Could a Major Cyber Attack Trigger the End of the World
ByWith Iran
resuming its nuclear testing and the US and Russia pulling out of important anti-weapon acts, we
might be at the brink of a new nuclear arms race. This is a real threat to
civilisation and one we should be worried about, but many people ignore the
threat of global cyber-attacks. State-sponsored agents and independent
cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated at a time when we're getting
more dependent than ever on technology. This could be a recipe for disaster.
Let's take a look at how cyberattacks could be what ends up triggering the
apocalypse. As we said
earlier, more of our systems are controlled by technology, and that means that
everything from our power plants, to traffic light systems, and water
purification plants are vulnerable to attacks. And, if you think these are too
difficult to penetrate, think again. One attack that targeted a US water treatment plant came
very close to poisoning a water reservoir after hackers changed the recipe for
purification. If this had gone unnoticed, thousands of people would’ve been
affected. This may
sound alarmist, but cyberattacks could have the same death toll as nuclear
weapons. The only difference is that they would do it over a much longer
period. This could be as a result of food, gas, or electricity shortages, for
instance. We could see one massive attack affecting crucial systems, or lots of
small coordinated attacks that would be comparable to a guerrilla war. Both
would cause widespread damage and insecurity, which could end up destroying the
fabric of society. Hackers are
also beginning to flex their muscles and show what they're capable of. In 2017,
hackers attacked a large portion of the power grid in Ukraine. The attack
could've been much worse if they caused damage to equipment, which they could,
but chose not to. A similar attack was perpetrated on the UK electrical system
in 2018 and the US in 2019. The worst part in both of these attacks is that the
attackers remain anonymous to this day. Cybersecurity will need to be a priority from now on, whether you're an enterprise or a government agency. It
has been estimated that the US has been spending USD $790 million on
cybersecurity in 2020, which was a 5% increase from the year before. A lot of
this had to do with fears from attacks from North Korea and Russia, but
especially Russia as they have a long history of state-sponsored cyber-attacks.
During this period, Australians spent around $5 Billion on cybersecurity. It's
expected that this will balloon to $7.4 Billion in 2024, which shows the growing
concerns of the general public. It also shows a real effort to counter this
threat, which is encouraging.Chinks
in the Armor
Cyber
Attacks Could Lead to a Slow Death
Hackers
are Sending Messages
Cyber
Security to be a Major Concern