories. We are all vulnerable. While significant steps are being taken by the U.S. government to defend our nation from these attacks, it can still happen at a moment’s notice. In fact, I would not be surprised if in the coming generation, governments begin to develop a separate cyber security branch of their military.

But it seems that many of us don’t understand the dangers posed by this enormous threat. The true danger of cybercrime is that it is invisible. Instead of your typical criminal or terrorist, the face of a hacker is almost never seen or broadcast on the nightly news. Most of us also think we can never be the victim of a cyber-attack, until it’s too late. This threat is real and the danger is real. The world is entering into a new era of instantaneous cyber communication and data storage, and without proper security we all run the risk of having our information jeopardized. Though I might seem alarmist, Bill Gates once opined that, “By the time you realize you’re in trouble, it’s too late to save yourself. Unless you’re running scared all the time, you’re done.” He’s exactly right on how the world should prepare for cyber security. America should always stay one step ahead and unless we get a little scared it will be too late.

Kevin Fickenscher, MD

The views and opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Dell Services or its affiliates.