The daily life of American people just like national security and economic strength depends on a safe cyberspace. There is too much data of American people in cyberspace. This data is used every day and if it is compromised it can affect the American way of life. Think of a patient going to a hospital only to find electronic health records are not accessible. Think also of a shopper who cannot shop because his or her financial information is compromised. It is even more sad to visit a government office in search of services only to find government is not operational due to cyber-attack (Singh, 2018).
Cyber threats put all sectors of the economy at risk. The explosion of information technology is giving governments around the world headache and American government is not an exemption. The technology advancement is bringing benefits in terms of faster and better service delivery. But, on the other hand cyber threats are flourishing at some rate security agencies cannot handle. Security agencies perform depending on budgets. This budget cannot cope with tools that cyber-attacks possess. For instance, state sponsored or terror group like ISIS can have advanced hacking tools and can hire experienced hackers (DHS, 2022).
SolarWinds hack of 2020 is an example of a cyber-threat that affected how people live, not only in American but also in other nation. SolarWinds develops management software’s that are used by enterprises and governments around the world. The actors were able to penetrate SolarWinds systems, send update patch to SolarWinds customers and in the process mine their data. The update patch was a malware with an ability to access system files and blend with other SolarWinds systems without being detected (Kerner, 2022).
The SolarWinds attack was carried out by Russian actors. It targeted both private sector and government agencies. The aim of the attack remains a mystery. But, perhaps it was espionage. This attack eroded Americans trust, integrity and confidence in relation to safety and privacy of their data. The missing emails from the attacked organizations raises many questions. This emails can be used against the American people and the government. Also, the systems that were attacked remains unsecure and thus data added to those systems are vulnerable to be mined (Jibilian, 2021).
SolarWinds attack is an example of how cyber threats evolve. They can be in the domains, social platforms or on physical infrastructure. Therefore, firewall alone is not enough to secure cyber threats. This attack is a big challenge to federal government as far as cybersecurity is concerned. It is sad to note that even the government was not aware it was under attack. It was a private entity that first noted the attack (Kerner, 2022).
The lesson the government learnt from the SolarWinds attack are; cyber-attacks can happen when there is distraction. The year 2020 when SolarWinds was attacked all government efforts were directed to Covid-19 pandemic and government transition. Two, employees of the organizations that were target were adopting to working from home routines. The second lesson that the government learnt is that cyber-attacks are inevitable. Therefore, proper planning of how to respond to them should be in place. This can ensure quick recovery and restoration of affected systems (Sjouwerman, 2021).
Cyber threats put all sectors of the economy at risk. The explosion of information technology is giving governments around the world headache and American government is not an exemption. The technology advancement is bringing benefits in terms of faster and better service delivery. But, on the other hand cyber threats are flourishing at some rate security agencies cannot handle. Security agencies perform depending on budgets. This budget cannot cope with tools that cyber-attacks possess. For instance, state sponsored or terror group like ISIS can have advanced hacking tools and can hire experienced hackers (DHS, 2022).
SolarWinds hack of 2020 is an example of a cyber-threat that affected how people live, not only in American but also in other nation. SolarWinds develops management software’s that are used by enterprises and governments around the world. The actors were able to penetrate SolarWinds systems, send update patch to SolarWinds customers and in the process mine their data. The update patch was a malware with an ability to access system files and blend with other SolarWinds systems without being detected (Kerner, 2022).
The SolarWinds attack was carried out by Russian actors. It targeted both private sector and government agencies. The aim of the attack remains a mystery. But, perhaps it was espionage. This attack eroded Americans trust, integrity and confidence in relation to safety and privacy of their data. The missing emails from the attacked organizations raises many questions. This emails can be used against the American people and the government. Also, the systems that were attacked remains unsecure and thus data added to those systems are vulnerable to be mined (Jibilian, 2021).
SolarWinds attack is an example of how cyber threats evolve. They can be in the domains, social platforms or on physical infrastructure. Therefore, firewall alone is not enough to secure cyber threats. This attack is a big challenge to federal government as far as cybersecurity is concerned. It is sad to note that even the government was not aware it was under attack. It was a private entity that first noted the attack (Kerner, 2022).
The lesson the government learnt from the SolarWinds attack are; cyber-attacks can happen when there is distraction. The year 2020 when SolarWinds was attacked all government efforts were directed to Covid-19 pandemic and government transition. Two, employees of the organizations that were target were adopting to working from home routines. The second lesson that the government learnt is that cyber-attacks are inevitable. Therefore, proper planning of how to respond to them should be in place. This can ensure quick recovery and restoration of affected systems (Sjouwerman, 2021).
