Security and Cybersecurity: Clarifications on a Shared Task

In 2012, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta raised the possibility that his country could face a “Cyber Pearl Harbor,” referring to the surprise attack on the U.S. base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, by Japanese forces, which marked the beginning of its active participation in World War II. The significance of the metaphor lies in the use of a historical event, due to the profound psychological impact it had and continues to have on American culture, highlighting the growing vulnerability that the government perceived in the face of primarily interstate threats.[1].

The prefix “cyber” is here to stay. Just as the penetration of technology has grown enormously in people’s daily lives, so have the threats related to the use of various devices and computing platforms. The prestigious Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) develops, within multiple reports, a set of programs associated with the detection and monitoring of events and social, economic, and security challenges generated by disruptive technologies.[2]. This think tank has also been compiling and updating a list since 2006 of the major cybersecurity incidents occurring worldwide, primarily focusing on cyberattacks against relevant government and defense agencies, technology companies, and economically motivated crimes that have reported losses exceeding one million dollars.[3]. The reported incidents in 2020 totaled 135, while those accumulated in 2021 up to September 27 already reached 95.[4]. The targets of these attacks are varied, as are their origins, attributed to foreign governments, transnational organized crime, isolated cybercriminals, or even a mix of these causes and user errors.

For example, we observed an increase in chemicals at a water treatment plant in Florida, United States, to potentially dangerous levels for humans, resulting from a cyberattack on industrial control systems due to weak access controls, which allowed the password to be easily compromised.[5]. Another attack caused the operator of one of the largest pipelines in the United States, the “Colonial Pipeline,” to pay nearly $4.4 million to recover data that had been encrypted as a result of a ransomware[6] attack, leaving it unable to operate for several days, which also resulted in significant losses due to the halt in operations.

Considering the global coverage of cyberspace, the actions taken by negative agents—shielded by conditions of anonymity—a diffuse jurisdiction, and open access[7], creates a special scenario for both state and non-state actors. Thus, our country is not immune to the effects of these attacks. A report from Fortinet[8] indicates that in the second quarter of 2021, Chile was the victim of multiple cyberattacks of varying magnitudes, namely: over 12 million virus detections; 40 million bot networks; and nearly 1.6 billion vulnerability exploit detections. These figures can be supplemented by the loss of $10 million from Banco de Chile in 2018[9] and the massive theft of unique keys and biometric identification at the Civil Registry and Identification Service in 2020.[10].

To address this scenario, the government, public and private institutions, universities, and research centers have developed various initiatives, which, despite efforts, remain insufficient. Although it may seem that the field of cybersecurity is reserved only for specialists due to its technical complexity, this view is inaccurate, as cyber threats are a concern across the entire spectrum of digital ecosystems. Consequently, the robustness of systems will be as strong as their weakest link, which is, to a greater extent, “the user.”

In line with this, it is essential that from the most basic levels, the importance of these issues is understood and that some knowledge is acquired to prevent external actions; often facilitated by ignorance, errors, passivity, or even indifference from users of various networks and platforms.

This text will initially address some ideas and concepts that are expected to facilitate the understanding of the phenomenon, starting with identifying the relationship between security and cybersecurity. Similarly, it will explore how actions in cyberspace affect us and how we might confront them to avoid or mitigate their effects. Finally, some ideas will be proposed regarding the challenges our country must face in the immediate future to improve security conditions in general and cybersecurity in particular. It should be understood that this work is not technical in nature nor does it pursue a doctrinal purpose; rather, it aims to provide basic information to understand the phenomenon and to have a general knowledge.