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Cyber War Coming In 2018?

Cyber War Coming In 2018?

– Cyber war is increasing threat – Investors are not prepared for
– Third most likely global risk in 2018 is cyber war say WEF
– “Scale and sophistication of attacks is going to grow”

– EU, US, NATO lay down ground rules for offensive cyber war
– Ireland is viable target for attackers but is ‘grossly unprepared for cyber war’
– UK should expect attack that cripples infrastructure within 2 years
– Trump administration may use nuclear weapons in response to cyber attacks

– Cyber war designed to have a economic impact on countries
– Invest in physical assets as well as digital assets & currencies
– Avoid ETF and digital gold and own physical gold that is allocated and segregated

Cyber-attacks are the third most likely global risk for 2018, behind extreme weather conditions and natural disasters, according to a new report by the World Economic Forum.

Estimated to cost over $1 trillion per year, cyber-attacks are now more expensive than natural disasters which in 2017 brought in a bill of $300 billion.

“We are still under resourced in the amount of effort put into trying to mitigate this risk…Cyber is at or above the scale of natural catastrophes [in terms of financial damage caused] and yet the comparative infrastructure is much smaller in scale,” according to John Drzik of WEF report partner Marsh.

The World Economic Forum’s Margareta Drzeniek-Hanouz, head of economic progress, told a press conference that cyber-risks are affecting society and the economy in “new, broader ways.”

They now impact not just the corporate sector as we usually assume but also government infrastructures and the geopolitical sphere. Arguably we are also seeing them shape societies.

The report’s launch comes at a time when cyber-attack warnings are coming in thick and fast. Governments have been warned this week that they are grossly underprepared for an attack which could see politics taken out of the electorate’s hands, billions wiped from financial markets and chaos generally created between otherwise peaceful nations.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Is the Mexican Government Spying on Journalists?

Is the Mexican Government Spying on Journalists?

On the season finale of ‘CYBERWAR,’ Ben Makuch investigates why government spyware is cropping up on Mexican reporters’ smartphones.

On Tuesday, VICELAND is airing the season finale of CYBERWAR, sending Ben Makuch to Mexico to investigate the government’s potentially fraught use of hacking tools. Mexican authorities purchased spyware for their fight against drug cartels—but now a spate of watchdog journalists covering government corruption have detected the invasive software on their smartphones.

Russia Threatens Retaliation If Washington Engages In “State Cyberterrorism”

Russia Threatens Retaliation If Washington Engages In “State Cyberterrorism”

In the latest startling revelation that the US and Russia are ever closer to a state of, if not “kinetic”, then certainly cyberwar, overnight NBC reported that U.S. military hackers had penetrated Russia’s electric grid, telecommunications networks and the Kremlin’s command systems, making them vulnerable to attack by secret American cyber weapons should the U.S. deem it necessary. As noted earlier, American officials have long accused Russia, China and other nations of probed probing and leaving hidden malware on parts of U.S critical infrastructure, “preparing the battlefield,” in military parlance, for cyber attacks that could turn out the lights or turn off the internet across major cities.

What has been less noted is that the US has done exactly the same thing and as NBC wrote, “it’s been widely assumed that the U.S. has done the same thing to its adversaries. The documents reviewed by NBC News — along with remarks by a senior U.S. intelligence official — confirm that, in the case of Russia.”

But it’s not just infrastructure that is threatened: the story coming out just three days before the election was hardly a coincidence as NBC said that U.S. officials again expressed concern that Russia will use its cyber capabilities to try to disrupt next week’s presidential election, even though all such allegations of Russian mingling in the U.S. political cycle have so far remained unconfirmed.

In any case, Russia responded to the report, and said that it expects Washington to provide an explanation if it is indeed true that Pentagon hackers have penetrated Russia’s power grids, telecommunications networks, and the Kremlin’s command systems for a possible sabotage.

Regarding the recent media reports that US military hackers have penetrated Russian’s telecommunications networks and electric grid, as well as “the Kremlin’s command systems”, we expect a response from the US authorities, including the White House and the Department of State with a legal assessment of the reports.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Cyber-Attacks Are The New Cold War

Cyber-Attacks Are The New Cold War

The Invisible Enemy

Earlier this month President Obama declared foreign cyber-threats a “national emergency”.   During the State of the Union address, he said that “if the US government does not improve cyber defenses, we leave our nation and our economy vulnerable”.  This past weekend the TV program 60 Minutes ran a special on cyber security, particularly pertaining to the importance of our nation’s satellite systems.

In the April issue of CIO Magazine, the President and CEO of IDG Communications wrote an article about cybersecurity, stating “significant data breaches at Anthem, Sony, Home Depot, eBay, JPMorgan Chase, Target and many more have caused headline-grabbing business upheavals that worry customers, affect profit margins, and derail corporate careers”.   It seems there are now daily news articles about sinister cyber-activity.

Cyber-threats or crimes can be orchestrated in various ways.   Targets can be aimed at critical infrastructure, manufacturing, power grids, or water supplies.   They could be aimed at disrupting the availability of websites and networks, or at stealing trade secrets and financial information.  Others could be driven by espionage, vandalism, terrorism, sabotage, or any form of criminality.   Activities of the US and British governments have focused on surveillance and hacking of telecommunications.

It is difficult to fight cyber-activity, because the enemy is often invisible and their home address typically unclear.  Building defenses are challenging while continuous ‘patchwork’ is a deficient solution.  Threats morph and change quickly.  For corporations many threats are internal and could come from rogue employees or from senior managers with weak passwords who have access to sensitive files.  Some companies are now even looking into having retaliatory capabilities.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

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