Case Study Ch8 Cyberespionage: The Chinese ThreatDescribe why information systems PDF

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CASE STUDY: CYBERESPIONAGEQuestion 1. What are cyberespionage groups stealing from the United States?Cyberespionage groups are stealing intellectual property that belongs to the United States. These groups collect various economic and technological information from the US systems. This information a...

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CASE STUDY: CYBERESPIONAGE

Question 1. What are cyberespionage groups stealing from the United States?

Cyberespionage groups are stealing intellectual property that belongs to the United States. These groups collect various economic and technological information from the US systems. This information and data contain business practices and strategies, many years of R&D from successful companies that are market leaders, commercial information, and, most importantly, military information.

Question 2. What does the video claim is the evidence these attacks are coming from China? Is this believable?

American experts from different departments have completed a global resource to find out where cyberattacks are coming from and most of the researches showed China. In the case of Nortel, they were able to track the IP address of the hacker to Shanghai, China. It is believable that China has been attacking large corporations and stealing their intellectual property in the past and continue to do so in present times. The video mentions great analysis and provides multiple examples presented by experts.

3. What does Adam Siegel in the video claim is the motivation of the Chinese government for conducting cyberespionage against the United States?

Adam Siegel points out in the video that China has been competing with the US for a long time to gain dominance in the whole world. Being the second-largest economy in the world, China is always looking for a way to advance it. The Chinese fear that they might fall behind technologywise which will in turn hurt their economy, as well as their political incentives. Cyberespionage allows China to gain access to new innovative technology, so they do not fall behind and can advance quicker. As mentioned in the video, China is very afraid of losing its comparable technologic advancement, however, they do not have the resources and expert knowledge available. By conducting cyberespionage in the United States as well as other developed countries, China can gain information that will allow them to build their economy at a faster rate.

4. Why didn’t Nortel management take the Chinese threat seriously? Why do various contributors in the video claim that American management does not take the problem seriously?

Nortel did not recognize the significance of the cyber-attack and the implications associated with it. Nortel management did not take it seriously mainly, because it was the first time they had caught a breach and they did not think much of it. The management team quickly came to a solution of changing the log-in credentials without even fearing what the hackers might do with the information they have had stolen. Other companies did not talk about their breaches publicly, normalizing these breaches as a taboo topic. In Nortel’s case, the management team did not detect the cyber-attacks soon enough. The team did not realize they got cyberattacked early enough to understand how seriously the company got damaged by it or what the hackers even took. 5. The video claims the attacks on American corporate and military computer systems are increasingly sophisticated. Do you believe this is true?

I believe that the military systems in the United States are built and secured as thoroughly as possible. The American military computer systems are one of the safest systems in the world as America is highly concerned about keeping this data and information a secret. Hacking these systems is extremely difficult, however not impossible, given enough time and skill 6. Industrial espionage is a kind of technology transfer. The video claims the very DNA of Google is being drained by China, and that the United States will lose its competitive advantages concerning China. Do you agree or disagree? Why? How else is technology transferred? Is it possible to stop technology transfer of any kind?

I do believe that if China keeps stealing information and data, there is a great chance that the US will lose its competitive advantage. Since the US spends many resources in developing R&D plans, etc. and China gets to steal them for free there is an uneven playing ground and China is at an advantage. The advantage of the U.S. being a knowledge-economy might be lost. However, it is one thing to steal information, it is quite a different thing to understand it fully, modify it, implement it, and maintain it to use in a realistic organizational environment. Technology can also be transferred legally, sometimes referred to as tech transfer, which is how research findings and inventions are commercialized. Typically, IP is licensed to companies that can develop the technology got specific applications. In my opinion, it is not possible to stop a tech transfer of any kind completely, as some data might be compromised or delivered already....