Just last month, the world was on high alert due to a vulnerability in a programming language, PHP, used by 70% of the world’s websites. Before patches became available, millions of sites were attacked and multiple governments went offline as a precaution. What if your city’s electrical grid or water supply were affected?
And don’t discount the idea of hackers taking advantage of a natural disaster, says Lynn Budd, a former president of the National Emergency Management Association. “Everybody’s paying attention to the tornado, so our adversaries take advantage of that time and decide, ‘Oh, they’re busy with something else. Now’s the time to do a cyberattack or other types of attacks that may affect the critical infrastructure of a community,’” she told the Guardian.
Hostile governments
War and instability are on the rise around the world, with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East just two of the most visible. China, Iran, North Korea and Russia are cited as particular threats. The recent crisis over Starlink and Starshield satellite systems being suddenly unavailable to Ukrainians on the battlefield demonstrates that we are all vulnerable to actions beyond our control.
