As part of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, this will be the first blog in our 5 week series.
Global Infrastructure Vulnerability – Often overlooked, but perhaps the impetus of catastrophe
Vandals, terrorists and solar storms; are probably not what comes to mind when considering the topic of cyber security. However, I’m talking big-picture here. Not trivial items such as a malware-infected email, an unsecure connection to a financial entity, or even identity theft. Yes, these are all very big concerns of our daily life. But, they are micro concerns relatively speaking. Not the macro, mega or even chaotic.
The Carrington Event: On Sept. 2, 1859, a CME (coronal mass ejection) struck Earth's magnetic field with such power that telegraph stations caught fire and people in Cuba read their morning newspapers by the red light of the northern lights. If a similar solar storm struck earth today, it might cause trillions of dollars of damage to modern society's high-tech infrastructure. It is estimated that 99% of everything in our daily lives is “connected.” Can you imagine if another Carrington Event happened again?
Terrorists attack: On April 16, 2013 in San Jose, someone slipped into an underground vault not far from a busy freeway and cut telephone cables, an attack on a power substation began. Within half an hour, snipers fired into the substation. Systematically they took out 17 transformers that supply power to Silicon Valley.
To avoid a blackout, electrical-grid officials rerouted power around the substation and had power plants in Silicon Valley produce more electricity. But, it took utility workers 27 days to make repairs and bring the substation back online. Again, 27 days for a single substation.
Fiber vandalism: The FBI is now involved in over 10 cases of severed fiber optic cables in the San Francisco area in 2015 alone. This is only San Francisco. Imagine any place in the world where nefarious characters are plotting more impactful damage than simply cutting fiber. See the Washington research firm Telegeography’s interactive Submarine Cable Map from 2014.
Each line you see on the map carries all of the world’s data traffic between continents and countries. All of this information for anyone in the world to view in amazement – or to plot something sinister?
When we think of cyber security we typically think locally: “How will this attachment in this email affect my PC?” “How do I know that my personal information is safe at my doctor’s office?” “By making this change to my company’s network am I opening up myself for a security breach?”
While we must remain watchful in these day-to-day practices, in comparison, we (and our relevant politicians) need to be thinking on a global scale. Astrophysicists believe we are overdue for the next mega-CME event. Again, imagine.
With low-level terrorists having the ability to nearly take down Silicon Valley, a CME such as The Carrington Event would devastate our current infrastructure globally. There are measures that can be put in place to protect us or at least soften the blow. There are better infrastructure technologies that can withstand such a bombardment of electrically charged particles. But like everything else, these cost money and time.
You may be thinking what you can do about it? Sometimes simply recognizing the problem and bringing the issues to the attention of those that can do something about it hold the beginnings of the solutions.
I’m fearful that it will take a catastrophe for us to realize where our biggest vulnerabilities as a species lie. I’m also fearful that it could be too late at that point.
Let us be vigilant and remember to consider globally impactful events, and not simply that one email attachment.
With proper planning, teamwork and execution, your business can become more secure against cyber threats. RKL eSolutions has an information technology team ready to help clients in a wide range of industries implement network and information systems infrastructure with an eye to security and accuracy. Contact RKL eSolutions today to find out how they can help your business tackle its IT challenges.
See Also: Cybersecurity Assessment Services
