Case study 13

2. he IT sector is one of the key drivers of the European economy. It has
been estimated that 60 percent of Europeans use the Internet
regularly. Additionally, 87 percent own or have access to mobile
phones. In 2009, the European broadband market was the largest in
the world. These facts demonstrate the importance of ensuring the
security and safe operation of the Internet for the well-being of the
European econ-omy. The safety and security of the Internet have been
threatened in recent years, as Internet-basedcyber attacks have
become increasingly sophisticated. In 2007, Estonia suffered a
massive cyber attack that affected the government, the banking
system, media, and other services. The attack was performed using a
variety of techniques, ranging from simple individual ping commands
and message flooding to more sophisticated distributed denial of
service(DDoS) attacks. Hackers coordinated the attack by using a
large number of compromised servers organized in a bonnet
distributed around the world

3.  In the term "botnet" as used here, the "bot" is short
for robot. A single bot is a software program that
can, when surreptitiously installed on a person's
computer, execute certain specified commands.
Botnet is a network of autonomous malicious
software agent there are under the control of a bot
commander. The network is created by installing
malware that exploits the vulnerabilities of Web
servers, operating systems, or application to take
control of the infected computers.

4.  The main point of the Digital Agenda of Europe is to define the
key role that information and communication technologies
will play in 2020.The initiative calls of a single, open Europe
digital market. Another goal is that broadband speed of 30Mbps
be available to all European citizen by 2020 in term of security,
the initiative is considering the implementation of measure to
protect privacy and the establishment of a well-functioning
network of CERT to prevent cybercrime and respond effectively
to cyber attacks. The European Commission has proposed a
Digital Agenda. Its main objective is to develop a digital single
market in order to generate smart, sustainable and inclusive
growth in Europe.

5.  What are the obstacles hindering the Digital
Agenda?
 fragmented digital markets;
 lack of interoperability;
 rising cybercrime and risk of low trust in networks;
 lack of investment in networks;
 insufficient research and innovation efforts;
 lack of digital literacy and skills;
 missed opportunities in addressing societal
challenges


6.  There are 3 basic parts to a cyber-attack:
 Access: a method to get inside or gain access to a network or
system
 Vulnerability: some part of the system that the attacker can take
advantage of or manipulate
 Payload: the purpose of the attack, namely, what exactly is the
target and how significant will the damage
 There are many other forms cyber-attacks may take.
 Denial Of Service attack occurs when “an attacker attempts to
prevent legitimate users from accessing information or
services.” This is typically accomplished when the attacker
overloads a system with requests to view information. This
would be an example of a remote attack.

7.  Spear phishing is another simple method by which an
attack may gain access to a computer system or network.
Once some information about a target is acquired, an
email is sent purporting to be from a legitimate company
asking for information such as usernames and passwords
to banking websites or network logins.
 Backdoors, or hooks, are placed inside a computer or
network in order to create a vulnerability that can be
exploited later on.
 And tampering with basic electronics is a simple type of
cyber-attack. It is also possible that such software or even
hardware could be installed into electronics by the original
manufacturer

8.  Malware, known as Stuxnet is a shorthand term that
encompasses all types of malicious software. This
includes viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, and all
other types of software that get put onto your computer
without you knowing it. Some of weaknesses of malware is
it hidden in shortcuts to executable programs (files with
extension. Ink) was executed automatically when the
content of an infected USB drive was displayed as the
malware is propagated via USB.