Cyber Attacks Are Becoming More Dangerous Than We Can Think

The Internet War

In a recent assessment made by Thomas Holt, a professor at Michigan State University (MSU), such a war can be far more devastating emotionally and economically than any physical attacks. Since the booming growth of Internet usage at the beginning of the 21st century, cases of data breaches and loss of information happen daily. Due to the safety, anonymity (If done correctly), convenience, and the nasty effects it can cause to the victims, cyber attacks are becoming more prevalent in far-left extremist groups than traditional physical attacks.

The Internet is not infallible, that is the reason why the top of a rule of cybersecurity is that information stored on the Internet can always be retrieved. Sure, you can make it difficult for anyone who attempts to access your stored information without your consent by using a password. It is possible to even take it up another notch by wrapping it up in layers of encryption and store it on a personal server.

But the thing about the Internet is that there’s always a flaw somewhere that can be exploited. It is almost impossible to build a security protocol so flawless that it’s impossible to be bypassed. Certainly, for high calibre information security protocols, the flaws may be extremely hard to detect and hard to exploit. However, if someone really wants to, has the tools, and the knowledge?

It’s only a matter of time and effort. As evident, if the U.S. Department of Defence can be hacked, it is difficult to think that the contents of your e-mails are perfectly safe.

That’s why cyber attacks are being favoured and made the Internet a highly ideal platform to attack. If it’s there on the Internet, it can be accessed by anyone, even those who shouldn’t have. In today’s world where everything is running with the Internet and uploaded every hour, the possibilities are endless for hackers.

Vigilante or Vandals?

In his assessment, Holt noted that at this moment in time, ideologically motivated attacks are one of the most popular and dangerous categories.

In his analysis, Holt dissected the nature and impact of ideologically motivated cyberattacks from far-left groups such as the Animal Liberation Front and Anonymous. Since the attacks happen exclusively on cyberspace, it is certain that no humans were harmed.

It is also rare for these groups to target any individuals in particular. Rather, targets are often groups, businesses, and governments whose ideals are different than theirs. Attacks often throw these entities into disarray by erasing, stealing key information. In worse cases, disable their online presence completely, incurring great damages to the entity - and if it was a business, their customers, also.