Major attacks are coming to some part of the world in the next decade that will wreak havoc of epic proportions and cause an immense sum of life and tens of billions of dollars in damage. This may sound like a warning for a nuclear threat, but in fact, according to a new study, cyberattacks will be the cause of this destruction.
A new study released by the Pew Research Center entitled “Digital Life in 2025” discovered that two-thirds of more than 1,600 technology experts are in agreement that cyberattacks will produce disruptions in various spheres of everyday life, such as banking, energy and healthcare, which all three will become a considerable element to war and terrorism.
Web-connected security vulnerabilities are already quite ubiquitous in the aforementioned as well defense systems. Therefore, culprits would take advantage of and exploit this weakness.
“Oh, sure it is possible. Although not at your defined level, there has already been a ‘Pearl Harbor’ event: the Stuxnet computer worm that was used to attack Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” said Jason Pontin, editor in chief and publisher of MIT Technology Review, in a statement. “Do we really believe that the infrastructure of a major industrial power will not be so attacked in the next 12 years? The Internet is an insecure network; all industrialized nations depend on it. They’re wide open.”
The disagreement, however, is what would take place exactly. Some present the case that it would be a state versus state war, while others fear it would be attacks for criminal gains.
When will this happen? In about 11 years, though some industry professionals say it has already happened, or at least starting to.
We have reported this past summer how some of the biggest financial institutions in the world today, such as JPMorgan, were victims of a significant cyberattack. The big bank even conceded that it experiences attacks each day, but it does have an incredible security system with various layers to safeguard the bank.
Earlier this month, there was an attack on Apple’s iCloud data storage system, which some have alleged it was the Chinese government that was the cyber perpetrator.
The White House even admitted that hackers had seeped into its security Wednesday.
“We are already witnessing the theft of trade secrets, with impact well worth tens of billions of dollars. We are also seeing active development of cyberweapons by many world powers,” said Christian Huitema, a Microsoft engineer, in a statement. “Historically, such new weapons are always used at least once or twice before nations realize it is too dangerous and start relying on diplomacy.”
The threats of accessing your personal data, government secrets and national security information is a real one, say security experts. In addition, it would ostensibly seem that the expansion in technology could very well be our downfall and the major contribution to cyberattacks.
Edward Snowden’s attorney Ben Wizner recently said in a speech in Dublin that our smartphones are essentially nothing more than a tracking device.
“Your phone is no longer your phone, it is a tracker device. Hundreds of companies are trying to track and sell information to each other,” stated Wizner. “The open road used to suggest freedom, now you are tracked everywhere you go by cameras and sensors.”
