This is not a war you typically see on the news, but it is massive and ferocious. You don’t see explosions or hear shots on TV, no tanks, no aircraft carriers - these battles are in cyberspace. This is Cyber War, and it is not limited to nations who directly engage in the fight against other nations as well as sponsoring private mercenaries.
This type of war is not known for great armies meeting on the battlefield. It consists mostly of ‘one-off’ guerilla attacks and skirmishes. This war is very much like The Cold War – fought in small battlegrounds and avoiding the possibility of getting ‘hot’ between the warring parties themselves.
It’s not a U.S. political story – it’s not about Democrats versus Republicans. It’s about how nations interact with one another behind the scenes – and the main five perpetrators are staying very, very busy.
How many countries use cyber warfare?
Very few countries do not engage in some form or another in cyber war or espionage, and chances are the instances would be unfamiliar to most reasonably informed people. Most countries engage in it on at least a small scale, but their endeavors rank far below the top five who are responsible for most of it:
The United States
China
Russia
Iran
North Korea
Isn’t that pretty much what most people would figure to be a list of ‘the usual suspects?’
Don’t be too quick to think “This has nothing to do with me and my business,” because it does, and it certainly keeps your IT services crew busy. ALL worldwide cybercrime is performed by echelons within the ranks – the same crooks hacking consumer phones are not the same crooks hacking Small and Mid-size Businesses (SMBs), and those higher echelon crooks are not the ones hacking multi-national corporations.
This also holds true for National Cyber Armies – those within the state itself that are responsible for hacking rival nations’ government and infrastructure institutions. Nations wage war on every level. It’s the ‘independent’ but state-sponsored criminal organizations that are looking for you, because you are a profit center.
Think back to the massive Ransomware attack in 2021 that crippled the non-government Colonial Pipeline and created havoc along the Eastern Seaboard. The mysterious perpetrators, ‘The DarkSide’ have been identified as being located mostly in Russia and other Eastern European countries, and while no tangible evidence has ever been provided that they were tied to the Kremlin, who had denied involvement (duh…), U.S. security and diplomatic experts say that no Russian attack like that could be done with Putin’s tacit approval.
What is a global cyber war?
Richard A. Clarke, the former US National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counterterrorism, succinctly defined it In 2010 as: "Actions by a nation-state to penetrate another nation's computers or networks for the purposes of causing damage or disruption."
Cyber warfare is happening beneath the surface every day – it’s a large part of modern international ‘Cloak and Dagger’ operations. Most of the time, regular citizens are none the wiser as to the battle that’s going on in cyberspace. Only occasionally does something splash out into the news.
Cyber warfare is the main tool in corporate and national espionage. The days of the spy sneaking in and using a miniature camera to photograph plans, formulas, or schematics are long gone. Intellectual properties are highly sought after by both state-sponsored and private criminals.
As far as American business goes, international cyber war is out of your reach to do anything about, but the danger is the effect a massive cyber-attack could have on infrastructure that would severely damage Small and Mid-size Businesses (SMBs).
The best you can hope to do is to develop alternate plans and contingencies for disaster. Consideration of these have been forced on SMBs with inflation, higher fuel prices (and the shortages – especially with diesel), and supply-chain disruptions.
Naturally, your IT Support should have made your own network as bulletproof as possible, because while the major powers are playing cat-and-mouse the lower level cyber criminals are vigilant and always on the prowl.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do most cyber attacks begin?
The most common of all tactics account for over 90% of in cyber-attacks: malicious phishing emails sent to unsuspecting employees. This is the main reason every business needs to perform regular and ongoing Security Awareness Training.
Which country is No 1 in cyber crime?
China is the hands-down winner, responsible for 41% of the world’s ‘attack traffic’, with the United States lagging far behind with a second place showing of 10%.
The next is Turkey, with 4.7% of attack traffic. Russia is just behind that, with 4.3%, and rounding out the top five is Taiwan, with 3.7%.
Take note that China almost doubles the attack traffic of the others in the top five combined.
Which country is #1 in cybersecurity?
It depends on who you ask and who you believe, and the methodology they use to determine their “#1”.
The four main reports are provide by the ITU (International Telecom Union), Analytic Insights, CyberDB, and Comparitech. The United States landed as #1 in two (Analytics Insights and CyberDB), but placed second for the ITU (behind the UK) and fifth for Comparitech (behind Japan, France, Canada, and Denmark).
The US is the only country to make the top five in all reports.
How strong is U.S. cybersecurity?
The International Institute for Strategic Studies performed a survey which places the United States as the world’s foremost cyber superpower (but China performs more actual hacking).
What is the cyber attack warning 2023?
A warning from the FBI came in an private industry notification dated September 27, 2023: "The FBI noted a trend of dual ransomware attacks conducted in close proximity to one another. During these attacks, cyber threat actors deployed two different ransomware variants."
How secure is your network?
As a longstanding, reputable member of the Charlotte IT Support community, ITFirm.com offers a FREE, no-risk network and Cybersecurity assessment. We perform a non-intrusive scan that allows us to deliver a comprehensive report of the state of your system and its vulnerabilities that is yours to keep. There are no strings attached, and you are under no obligation ever to use our IT services.
The two best defenses are next-generation Cybersecurity to protect your data from theft, and a top-notch Managed Services Provider to ensure continued reliability and defenses against newly emerging threats.
We put our 100% Money Back Guarantee in writing, so there is no risk in trying us out. Because we do not require a ‘hard’ contract, our clients can fire us at any time with 30 days’ notice. We have to be good.
Among the Managed IT services we provide:
IT HelpDesk Service
Onsite IT Support
Cybersecurity
Cloud migration and management
Email migration services
Backup and disaster recovery
VoIP phone systems
IT disposition and recycling
Office moves
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