As Russia's military continues to attack Ukraine, the war there could eventually reach U.S. shores, but in another form. Instead of bombs and missiles, Russia may launch cyber attacks on U.S. information systems or critical infrastructure. "There is the definite possibility of a cyber attack against the United States, perpetrated by Russia and potentially other nation-state actors that might work together with Russia," says Leeza Garber, privacy law attorney and cyber security expert. "It seems like we're in a sort-of cyber Cold War, because we all have these (cyber) capabilities."
Russia has already shown the capability of hacking into systems within the U.S. Last year, a Russian-linked group shut down the Colonial Pipeline with a ransomware attack, cutting off gasoline to much of the East Coast. A Russian-linked group also shut down a U.S. meat plant with a cyberattack. And the 2020 data breach of the SolarWinds IT system was laid at the feet of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service.
Garber explains that we are vulnerable to cyberattacks simply by the nature of our modern day high tech systems. "Much of what we consider real life is now run by a computer system, run by something connected to the Internet," she tells KTRH. "Tech is controlling how operations run, and when that tech gets hurt by a cyberattack, it shuts down, it's blacked out, and it can be very difficult to get up and running again."
"Remember, anything connected to the internet can be hacked."
To be sure, the U.S. isn't just a sitting duck. "The United States has both proactive and reactive cyber security abilities," says Garber. "We are gathering intelligence every day, we are finding out about systems overseas, and we have espionage happening as well...it's just the nature of the beast."
Nevertheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't need to target the U.S. for us to feel the consequences of a cyberattack. "Even if Russia doesn't hit the United States directly, if Russia hits Ukraine (with a cyberattack), there's always the chance that kind of attack can ripple outward," says Garber. "And because many worldwide systems are connected, something bad could happen in our country as well."
That leads us to the poll question today.