Cyber-attacks on infrastructure such as power grids, communication systems, etc, can have a huge effect on entire societies. The current war in Ukraine demonstrates how powerful a weapon it can be.
Traditionally, military conflict have been fought with bombs, aircraft, etc. But as we are seeing, more are being fought using cyber-attacks. The infrastructure is critical to a nation.
Nation states use the attacks to demoralize the country’s population and promote propaganda. The article describes how, with technology advancements, infrastructures are now connected via satellites. Should those satellites/terminals go out of service, then the attacker will have denied the use of the service.
The article describes several ways to fight against the attacks. It suggests upgrading the IT infrastructure and using data centers outside to store/backup critical information.
The security implications can be detrimental to populations, and reputations. It shows us the multiple areas within the IT infrastructure and just how vulnerable it can be to protected them. There are so many areas to defend against (satellites, ground systems, etc) that it requires teams of professionals to monitor and protect the assets.
I find this article very interesting because it shows how attacks are moving toward a more technological attack rather than the traditional artillery attack. The article details an attack in Germany that occurred (note: the Germans do not know exactly how the attack was carried out). The Germans refused to pay the ransom and their information was released on the dark web. Their refusal cost them one year and between $1-5M, whereas the attackers were asking for $500K. They had planned an upgrade only it didn’t happen quick enough. The problem the Germans could not agree was if they pay, what is to say the attackers have not hidden some backdoor and they would do it all over again.
The article shows the results of an attack to local infrastructure and the impacts it can have the public. While the infrastructure can be repaired, reputations and trust are harder to resolve. The attackers win without dropping a single bomb.