Professor Suresh Chander
On 19 June 2020, Australian Prime Minister Morrison said cyber attacks had spanned “government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure”. The seriousness of its implications was not discussed in the lay press.
Cyber defence agencies had thwarted “many” hacking attempts but protection required “constant persistence and application”, added Morrison.
Mr Morrison further said, ” We raised this issue today not to raise concerns in the public’s mind, but to raise awareness in the public’s mind.”
* Morrison did not specify as to how public’s awareness will help combat cyber attacks launched by unknown individuals, organizations or even unidentified state actors.
Barring a few countries, the rest of the world is not equipped to handle cyber attacks in the absence of robust computer systems. Computer systems have to have in house security systems and not from third party vendors. China has developed its own systems.
The security does not come cheap. It is more complex than designing a pick proof lock. Even very secure vaults have been vulnerable.
Most security experts believe that the future of internet security is not very good, new methods are being invented, new tricks, and every year it gets worse. We are not breaking even. However, we need not panic and accept the poor state of security and work to mitigate the risk of attacks rather than try to prevent attacks altogether.
It is cyber war that can cripple the economic activities. In a worst case scenario banks, water supplies, electric supplies can be affected. Even military hardware can be immobilised.
During the initial stages of Covid-19, the media did not prominently display the news of cyber attack on Iran’s bustling Shahid Rajaee port terminal.
On May 9, shipping traffic at Iran’s bustling Shahid Rajaee port terminal came to an abrupt and inexplicable halt. Computers that regulate the flow of vessels, trucks and goods all crashed at once, creating massive backups on waterways and roads leading to the facility.
After waiting a day, Iranian officials acknowledged that an unknown foreign hacker had briefly knocked the port’s computers offline. After a few days the reports came that the port was the victim of a substantial cyber attack that U.S. and foreign government officials say appears to have originated with Iran’s arch enemy, Israel.
The attack, which snarled traffic around the port for days, was carried out perhaps by Israeli operatives, presumably in retaliation for an earlier attempt to penetrate computers that operate rural water distribution systems in Israel, according to intelligence and cyber security officials familiar with the matter.
Security officials opinionated that the May 9 attacks were “highly accurate” and noted that the damage to the Iranian port was more serious than described in official Iranian accounts.
It is believed that the attack was carried out by Israeli operatives, presumably in retaliation for an earlier attempt by Iran to penetrate computers that operate two rural water distribution systems in Israel.
The hackers sought to cripple computers that control water flow and wastewater treatment, as well as a system that regulates the addition of chlorine and other chemicals. The intrusion was detected and thwarted before significant damage was done.
Investigators found that the hackers routed their attempted attack through computer servers in the United States and Europe — a common tactic used by adversaries of the West. Israeli Water Authority officials detected the attempt and immediately took measures, including changing system passwords.
Years earlier, U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies unleashed a computer worm called Stuxnet on Iranian uranium-enrichment plants in an attempt to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program. Neither country officially confirmed its role.
These incidents are not out of scientific fiction but real world incidents giving glimpses of future warfare using IT weapons.
It is the result of much publicised interconnected systems. These systems are efficient and user friendly but on the flip side easy to cause disruption intentionally or otherwise.
The core banking has eased the lives of customers and bank officials. Visits to the home branch of a bank has become passé.
Digital economy as a concept is wonderful. It has made life easy. But in case of massive breakdown, the old economy will win. But nothing to be alarmed about, each technology has a darker side. For example, we continue to use automobiles notwithstanding the fact that 13.5 lakhs people were killed on roadways around the world in 2019. The corresponding figures for India are 1.51 lakhs.
Global Uniformity
We worry about biodiversity in the rainforest. But what about intellectual diversity – our most necessary resource? That’s disappearing faster than trees! Many languages and millions of dialects have disappeared.
But we haven’t figured that out, so now we’re planning to put seven billion plus people together in cyberspace. It may freeze the entire species. Everything may stop dead in its tracks. Everyone will think the same thing at the same time.
Human beings are transforming the planet, and nobody knows whether it’s a dangerous development or not. So these behavioral processes can happen faster than we usually think evolution occurs. In ten thousand years human beings have gone from hunting to farming to cities to cyberspace.
Does cyberspace mean the end of our species? Perhaps.
Mass media is swamping diversity. That’s the effect of mass media – it keeps anything from happening. It makes every place the same. Nearer home, Mumbai or Bangalore or Gurgaon: there’s a McDonald’s on one corner, Big Bazaar on another, a Chaayos across the street. Most of the metropolitans and five star hotels look alike all over the world. Regional differences vanish. All differences vanish. In a mass-media world, there’s less of everything except the top ten books, records, movies, ideas.
Does it mean the end of innovation? The idea that the whole world is wired together is a.chilling thought.
Every biologist knows that small groups in isolation evolve fastest. Now, for our own species, evolution occurs mostly through our behavior. We innovate new behavior to adapt. And everybody on earth knows that innovation only occurs in small groups. Put three people on a committee and they may get something done. Ten people, and it gets harder. Thirty people, and nothing happens. Thirty million, it becomes impossible. That’s the effect of mass media – it keeps anything from happening. Mass media swamps diversity. It makes every place the same.
Should we stop the use of modern technologies that have created cyberspace and the concept of global village? Answer is emphatic NO. The need is to strike a balance. Oral traditions and traditional wisdom will have to coexist with modern processes.
(Feedback: suresh.chander@gmail.com)
(The author is former Head of Computer Engineering Department in G B Pant University of Agriculture & Technology)
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