Increase in federal spending and newly implemented protocols help US to actively combat cyber attacks and increase cybersecurity

Merriam-Webster defines cybersecurity as, "measures taken to protect a computer or computer system against unauthorized access or attack. Cybersecurity has become a growing threat to US national security in every possible way, not only in regards to national security but also economically, and has many US officials on alert. Vulnerable cybersecurity has made it possible for many foreign and domestic enemies of the US capable of stealing employee information, classified information, and most importantly national secrets.

Source: HackedNews.com

In a growing technological age, almost every information is stored electronically by computer and computer server. The growing need for increased protection is strategies changing day in and day out. With current cyber threats such as data breaches within government offices such as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have brought this issue to the forefront of the US media.
Enemy interference has shown that cybersecurity is an issue that has to be managed and addressed. The US government has started to implement many protocols and spend billions of dollars in address these issues.

Cybersecurity not only is important to protect information of many Americans that is vulnerable through many lower government entities, but what if such cyber threats that have been outlined above were to impact agencies and officials that hold even more secure classified information such as, national secrets, nuclear plant classified information, and also military information and strategies.

Combating cyber attacks and increasing cyber security is crucial to US national security

US national security is the top priority of the US government and its highest officials. The US government contains a variety of information that is crucial to the advancement of the country and its protection of US citizens.

The US government has outlined many new protocols that are being implemented to increase the nations cybersecurity on every level. According to the White House cybersecurity protocols are being implemented, "To establish a front line of defense against today's immediate threats by creating or enhancing shared situational awareness of network vulnerabilities, threats, and events within the Federal Government- and ultimately with state, local, and tribal governments and private sector partners- and the ability to act quickly to reduce our current vulnerabilities and prevent intrusions."

When speaking to Mike Emory, Program Analyst with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, on the topic of cybersecurity he is quoted as saying, "Everything we do (US) is accessed through the Internet, rather it be US infrastructure, protecting cameras we have, signals, nuclear reactors, classified information...." 

Everything that is crucial to US national security deals with cybersecurity and it is important to improve security by expanding cyber education, increasing research and development efforts across the Federal Government, and to better develop strategies to fight malicious activity in cyberspace. 

Experts say that the US is falling behind in cybersecurity, step up or risk being vulnerable to opposing countries attacks

Source: Christian Pierce

The US has roughly been combating cybersecurity since the early 2000s when an increase in the need for cyber protection arose. With the every changing world or technology, the US was not the only country that made the same assessment, when it came to cybersecurity. Countries such as Germany, China, Austria, United Kingdom, and France all spend billions of dollars on cybersecurity with the rise in cyber crime.

According to Merrill Edge, the cost of one single cyber crime can range between $100,000 and $250,000 from country to country. Companies like China and the UK were quick to increase federal spending on cyber crime, while the US struggled to commit. Merrill Edge also explains that cybercrime cost the global economy about $500 billion annually.

Many experts continue to argue that this increase in cost, and the increase in cost of cybercrime, prove that increased federal spending is necessary for the US to keep up with other top countries. The graph above shows and increase in federal spending from 2009 to 2014 in billions. It can be seen that the US has steadily increased federal spending on cybersecurity, with 7.9 billion in 2009 to 11.8 billion in 2014. With 11.8 billion of the federal budget being put toward combatting cybersecurity, data shows that the US is still the most targeted with cyber threats at 23 percent.

Data shows that not only is the US the most targeted, but also behind in federal spending when it comes to ratio of threats to cost of per cyber threat and intrusion. In retrospective the US has increased spending dramatically, which shows the US government is taking cybersecurity seriously. When speaking to Mike Emory of the Bureau  of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, he seemed to have another opinion on rather the US government is doing enough on a federal scale to help combat cybersecurity or not. 

Data manipulation is latest cyber threat to be identified, US officials report 

Data manipulation is the latest cyber threat to impact the US. Data manipulation "or altering of data" is believed to be the next cyber threat to the US federal government and its national security. According to The Guardian, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned, "that a mutated phase of malicious digital penetrations would undermine confidence in data stored and accessible on US networks, creating an uncertainty that could jeopardize US military situational awareness." While NSA Director Keith Alexander was quoted on data manipulation as saying, "You can think of it as stealth radar or making planes disappear or appear."

Data manipulation is not the only cyber threat that US officials are keeping an eye on. With cyber incidents steadily increasing from 2009 to 2014, with 67,168 single cyber incidents reported in 2014 alone. 67,168 single cyber incidents is just within federal agencies, this number does not include private sector companies that are tied in with the US government. 

Source: Christian Pierce

Other forms of cyber threats that have impacted the US drastically are threats that have made US unclassified vulnerable to foreign and domestic enemies. According to the Director of National Security and the Criminal Intelligence Agency, "cyber threats can never be eliminated, but rather managed."




Mr. Emory explained to me that cyber threats also lay within social engineering. That in his opinion, "social engineering is still the biggest problem and risk to cyber security." 

The US will continue to monitor cyber threats and have to be able to stay ahead of the every changing world of technology. With the rise of cyber threats since the early 2000s to the enormous budget for cybersecurity, this shows that cybersecurity will continue to be more and more of a necessity.

Cyber threats will continue to evolve and adapt to the every changing way that information is kept and stored. US national security relies on the protection of such information, and the education and growth of cybersecurity.


The most important aspect is how do we further advance the nations cybersecurity to stay ahead of other countries? What can each branch of the federal government do to better protect themselves, and to make sure that the new and old federal protocols are put in place and conducted properly? How will federal spending grow to fight cybersecurity, which some experts say is vulnerable to terrorist threats? These are questions that will continue to be asked on cybersecurity over the years to come.

                                                                                     

Study shows that students retain scientific information at a higher rate with the use of virtual reality and narration, while more immersive virtual reality environments have no direct impact on educational retention

Source: Google     

A study conducted  by Roxana Moreno of the University of New Mexico and Richard Mayer of the University of California, Santa Barbara dives into the educational benefits of virtual reality in multimedia environments using an educational game developed called  Design-A-Plant. The study “Learning Science in Virtual Reality Multimedia Environments: Role of Methods and Media” is conducted to measure the effect that virtual reality has on student’s educational comprehension and retention.

The experiment concludes that students scored higher on retention, transfer, and program ratings with narration multimedia environments than with text multimedia environments. The test group with narration and text multimedia environments had results in between narration and text. Overall, media did not affect performance in the categories of retention, transfer, or program ratings.

Moreno and Mayer conducted the experiment in two separate test groups. Both experiments took eighty-nine college students which they asked multiple questions about botany to assess knowledge on the subject. The participants were split into groups ND (Narration/ Desktop Display), TD (Text/Desktop Display), NS (Narration/Sitting with Head Mounted Display), TS (Text/Sitting with HMD), NW (Narration/Walking with HMD), and TW (Text/Walking with HMD). Each group whether using desktop display or HMDs were interacting with the same computerized material. TD, TS, and TW were specifically given material with text only. Each experimental group was asked several questions about plants in different environments and to move around within the multimedia environment which they were in. HMD groups were instructed how to use their technology and to do so walking to navigate, or head movements while sitting. After students navigated through five different environments (such as rain forest, dry environment, and etc.) they were then instructed to complete a series of questionnaires. These questionnaires were in regards to presence, program-rating, retention, and problem-solving.  The results to the questionnaires, among other things, show that the students scored the highest on retention with narration integrated within their multimedia environment.

Source: Christian Pierce    

Both experiments brought new discoveries, and also confirmed past scientific theories. The study indicated that media has an effect on students sense of presence when using head mounted displays, which in return promoted the students retention of the science lesson. This was not true with all test groups due to the fact that HDM could be seen as a distraction.  Both experiments also showed that higher levels of immersion had no more effect on the number of items memorized.

     

Virtual reality environments not only where seen as more favorable but they also help students remember more of the material, and this is especially true for VREs that communicate using narration over text.

Moreno and Mayer’s virtual reality experiment shows the impact that VREs can have over textbooks and other forms of just text based educational tools. Virtual reality tools are necessary for educational advancement within the technology world today and in the future.