A new global security report paints a less than flattering picture of whether several countries are up to the task of protecting their online infrastructure against malicious cyber attacks.
Funded by anti-virus maker McAfee, the Brussels-based Security and Defense Agenda (SDA) think-tank named the U.S., Australia, China and Germany as less prepared to defend against malicious cyber attacks than Israel, Sweden and Finland.
The SDA interviewed 80 cyber gurus and legislators from 27 countries for its "Cyber-security: The Vexed Question of Global Rules" report (.pdf), including former National Security Counsel director Melissa Hathaway and Senior Council to the House of Representatives Homeland Security committee Kevin Gronberg.
The group's findings revealed generally strong preparedness across many developed nations. The U.S. earned a solid four out of five stars. SDA ranked it above several other countries, including Poland and Russia, both of which received three stars. Israel, Sweden and Finland topped the the list with four and a half stars. None of the 23 countries covered in the report were awarded a perfect score.
The five-star rating system was designed by cyber security expert Robert Lentz and takes into account a country's cyber crime enforcement capabilities and, if applicable, CERT status. Lentz, who lists the Department of Defense and NSA as previous employers, currently runs the consulting firm Cyber Security Strategies.
Words, well-laid plans and gold stars can only do so much against constantly shifting cyber warfare, warned McAfee CTO Phyllis Schneck.
"The core problem is that the cyber criminal has greater agility, given large funding streams and no legal boundaries to sharing information, and can thus choreograph well-orchestrated attacks into systems," Schneck said. "Until we can pool our data and equip our people and machines with intelligence, we are playing chess with only half the pieces."
According to the report, more than half of the experts polled said the Internet is the next great battlefield. Whomever has the better code then is ahead in the new global arms race. (via Threat Post)
