The latest phase of the Iran war has already hit the home front—even in countries that are not fighting. This week, news broke that Iranian hackers shut down a British power plant for several days last month at the same time water plants in 12 American states faced significant cyberattacks. The entry into the British plant, which was relatively unsophisticated, was nonetheless the most successful known attack of its kind.
The power plant seems to have been a relatively minor one, so little damage was done. Power utilities in this country are often as small as British ones, and the distributed nature of the grid has previously afforded Americans some extra degree of protection. But that advantage may soon come to an end.
Governments have long known about the threat of cyberattacks to critical infrastructure, the systems that control vital functions like the electrical grid, water treatment, health care, and transportation services. Warnings about an "electronic Pearl Harbor" or the newer variant, "cyber Pearl Harbor," have abounded since the first infrastructure was connected to the Web. Mitigating that danger is very difficult: An attacker may only need to find one vulnerability, and people invariably make mistakes in designing or employing systems. Small utility companies, moreover, tend to not have the resources to get top-line protection.
So while the lackadaisical and biased MSM debates whether Trump has truly “won” the war in Iran, independent media is warning about a far more serious threat: Iran’s use of cyberattacks, the potential destruction of critical infrastructure across America, and its efforts to enlist China’s help in retaliating against the United States. Yet another reason not to trust the liberal media.
RELATED: Trump Declares ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Iran
No comments:
Post a Comment