The need for cyber security continues to grow as the threat of cyber-crimes, both foreign and domestic, continue to evolve. America serves as a primary target of cyber-attacks, thus needed a continued emphasis on prevention and remedies against these nefarious actions. Hacking continues to be an increasing practice that is often linked to the unauthorized access to confidential government systems and documents, personal identity theft, pilfered corporate intellectual property, and passwords. In order to properly express the evolution and need for professional forensic analysts and systems administrators, the following case study analyzes the renowned case of Gary McKinnon. In 2002, Gary McKinnon was accused of improperly accessing confidential …show more content…
The common practice of using simple passwords often granted him trusted administrative access. Additionally, he used programs which permit him to alter and access files and data without being detected. Other tools employed by him gave him the ability to scan over 73,000 assets of the network of Department of Defense during his spree. When he was finally located traced by the agents from the United States due to the compromised NASA assets, all of his computers were lawfully seized. British investigators discovered several different versions of “Remotely Anywhere” software, damning evidence of compromised assets, and basic instruction on hacking on his …show more content…
In order to ensure there is a total security control, it is imperative that systems maintain currency with all security updates and anti-virus definitions and detect and recognize and emerging and ongoing cyber security trends. Additionally, utilizing a VPN helps ensure that external entities are not able to access any network traffic due to data encryption. Other protective measures, such as the use of an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) framework for wireless connections and Common Access Card (CAC) authentication within the network help heighten security. However, network security is not the sole means of protecting a