Many countries play a defensive role when it comes to cyber security. But a recently concluded conference, known as Infiltrate, in Miami Beach, Florida was concentrated on Cybermunitions and hacking tools. The U.S. alone expects to spend more than $4.5 billion for cyber operations in 2014. In a nutshell, Cybermunitions refers to state sponsored hacking. The global market for it is thriving and more than 100 countries worldwide are employing the offensive security tactics. Computer and network exploitation, vulnerability discovery, rootkits and Trojan covert protocols are some of the areas covered by Cybermunitions.
The NSA’s cyber hacking leaked by former contract employee Edward Snowden brought the subject of cybermunition to the forefront. They work on concepts such as “SQL injection vulnerabilities” and “fuzzing”, way more complex technical concepts of cyber espionage and hacking. They study how to create gridlock in Washington D.C. by manipulating data flows from roadways and traffic lights and ways to counter attack. The cost of malicious attack may be less than $100 but it could create havoc within a large area. Cybermunition is studying ways to counter such attacks. It is good that like-minded techs getting together at venues such as infiltrate to discuss possible vulnerabilities and how to fix them.