Kevin Coleman is a senior fellow at SilverRhino and former chief strategist at Netscape.
The world watched as the most significant case of cyber extortion unfolded before our eyes with what has been called disastrous consequences that go far beyond Sony. The comment made by President Obama that Sony "made a mistake" pulling the movie further intensified the conversations taking place throughout the world. One individual said it best – "Sony was in a damned if you do and damned if you don't spot." Can you imagine the repercussions if Sony had not pulled the movie and a physical attack took place at a showing?
There is a certainty here and that is that things will never be the same after this incident. After the president's comments it is no longer a question whether the US will respond, even though we are all left to wonder just when and how it will happen.
The implications resulting from the Sony incident will be far reaching. A Gretawire.com poll asked, "Do you fear a massive cyber attack?" When I last checked, the results showed 70 percent said YES! With more than 1,300 people participating in the poll, that gives you a feeling for the opinion of the general public.
Those in cyber security have a different opinion. I asked a TS/SCI-cleared individual who works at the highest levels on national cyber security to rate the threat on a scale of 1 to 10. He asked if he could say 12, and that was before the Sony event.
Is the Sony attack an act of cyber war or is it a cyber crime? That is yet another heated debate that is taking place with valid arguments being made by both sides. Many are also calling this the trigger event or catalyst of a transformative change in the area of cyber security, both in Washington and in the private sector. It is almost a sure thing that Congress will pass legislation enabling cyber threat intelligence sharing between the intelligence community and the private sector. It is also likely that we will also see some type of legislation mandating organizations have some defined level of cyber security and maintain that security as technology and the threats change over time. The total impact of these events will not be known for years. One thing is certain: Things have changed and an already complex problem just became worse.
