James Hogan
Check How a Full-Blown Cyberwarfare Can Change the World
The Internet is a beautiful thing. It has no borders and the only limitation it has is the imagination of its users. That is why new cultures have been born, and they are developing more every day. New technology, many new things. On the Internet you do not need a visa to travel to another country.
The Internet itself is a unclaimed territory with more than 2 billion citizens. Easy to say, the world’s superpowers are busy trying to get their own share. And just like in a physical territory, there is also espionage, espionage and a war in the cyber world. You may not realize it, but it has been going on for several years.
What is happening in the cyber world?
A good example is the United States National Security Agency (NSA) which spies on Americans and 193 other countries every minute of every day, with one goal in mind (and I’m simplifying it here): collect information and use it to deter acts of terrorism. If you want your heart to beat, here’s a timeline of NSA domestic espionage.
But in his attempt to do this, he has started a backlash from around the world. China is a large country and in recent decades it has proven to be an industrial and economic marvel. And now they have started to invest heavily in their cyber capabilities. Last year, Iran’s supreme leader told students to prepare for cyber warfare. Perhaps it is a reaction to the cyber attack by Saudis and Israelis against Iran’s nuclear program.
Russia is also on the offensive. One of the most publicized cyberattacks they did was to hack into the mail servers of the US State Department.And recently, the Pentagon announced a new strategy for cyber warfare in which cyber weapons were discussed.
And it’s not just governments that attack other governments in cyberspace. Vital companies are also under attack by governments. And in response, half of the UK companies surveyed said they were considering hiring hackers to deter other hackers. Fight fire with fire, right?
But returning to the global stage, the world is currently under a semi-cold cyberwar with the United States, Russia, Iran and China as the main players. Recently, the news broke that the United States was hacked by the Chinese.
According to experts, the incident involved the collection of more than 4 million records of current and former federal employees. But while the motive for the attack is unclear, it is a highly targeted attack That could point to the possibility that hackers are building their own database of US government employees. It so happens that the Office of Personnel Management warned the US late last year. that their networked systems are a “hackers dream” and that they are not prepared for an attack.
Well, can’t they just not connect their important systems to the internet?
Actually, that’s a great question. The truth is, they don’t. The government and the military generally have their own intranet. a private network that only authorized personnel can access. Sure, you could still use the World Wide Web, but it’s the kind that makes use of totally disconnected wired networks. In fact, large corporations also have their own intranets, where their files can only be accessed on-site.
But just like companies, governments and armies cannot survive on an intranet alone. Although classified information is kept in systems that are not connected to the Internet, there are still devices that are, used primarily for communication purposes such as sending emails, video conferencing and sending files
When you hear on the news that email from a high-level government official has been hacked, it is most likely because the computer being used was connected to the internet.
Also, if a network that is not connected to the Internet has been hacked and classified information has been leaked, there is almost always a 100% chance that someone inside did. But that is not what we are here to discuss today.
What could be the repercussions of a large-scale cyber war?
The answer to this is simple and terrifying: governments could build their own internet. Imagine a world in which there are several Internet. Germany wants its own Internet due to the NSA spy scandal, while Iran is building its own “halal” Internet that will be free of “impurities” from the outside world.
And it is not just a trick to think that other governments will follow suit. If these cyberattacks get out of control, the only thing that could protect governments from each other is to completely disconnect from each other. If that’s not scary enough for you, let’s take a step back and see what the internet is right now.
Effects on communication
Right now I’m talking to you while I’m in the Philippines. You may be in South Korea, Japan, Kuwait, or the US, but you can still read this. You can talk to your friends on Skype who are in another country. You can play online games in an international environment.
But what happens when the Internet, as we see it now, disappears and instead become smaller, confined and restrictive bubbles? That borderless communication will disappear. Which brings us to a different new way of getting information: it will be more difficult to get information about other countries. It is very possible that We will only obtain information from channels authorized by the government..
This changes the way everything works; everyone will take a big hit. Think of the important role that Facebook and Twitter played during the Arab Spring. The whole world was watching and supporting them. But if governments cut their connection to the rest of the world, this kind of free-flowing information will be a thing of the past.
Perhaps a major problem that regular users will suffer from is the way we surf the internet. It can be more difficult and expensive to connect. Like withdrawing money from a non-bank ATM, international calls may cost more due to the rerouting. Also, going through will require going through many gateways and checkpoints, slow down the information gathering process, due to how the request is transmitted. Alternatively, a “fast lane” can be offered for a fee.
It’s scary now when you think about it that way, right? And that is an imminent threat to all of us. But there are things much scarier than this.
Power grids falling
Power grids in the US and around the world are vulnerable to attack, and we are not talking hypothetically. The US power grid alone was attacked by hackers 79 times. Hackers managed to enter 37% of the companies that make the network work.
The attacks were reportedly (and continue to be) carried out by an army of hackers in a coordinated attempt to obscure entire cities. Imagine that an impregnable country like the United States goes dark, the resulting panic will be chaotic.
Remotely controlled cars
Cars are getting smarter every year. From being able to diagnose what’s wrong with your hardware or software, to completely omitting the need for a human driver. This is the future of automobiles and it is fast approaching.
Cars can even get updates by receiving updates from a remote server, and you probably already know what that means: anything connected to the internet has a chance of being hacked. In this case, hackers can attack autonomous cars to control the functions of the car.
Smartphones act as a ubiquitous spy tool
Google can send codes to Android devices, and the NSA had this brilliant idea to hijack Google Play and basically hack into everyone’s phones. It’s good for us that this didn’t really work. Or did it?
The point is, if an agency plans to do so, other organizations could spend their time and resources hacking not just Android devices, but also all phones that rely on automatic updates from a main server. This can be used not only to track everyone’s movements, but also to enter everyone’s private life, expose everyone’s personal data to unwarranted espionage.
Hacking of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM)
On October 23, 50 ICBMs equipped with nuclear tips went off. Their human controllers lost communication with them for 45 minutes. Why is this scary? Because during those 45 minutes, launch centers had no way of detecting unauthorized launch attempts.
It was unclear what the exact reason for the lockdown was, which could be anything from faulty wiring, someone hacking ICBMs through radio receivers, an honest mistake by an employee triggering the blackout, or a very hacker. dedicated who was taking advantage of the US system. thousands of miles of cables (highly unlikely). Whatever caused it could have started a nuclear war.
Military drones used against the people they are supposed to protect
American military drones are already flying in their areas of interest. And they carry Hellfire missiles. It is also inevitable that these drones connect wirelessly to their base stations where humans can control or update their systems occasionally.
With that in mind, do you think it is entirely possible for hackers to access these drones for their own purposes? Definitely.
Crashing the stock market and the economy
Hackers can manipulate the stock market, which they did when Russian hackers hacked NASDAQ. While this attempt could simply mean that someone wants information to earn a lot of money, it is also not a far-fetched idea that in the future some organization bent on destroying the economy of a specific country I would and could do it.
If this happens, people could lose their jobs, houses could be foreclosed and the rate of homelessness will rise, civil unrest will ensue, and the breakdown of law and order could destroy governments. This has happened before, in a pre-internet period known as the Great Depression.
In conclusion
The stakes are high in the cyber world. Private groups, corporations, and even governments are both on the offensive and on the defensive. It’s like watching various tribes fight for power and land. The only difference is that in the 21st century, what they fight for is not even a physical place, but it sure contains great power.
And at the end of the day, we, the regular users, will be the victims of this war between superpowers.
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