What Is Cyber Crime Against The Government?

Cyber crime against the government is just as much a threat as in the private sector. So much so, that there are a wide range of federal agencies that deal with the issue, including the FBI, Treasury Department, Department of Homeland Security and State Department.

The government is susceptible to computer hackers trying to access sensitive government records, financial fraud, and cyber terrorism, to name only a few. All levels of government are at risk.

For example, in June 2009, the Bullitt County, Kentucky government was taken for $415,000 by a consortium of cyber criminals. And the scary thing is, it was a cooperative effort between U.S. and foreign criminals. The brains behind the operation were based in Ukraine, and they were aided by people in the U.S. According to an anonymous source involved in the investigation the cyber criminals stole money from the county’s payroll using a custom variant of a keystroke logging Trojan known as Zeus. It also goes by the name Zbot.

Stolen credentials were sent immediately via instant message to the attackers. Then the  software creates a direct connection between the infected Microsoft Windows system and the attackers, which allowed the cyber criminals to log in to the victim's bank account using the victim's Internet connection.

The American accomplices included 25 people, two of which were interviewed by The Washington Post. They were brought into the fold under the guise of being employed through Careerbuilder.com, a popular employment website.

Cyber Terrorism
One type of cyber crime that targets the government in particular is cyber terrorism. It’s a powerful platform for terrorist activity since it can be done in relative anonymity across the entire planet. Cyber terrorism shares similar traits to other cyber crimes. However, it tends to focus on disrupting computer systems and/or intimidating or coercing individuals in order to further a political or religious ideology.

More than ever in history, our society is significantly dependent upon computers. Our financial system, aviation system, and all of our sensitive national security information contained on government computers are potential targets of cyber terrorism.

One of the more frightening parts of the potential of cyber terrorism is the mere suggestion of it, which creates anxiety and fear. In 1998, there were reports of a mere 12-year-old computer hacker who gained access to the computers that controlled the Theodore Roosevelt Dam in Arizona. An article in the Washington Post reported that if the child was successful in opening the gates, it could have flooded the cities of Tempe and Mesa, with populations that total about one million people.

The story was untrue. But, the fear that it created was very real.

Cyber terrorism is a real threat. But to keep it in perspective, it is extremely difficult to damage to our infrastructure via the nation’s computer systems. Taking control of government computer systems from the outside is extremely difficult, and requires a great deal of specialized knowledge. Not to mention the cyber criminals must overcome computerized and non-computerized safety measures.