The report also shows that hackers collaborated on popular U.S.-based social-networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook Inc., to coordinate attacks on Georgian sites. This report clearly shows that cyber-warfare has outpaced military agreements, as well as how American resources and civilian technology can be used as weapons. The cyberattacks that occured in August 2008 significantly shut down Georgia’s communications capabilities, as well as 20-plus Web sites for more than a week.

This report show has cyber-warfare is the new frontier and how civilian technologies can be used. Perhaps the U.S. should shore up its cybersecurity efforts? Oh, wait…that’s right, things are stalling a bit on that front.

While there has been some positive movement by the current administration to address the cybercrime issues plaguing our nation, there is much more work to be done. From new legislation aimed at appointing a national cyber security czar to bringing the cyber initiatives under the NSA, these all show that the U.S. government is starting to address this problem – at least on the surface.

The challenge is that we need to dive deeper and reach wider to address this problem. For example, President Obama is at the G20 meeting this week mainly to address the global financial crises. Are the leaders discussing how to stop the global hacking rings – especially the ones coming out of Russia and the Ukraine?

Speaking of Russian hacker rings, we urge you to check out the 60 Minutes clip below. What is most disturbing about this segment is that these hackers are actually celebrated figures in their country. They are perceived as being heroes because they rob from the “greedy westerners.” These are obviously deep cultural issues that need to be addressed.

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Industry should not have to shoulder the burden alone. No matter how much time and investment is put into developing virus-protection technologies and fraud prevention programs at banks and financial institutions, the bad guys always seem to be one-step ahead.

This week, the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on the impact of the PCI standards on reducing compromises of sensitive personal information — so the issue is being addressed — and the news was not good. According to a Justice Department official who testified, a new breed of international cybercriminals are developing sophisticated techniques for stealing personal data – a major threat to millions of Americans. Read more here (link).

The bottom line is that we need broader support from the U.S. government, which needs to address this on a global political and diplomatic scale. Seriously, what do you all think about this? Do you think the U.S. government can do more to bring down these hackers? If so, what more can be done??

We want to hear from you!