Introduction to Cyber-Warfare - Proiect SEMPER FIDELIS

46 5. CYBER ATTACK AGAINST INTERNAL DISSIDENTSTier 1ISPFreeTier 1ISPPaidPaidPaidTier 2ISPFreeTier 2ISPPaidTier 2ISPPaidPaidPaidTier 3ISPTier 3ISPTier 3ISPFree = No-cost exchange oftrafficPaid = Paid exchange oftraffic (payment renderedin direction of arrow)FIGURE 5.2Fictitious example of the relationship among ISP’s of different tiers.might not support them or which they may oppose. As a result, these servers are locatedfarther away from the Internet “core” and skilled security personnel, and hence face moredifficulty in responding to attacks.The Harvard researchers surveyed 317 independent media and human rights sitesconcerning cyber attack and received 45 responses. Of the respondents, 72% experiencedsome sort of filtering at the national level, 62% experienced DDoS attacks, 39% experiencedforms of intrusion, and 32% experienced some sort of Web site defacement. It is noteworthythat the Harvard study also found a correlation between sites targeted with DDoS and thosetargeted with filtering. Perhaps this suggests that respective governments and/or theirsupporters seek multiple means to inhibit the message of these groups. 2Further, at the time of the survey, 2010, the majority of respondents reported an increase inthe number of cyber attacks over the previous year. This aligns with broader surveys (i.e.,including business, governmental, and private organizations), which also report increases incyber attacks in more recent years. Another concern of the surveyed organizations that isinteresting within the context of this chapter is the fact that 48% reported that they experiencedunexplained downtime of their systems for seven or more days a year. Granted, cyberattack is just one possible explanation, but such a noticeable amount of time, in which thenetworks remain inexplicably unavailable, is noteworthy. All reported incidents highlightthe lack of technical expertise small network providers may often experience and whichmakes them vulnerable to cyber attacks. By contrast, the researchers noted that Tier 1 and2 providers respond to the majority of cyber assaults in under an hour. 3According to the survey, the Tier 3 ISPs appear less than helpful to these organizationsonce their sites are under attack. Only 36% of respondents reported that their provider