One of my goals on this blog site is to remain as apolitical
as possible. But this is one time in which
I am going to break this rule. Just in
the last week, our great country, the United States of America, has seen market
swings that not even my parents, a first generation of Indians immigrating to this
country have ever seen.
Millions of diligent Americans who have sacrificed life and limb to make this country
have had their savings and retirement accounts totally decimated. Of course, we all know where the fingers point
to on this one, but I will not venture there.
Also, adding to this turmoil are the mass layoffs that
are occurring to the Federal Government agencies. Because of this, many people
are now starting to wonder, just how vulnerable is the United States to a wide
scale Cyberattack? IMHO, we are very
prone to it. But, it may not be the
direct impact that you might be imaging.
Rather, the Cyberattacker of today, while they love to thrive in chaos,
will cause even more chaos.
How is this possible, you may be asking? Well, according to experts, many think the
Cyberattacker will somehow try to sabotage the current negotiations that are taking
place with those countries that have offered an olive branch.
There are many ways that this can happen, but one way, which is cheap and inexpensive to is to spread
false information around, mostly on social media sites, such as Facebook, X, Instagram,
and You Tube.
One of the best methods to do this is to create what is
known as a “Deepfake”. I have written about
this in previous blogs, but essentially,
you are creating a fake video of real people.
The goal is to make them look as authentic as possible.
In fact, technology has gotten so advanced, it is even
hard for the trained eye to discern that it is a fake. So now imagine, a Deepfake created of a US
Trade Representative, claiming that progress is being made on cutting a deal
with China, and that it will be sealed in just a matter of days.
The Cyberattacker then posts this on the platforms just
mentioned, and in response the financial markets climb to over 1,000
points. But later, when it is revealed that
this was just fake news, the markets will whipsaw again, going down yet once
again by a similar amount. Essentially,
people will let their guard down, making
them extremely vulnerable.
Because of this, the Cyberattacker will then fully exploit
this situation, and insert pieces of malicious payloads wherever they can get access
to an IT and Network Infrastructure.
Another way that the Cyberattacker can take advantage of
this tariff chaos is to engage with a
laid off Federal Employee. Take
for instance this person was just let go
of the CIA. It really is not too hard to
get a list of people who have been affected in this regard.
Once the Cyberattacker has found a victim, they will then
engage in the tactics of Social Engineering to lure them in. At their weakest moment, they will then try
to extract top secret information or
intelligence, and from the information gleaned from that, launch a large-scale
attack. Or worst yet, the Cyberattacker
may just try to convince the CIA ex worker to turn to the proverbial “Dark Side”,
by offering them a large amount of money and becoming an operative for a rogue
nation.
Yet another trend that could transpire is that a
Cyberattacking group from one nation that has been hit hard by the tariffs will
try to recruit the other groups from other nations that have been as well. They can then all come together to root for a
common cause, which would be to support their fellow countrymen.
If this were to happen (and there is a good chance that it
is), just imagine all the firepower that these Cyberattacking groups will have cumulatively. A huge fear is that there could be multiple hits on the Critical Infrastructure
not just here in the United States, but
on a global basis. Just imagine not having
water, fuel, or electricity for days on end.
A final way that a Cyberattacker can make their mark on
their victim is for them to keep an eye
on the share price of businesses that have been or will be impacted by these
tariffs. As they go down, you can be
rest assured that these companies will be spending far less on Cybersecurity to
keep their doors open.
With these lowered defenses, the Cyberattacker can then
easily make their grand entry, and do what they want. This would be the final nail in the coffin to
businesses that are already struggling in the current tariff environment.
My Thoughts on This:
As I have also written before, humans tend to be creatures
of habit. We hate change, and worse yet,
uncertainty. But, this is the kind of environment
that the. berattacker thrives on, after all, this is when the population, is at its weakest point.
Many Cyber experts also are warning businesses and consumers
not to expect hardly any help from the Federal Government, as CISA is even
facing budget cuts and mass layoffs of its own kind.
So, what is one to do?
My best advice here is to remain on top of things. While you might be totally stressed out that
your 401K is rapidly declining (as is mine), it is also important to keep in
mind that there are other priorities as well, such as keeping you and your
family safe from any kind of security breaches.
Unfortunately, the rotten irony of all of this is that the
one segment of society that is not impacted by tariffs is, and yep, you got
is: the Cyberattacker.
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