Stakeholder #3

The Cyber Security Firms

Perspecsys. "Secure Cloud - Data Security - Cyber Security" 2/7/2016 via flickr. Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

 The Stakeholder

     Here we have the people that are on the front line of this new cyber war that was sparked by Stuxnets. Cyber security firms are the ones that research, develop and distribute solutions for cyber threats

Main corporations involved were companies like Kaspersky, Synmatec, as well as Siemen's own cyber security division. These corporations were the ones that were suppose to keep their customers safe from cyber threats. It reflects badly on them when something like Stuxnet manages to get through their defenses. The main research on this virus was done by German Corporations since it was their software and hardware that had been compromised. 

On the other hand, corporations like this stand to profit from incidents like this since the people that were not attacked want to be protected. The issue with this stake holder arises when they are protecting opposing nations. For example, Kaspersky is a Moscow based corporation that protects cyber assets from both Iran and the United States. This can really shake things up down the line.

The Claims

     The first claim by cyber security corporations was that they do not have strong ties to their respected governments. The only assistance they provide is for when they assist in catching cyber criminals. Other than that, they only protect their customers and do not reveal any information to their respected governments.

Many of these corporations were founded by individuals with governmental ties or individuals that once worked for the government. However, I think it all depends on the corporations. Some might engage in back-channeling while others may not. Nonetheless, they all have motives to either be loyal to their customers or to their governments.

The second claim is that "Cyberweapons proliferate by use, as we see in the case of Stuxnet." This means that anyone with the know how can manipulate the code and reuse it against any target.

Here is the really scary part. Some cyber attacker can now redirect Stuxnet at U.S. infrastructure or other nations to wreck havoc. The claim appears to be mostly true since there has been a spike in cyber attacks since the discovery of Stuxnet. 

A third claim, stated by German cybersecurity expert Ralph Langner, says that cyber security corporation have "the cure" for future cyber attacks and weapons. 

So they say they have the solution for cyber attacks, but it seems like that is not the case. It seems like they now know they exist and can act faster on them. Cyber attacks have gotten increasingly complicated after Stuxnet, which means that soon enough, one will be able to under the radar to accomplish another successful cyber attack. 

The first two claims seems to have all the evidence in the world to support them. No one really disagrees with them. The third one though, seems like its sole purpose is just to bring comfort to people that rely on these corporations for security.