CEO, VFT Solutions, Inc. SME in Anti-Piracy, Social Media, Content Moderation, Censorship, & Free Speech, Cybersecurity law and practice.
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The world faces wars, territorial conflicts, natural resource scarcity, and economic and societal disruption on a scale unseen since the early 1920s. Simultaneously, the technology industry and its customers are in a frenzy, driven by the fear of missing out (FOMO) and the lack of deep tech understanding.
This situation poses an existential threat to all of us. Considering the rapid technological advancements and the insatiable appetite of nations and industries to gain a competitive advantage, it is crucial to acknowledge that many business, government and education decision-makers may belong to the 20th-century analog generation.
According to a 2019 study by organizational consulting firm Korn Ferry, the average age of a C-suite executive was 59.
The result? The C-suite has to rely on younger advisers who have been educated and spent most of their careers in a world dominated by digital natives. Our bias will always be to the familiar instead of the unfamiliar. According to the Heuristic Encyclopedia, this phenomenon is the "Familiarity Effect," which "is very common and likely plays a role in almost every decision we make. We are creatures of habit, and our preference for familiarity contributes to this bias."
From a perspective of marketing and sales in the technology industry, those with knowledge of digital technology have a significant advantage over potential customers who belong to the analog generations. This disparity in experience is creating a considerable risk to governments, businesses and, ultimately, individuals from the effects of "intechication." In 2018, I coined this term in a Forbes Technology Council article to describe the "intoxicating effects of widespread over-reliance on technology" we are experiencing today.
Just a few examples recently come to mind. In February, Change Healthcare, the nation's largest health payment vendor (owned by UnitedHealth Group), was the victim of a cyberattack. According to a USA Today article, and confirmed by the American Hospital Association, "A third of all patient records and processes 15 billion health care transactions a year, according to an HHS letter." The Change Healthcare breach follows what the article says was a record-setting year of healthcare breaches in 2023, which exposed the health records of 144 million Americans.
Like healthcare, government agencies are also vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches. An example of this is the 2015 cyberattack on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, when hackers compromised the sensitive information of 22 million current and former federal employees, including their personnel records and security clearance details.
The private sector is one of the most vulnerable and profitable targets for cyberattackers. Multiple examples show the significant amount of risk that cyberattacks cause to businesses and individuals, in no particular order. According to risk management firm UpGuard, in 2021, the business social media platform LinkedIn was hacked, which resulted in 700 million users' data being available for sale on the dark web. In 2019, Facebook lost control of 533 million records, and in 2013, Experian, the credit rating giant, had over 200 million personal records exposed.
From a critical infrastructure perspective, connected technology has the potential to create mass havoc, widespread loss of essential services and products and even vulnerability to attack by foreign adversaries.
RAND Corporation recently reported on the congressional testimony FBI Director Christopher Wray gave on Jan. 31. Wray discussed how Chinese hackers are "positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities," but the article points out how American infrastructure has been targeted by adversaries for years: "A 2017 hack of the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant in Kansas was the work of Russian hackers, as was a 2022 attack on an international food company, which temporarily closed all of its meatpacking plants in the United States. ... In 2013, Disaster was near when Iranian hackers infiltrated the control systems of the Bowman Avenue Dam in New York and nearly flooded a small town."
What to do? Perhaps what is old is new again.
The fairy tale of the three little pigs teaches us some valuable lessons that can be applied to the topic of critical infrastructure security. For instance, the first pig built his house out of straw, which was easily destroyed by the huffing and puffing of the big bad wolf. Similarly, when it comes to critical infrastructure, using weak and vulnerable technology leaves it open to attack from malicious actors.
The second pig built his house out of sticks, which was also easily destroyed by the wolf. This is the equivalent of using outdated or poorly maintained technology that can be exploited by hackers.
Finally, the third pig built his house out of bricks, which withstood the wolf's huffing and puffing. This is similar to using strong and secure technology for critical infrastructure built to withstand attacks.
In today's digital age, digital technology and connectivity are critical; any loss of connection can lead to severe bottlenecks and chaos in a society addicted to technology. This is why manufacturers, sellers and their governmental and industrial customers must focus on physical redundancy to protect against the loss of connectivity or functionality from cyberattacks.
The story of the three little pigs teaches us the importance of building robust and secure safeguards for government, critical infrastructure, essential services and products. By creating physical redundancy in addition to technology, we can ensure minimal viable functionality even in the face of an attack or loss of connectivity. This redundancy can take many forms, such as backup power supplies, multiple data centers, redundant network connections, physically stored records, data and objects, which are crucial to survival while recovery efforts are underway. We must prioritize physical redundancy in our technology to safeguard our critical infrastructure and prevent widespread chaos.
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