Cybercrime & Cyberwarfare

Ransomware Again

   
 
      By now you are very much aware of this subject and I was reminded of it because of another recent attack. It appears that even small islands are not safe from the extortionists. (See: “P.E.I. Government Website Down for Several Hours After Ransomware Attack,” Toronto Star (CP), April 23, 2018). The growing problems associated with Internet use sent me looking for the following article which I remembered and noted. It points out that although the Internet is not as important as many earlier discoveries, we are now all more vulnerable because of it. While we may overstate the importance of the Internet, we surely underestimate the damage that will be done when it goes down.

      “If I could, I would repeal the Internet. It is the technological marvel of the age, but it is not — as most people imagine — a symbol of progress. Just the opposite. We would be better off without it. I grant its astonishing capabilities: the instant access to vast amounts of information, the pleasures of YouTube and iTunes, the convenience of GPS and much more.   
     But the Internet’s benefits are relatively modest compared with previous transformative technologies, and it brings with it a terrifying danger: cyberwar. Amid the controversy over leaks from the National Security Agency, this looms as an even bigger downside.
     By cyberwarfare, I mean the capacity of groups — whether nations or not — to attack, disrupt and possibly destroy the institutions and networks that underpin everyday life. These would be power grids, pipelines, communication and financial systems, business record-keeping and supply-chain operations, railroads and airlines, databases of all types (from hospitals to government agencies). The list runs on. So much depends on the Internet that its vulnerability to sabotage invites doomsday visions of the breakdown of order and trust...."
     All this qualifies our view of the Internet. Granted, it’s relentless. New uses spread rapidly. Already, 56 percent of U.S. adults own smartphones and 34 percent have tablets, says the Pew Internet & American Life Project. But the Internet’s social impact is shallow. Imagine life without it. Would the loss of e-mail, Facebook or Wikipedia inflict fundamental change? Now imagine life without some earlier breakthroughs: electricity, cars, antibiotics. Life would be radically different. 
     The Internet’s virtues are overstated, its vices understated. It’s a mixed blessing — and the mix may be moving against us.”

Source: Robert Samuelson, "Of Internet Threats and Cyberattacks,"Washington Post,  June 30, 2013.
P.S. (P.E.I. was able to resolve the problem -this time.)