How Can We Prepare for a Global Scale Cyber Attack?
Attacks on our digital infrastructures, known as cyber-attacks, are a common occurrence in the 21st century. Facilitated by high-speed wireless data transmission technologies, our reliance on digital communications has made us susceptible to attacks that could seriously disrupt global digital infrastructures. Such infrastructures include financial markets, telecommunication capabilities, healthcare, transportation, national security, and other technology-driven sectors.
Consequently, cyberterrorism and a global-scale cyber attack have the potential to be catastrophic to our modern world.
The scale of historical cyber and ransomware attacks, while certainly damaging, has been relatively small until
this point. But the possibility exists that a global-scale cyber attack could be orchestrated and result in the widespread loss of digital infrastructure access for whole geographic regions. It’s, therefore, become crucial to prepare for this new era of global cyber attacks with revolutionary approaches to cybersecurity that take the specific risks of large-scale cyber attacks into account.
What Could Cause a Global-Scale Cyber Attack?
Attacks by bad actors on our existing digital infrastructures are no longer novel. Cyberterrorism is a well-documented tool often used by governments to destabilize enemies and rivals.
Examples of large-scale cyber and ransomware attacks in recent years include activity thought to be orchestrated by the People’s Republic of China, as detailed by the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The Russian Federation, meanwhile, has been reportedly preparing for additional cyberattacks against the backdrop of the Ukrainian conflict to leverage their flagging efforts to capture the country.
Yet these are just examples of relatively small-scale cyber-attacks that had specific targets. Larger-scale attacks, even global ones, would need to be fundamentally different to have a worldwide impact. In this case, the most apparent threat to global digital infrastructure is undoubtedly a powerful, widespread EMP, which due to the sheer sophistication and destructiveness of modern-day cyber weapons, could lead to societal collapse.
What is an EMP?
An EMP strike is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy that can affect an entire geographic region, such as the United States. Once triggered, the electromagnetic interference disrupts, or if large enough, destroys susceptible electronic devices and equipment in the targeted area. Therefore, the functioning of infrastructures essential to sustaining lives could be jeopardized, such as transportation, hospitals, water systems, communication systems, the electric grid, and other lifeline systems. Thus, the employment of an EMP weapon is a serious threat to societal continuity.
Historical Examples of EMPs
The idea of a massive electromagnetic pulse disrupting electronic infrastructure across large territories may sound like a doomsday scenario you’re more likely to encounter in science-fiction films than in real life. Yet the truth is that an EMP can not only accomplish this feat but that it has influenced modern civilization already. In fact, there are examples of global electromagnetic pulses that have occurred in the past, such as the Carrington Event, which occurred in 1859.
