Cyberwar is the new, rapidly increasing mode of combat, as it knows no boundaries and can be detrimental to the foundation of a country’s defence and government.
A prime example of this can be seen within the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as before Russian troops even made their way into the opposing territory, Ukraine had already been hit by new malware that was designed to wipe data.
Many experts say that cyber war is already here, as opposing countries are using this technological weapon to weaken government power and hack into databases that are vital to the well-being and operation of their enemies. Microsoft even discovered malware in Ukrainian government systems that had the ability to be triggered remotely.
In February 2022, the FBI asked US companies to alert them to any increased cyber activity that was launched against Ukraine or the US. This was issued alongside a “shields up” alert that recommended that all organisations adopt a heightened cybersecurity posture.
All of these precautions can be attributed to the fact that Russia, Ukraine, and the US are currently the top three most targeted countries for cybercrime. The likely explanation for this, as experts say, is that Ukraine is likely being used as a live testing ground for Russia’s next generation of cyber weapons.
Why test on Ukraine? Because Ukraine’s infrastructure is similar to Western Europe and North America, but there are limited resources for counter-attacks, Russia can attack without much fear of reciprocation to prepare for much larger and well-equipped enemies.
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These cyber-attacks have only grown in frequency over time, with notable events every year dating back to 2015 when suspected Russian hackers knocked out electricity for 230,000 customers in western Ukraine.
Fast forward to 2022, the US and the EU have tried to thwart the threat from Russia by providing support to bolster cyber defences in Ukraine, but it is unlikely that the attacks will stay within its borders. Despite Ukrainian efforts to counter-attack and cause chaos within Russia’s systems and databases, cyber warfare remains one of the largest threats to the most targeted countries.
Cyber attacks vs cyber war
Cyber war comes in many shapes and sizes, varying in different types of threats and different levels of severity. The connections between cyber and physical assets are growing, which brings greater risk to both network and physical infrastructure security.
In fact, in 2021, data breaches and cybersecurity attacks on average cost companies US$4.24 million per breach, which is a 10 per cent increase from the previous year. In addition, the pandemic has only heightened the potential for damage from these threats, as more information has been moved to the cloud, more people are working remotely and from less-secure home networks or personal devices, and more services, in general, are being provided in a digital space.
In terms of severity, cyber attacks differ from a cyber war in some key ways. Cyber-attacks are known to be less devastating, more isolated, and usually just testing new cyber weapons. They have the potential to shut down electrical grids, destroy technology, and self-destruct power infrastructure. Cyber war, on the other hand, could impact the scale of a natural disaster. A comparable disaster would be the 2021 Texas Freeze, which caused widespread damage, loss of electricity, food and water, caused massive disruption to everyday life and caused over 200 deaths.
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In general, people fear cyber war, as reports show that 93 per cent of Americans are afraid of such attacks against the US, but only 19 per cent are totally confident that the government can protect them against cyber warfare. Fortunately, countries like Japan, China, and the US are some of the leading countries in security for cyber attacks, coming in at 67 per cent, 63 per cent, and 70 per cent secure, respectively.
In addition, 75 per cent of cyber attacks target financial services, and 20 per cent target business networks, showing researchers where the defences need to be allocated. These types of attacks seek to make important resources like finances, cell service, running water, internet, food, utilities, and health records unavailable to users.
Despite these grievances, citizens globally are already taking measures to protect themselves from cybercrime, such as updating software, changing passwords, backing up computers, stashing cash reserves, and backing up emails offline.
The lines on the battlefield of cyber attacks are blurred and complex as this new generation of crime and warfare increases in frequency, forcing citizens of every nation to take action to protect themselves and their assets.
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