Question

(cyber security )

• What is the difference between Cyber Espionage and Nation State Hacking? Explain the differences with the help of appropriate examples.

Please provide your own words. No copy from the internet. 150 to 200 words.

Answer 1

Cyber Espionage

Can be an act of hacking (cyber attack) by outsiders or an act of betrayal by insiders who disclose informations to rivals. In this case the hackers can be outsider: like a private criminal group of highly qualified software engineers or a single individual hacker or state sponsured group of hackers or they can be a insider. It involves activities like syping, stealing information, disrupting or damaging softwares of different companies/individuals/governments. Here the hacker have the fear of legal action if caught.

Nation State Hacking

As the name suggests , this is also an act of hacking but with a difference that the hackers are essentially hired by the government of a country to target other rival governments/ foreign companies and organisations/powerful individuals to cause disruption / steal valueable information to gain economic or military advantage/ cause damage etc. and hence a outsider act.

The state hackers know that they are fully supported by their government, hence

1)They have no fear of any legal action.

2)They have close links with government officials and millitary officials.

3)They have access to government infra structure, other resources, which makes their job much easier.

4) They have great motivation of nationalism hence have no moral guilt of any kind

5) They remain extremely secrate, they never make claims of causing a cyber attack, as usually done by most cyber terrorists.

Difference:

The main difference between the two is that nation state hacking is typically an outsider activity sponsored by governments of a country/nation/state , where as

cyber espionage can be either a outsider or insider activity done by a government or any private group of hackers or a individual or cyber terrorists.