That starts with a new Geneva Convention-type agreement on cyberwarfare. Given the prevalence and proliferation of state-sponsored cyberterrorism, how do we best protect our internet-based government and economic viability going forward?įirst, we need to establish mutually agreed-upon boundaries for cyber operations. Our national economic well-being depends on the internet, which, as recent hacking has illustrated, is something over which we exert less control than we think we do.
Our economy has evolved from a manufacturing base to technology services. Maersk’s experience shows that individual companies - even multibillion-dollar companies - cannot keep up (or for that matter, be expected to keep up) with protecting themselves from the threat of state-sponsored cyberterrorism. If the world’s largest container shipping company is vulnerable, what hope is there for the rest of us? But, to paraphrase a line from an old movie, what if there’s a fire? Last year, the GRU-developed NotPetya malware took down global logistics company Maersk in a matter of minutes. You can’t shout “fire” in a crowded theater. Cyber operations expert and FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said in a recent interview that “the rules of engagement have broken.” He cited recent hacks emanating from China, Russia and Iran and noted the scorched-earth approach of North Korean hackers, who - when detected - launch destructive malware to wipe infected machines. But for some nations, improved attribution detection offers no deterrence. In the past, nation-state actors observed some semblance of respectful decorum, if you can call it that, limiting attacks that they knew could be traced to them. If there ever even were any guardrails for international cyberespionage, they’ve fallen away. But what’s really terrifying may be yet to come: Russia’s elite Fancy Bear hacking group - which is allegedly connected to the Russian government's GRU intelligence arm - has recently developed a novel and incredibly destructive UEFI rootkit, a tool of cyberterror that Brian Barrett of Wired notes “ hadn’t ever been seen in the wild until now.” For instance, to the extent that Russian government involvement has been questioned, there is little doubt that Russian state-sponsored hackers actively interfered in the 2016 U.S. In Russia, the state has embraced a well-publicized-in-the-West “ information confrontation” strategy.
0 kommentar(er)
