Future Cyber Attacks Will be Worse than Colonial Pipeline
Five reasons coming cyber attacks will continue to be more severe
The recent Colonial Pipeline hack shut down 50% of the East Coast’s fuel supplies.
While that’s bad, it only scratched the surface of what hackers can do.
1. Hackers have many more serious targets
Here are 3 other high-probability targets and their predicted impact:
— Electrical Grid Hack: Global shut down of financial sector, refineries, and water supply.
— Medical Information System Hack: Inability for one or more hospital systems to access medical records; Surgeries, cancer treatment, and dispensing of drugs grind to a half.
— Food Supply Chain Hack: A major food manufacturer’s products are contaminated. Loss of trust in the entire food supply.
This is not a complete list. Think water supply. Think air traffic control. Think global logistics. Think meltdown.
These hacks could occur simultaneously.
2. We can’t currently do much to deter hackers
Hackers ply their trade no matter what actions governments or law-enforcement bodies take.
The Biden Administration recently announced an executive order to strengthen America’s cyber defenses.
Good luck with that!
Why?
No treaties + No extraditions + No accountability = No prevention.
3. Hackers have every incentive to continue
Colonial Pipeline paid 75 Bitcoin, roughly $5MM, to unlock their systems, despite government attempts to persuade them otherwise.
The only good news about ransomware attacks is that those hackers are generally reliable. They get paid and you get your system back. If they don’t return your system, the next guy won’t pay them.
Imagine how much more a company, government, or country would pay to restore an electrical grid or major water supply.
How much would you pay to keep your business from being destroyed? If your answer is “a lot,” then you know how likely it is ransomware attacks will continue.
4. Money is not the only hacking motive
For DarkSide, the group behind the Colonial Pipeline hack, the cyberattack was a means to an end — getting paid.
Other cybercriminal groups are not as easy to deal with as ransomware hackers. There are cause-focused group who want to make a point. Or nation-states bent on bringing the US to its knees. For hackers like this, the hack itself is the endgoal.
Compared to these guys, DarkSide is a far preferable option.
5. Fixing hacks takes time, a lot of time
To the people still on line for gas in Washington, D.C., fixing the Colonial Pipeline hack took seemingly forever.
But it’s only been a couple of weeks. And fuel supplies were not actually cut off.
After a week with a total fuel shutdown, electricity grid outage, or major sources of food compromised, things get dicey. During the pandemic, There was violence over toilet paper. Imagine if people needed to protect their families’ sustenance for the next month.
A massive, destructive cyber-attack is coming. As with a pandemic, it’s inevitable.
While you can’t stop it, there are ways to plan for its impact as a business.
