Cyber security challenges in developing countries

This post focuses on the cyber security challenges that the developing countries are experiencing.

Since the beginning of this century we have been facing a new type of conflict worldwide which is the control of cyberspace.

The main dilemma being faced in cyberspace is lack of universal understanding of definitions, norms, values, rules, regulations and laws on the use of internet in general and the prosecution of criminals in particular.

Developed countries have started exploiting the vulnerabilities of cyberspace to gain supremacy and influence over their rivals. To be able to use the cyberspace, the developing countries rely on the products made by the western world and what is more important is that they use the technology developed by the same countries to protect their information. (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6725318/?reload=true).

Between the years 2000 and 2010, the global usage of internet went from 360 million users to over 2 billion users. (Zareen, M. S., Akhlaq, M., Tariq, M., & Khalid, U. Cyber security challenges and wayforward for developing countries. 2013 2nd National Conference on Information Assurance (NCIA)). This usage explosion was due because cyberspace became a lot more effective and productive. Although the usage of cyberspace has many advantages, it also has some disadvantages. The most important one, is that there are no physical borders to it. Moreover, the anonymity offered by cyberspace has helped criminals to get away with almost any illegal usage of the web.

Cyber-attacks can harm the national interest of all countries, especially the potential harm to economic growth. Because the internet is a borderless globally connected network, cyber attackers can harm other countries by using computer’s in the countries where there is poor cyber-security and remain anonymous. The openness of the Internet thus requires all nations to have effective cybersecurity policies to have a safe and secure Internet. (http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=dissertations). Much of the effort to address this issue is done by the western world, here are shown a few examples:

• USA has created National Cyber Security Division under the Department of Homeland Security and US Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) under United States Department of Defense.
• France has raised Strategic Commission for the Defense of National Information Systems under Ministry for Homeland Security and the National Agency for Information System Security.
• Germany has established National Cyber Response Centre under the Federal Office for Information Security and the National Cyber Security Council.
• China is developing its military cyberspace capabilities to gain strategic advantages being an emerging superpower. (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/icp.jsp?arnumber=6725318).

 

In 2012, developing countries like Pakistan, Egypt, Philippine and South Korea were ranked amongst the top ten countries hosting the compromised computers (bots) and initiating malicious activities, without the consent of the owner of compromised computer (Symantec Corporation: Internet Security Threat Report vol. 18, p. 123, 2013). Countries like this should enforce the law to achieve a safer global cyberspace.

As said earlier, the problem is that hardwares, softwares and control sytems are mostly manufactured by developed countries so that makes the developing countries vulnerable to having hidden malwares in these components which can lead to espionage and wrong manipulation of certain machines. Stuxnet virus is one example of this situation. This virus took control of over a thousand machines that were participating in the production of nuclear materials and was giving them the instruction to autodestruct. They believe that a USB had been previously infected and then used in one of the machines at the laboratory thus infecting the whole system.

A recent cybersecurity report on Kenya says businesses are losing about $146 million every year to cyber-crime. South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper reported that hackers launched 6,000 cyber-attacks against South African infrastructure, internet service providers (ISPs) and businesses in October 2015 alone. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34830724).

Because of the huge financial gains, in the world of cybercrime they are developing new techniques at a fast rate. This development is making the security models and the detection techniques useless. Furthermore, the false sense of security and the inefficiency of security tool makes the criminal’s job easier.

The problem with developing countries is that they use existing popular templates rather than creating their own and this makes it very easy for the hacker to get into the system and manipulate it.

Finally, technical competence and awareness are thought as pressing issues to achieve cybersecurity in developing nations. The government should start to work with young people with good computer skills who might otherwise be tempted to use them for illegal purposes.

 

 

 

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