For quite some time, four years actually, my greatest fear has been the possibility that Russian hackers could mess with the election (again), or worse yet, they could hack our infrastructure, cripple our nation and bring us to our knees.
The object of this post is NOT to freak you out, or scare you for Halloween. The object is to inform you of serious potential issues so that if (when) the shit hits the fan, you may be both psychologically and physically prepared. Think of it as preparing for a hurricane where it may take months to recover, if at all.
About a year ago, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the Department of Homeland Security issued a report to the public regarding Russian hacking of U.S. infrastructures. I no longer have that direct link, but see links at end of this post. That highly technical 40-page report outlined in detail the various infrastructures throughout the U.S. which have been penetrated by Russian hackers. These included the electrical grid, sewage treatment facilities, water plants, aviation control, election systems and much, much more.
Now look, I am NOT a cybersecurity expert, but I spent almost a decade building web sites during the early days of the (modern, general user) Internet. For what it’s worth, I even wrote a weekly article for our small town paper frequently advising readers about viruses, online security and such. I am not an expert, but I certainly paid attention.
When the referenced report was released, I pointed it out to a number of friends. The smart ones raised an eyebrow, others told me I was paranoid.
So, THIS WEEK, the New York Times reports that CISA has issued warnings of Russian hackers attacking hospital and medical systems with the Ransomware virus, shutting down entire networks. They have also attacked a few voting systems and school system networks. To me it looks like they are just warming up and testing a few vulnerabilities here and there. Either threatening to attack or actually planning to attack - Big Time!
Welcome to my Halloween nightmare! Boo!!
Imagine for a moment, waking up late cuz your alarm didn’t go off, discovering your power is out, in fact your cell phone has no service. You cuss and go to the bathroom. The toilet flushes, but no water refills the tank.
You been hacked, Bro!
Damn good thing you planned ahead and stocked up big time on drinking water, canned goods and toilet paper (even if the toilet no longer works).
Just sayin. Don’t be scared - Be SMART!
To quote Oingo Boingo “Dead Man’s Party”
Don’t be afraid, it’s only me.
Don’t be afraid of what you cannot see.
This is from their farewell concert Halloween 1995 — HIGHLY recommended!
Hope this doesn’t last too long, I didn’t buy that much candy for Halloween this year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/hospitals-cyberattacks-coronavirus.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/politics/2020-election-hacking.html
https://www.dhs.gov/publication/2020-homeland-threat-assessment
https://www.dhs.gov/publications-library/collections/reports
https://www.dhs.gov/publications-library/cybersecurity
https://www.cisa.gov/cyber-resource-hub#
https://www.cisa.gov/detection-and-prevention