Why We Shouldn't Be Baking Bugs Into Critical Systems

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The United States is now among the most targeted countries by sib attacks. We have such a wide, complex attack surface now that we have plugged soffware into everything we do. A bumbling cibre criminal group didn't even have to develop the code themselves. They actually rented ransom ware code from a criminal group that rents out ransomwhere as a service. How did they get in? Because colonial pipe line forgot to deactivate an old employee account. That employee had a password, and the company had not enab multi factor authentication. So all it took for this criminal group to hold colonial pipe line systems hostage was a stolen password. It could have taken the entire us down.

When you hear the word cyber-attack, what comes to mind? Someone hacking into your email, or stealing your Facebook password?

As it turns out, our most critical infrastructure can be hacked. Our banks, water treatment facilities, and nuclear power plants can be deactivated and even controlled simply by finding bugs in the software used to operate them. Suddenly, cyber-attack takes on a different meaning.

This week on Your Undivided Attention, we're talking with cyber-security expert Nicole Perlroth. Nicole spent a decade as the lead cyber-security reporter at The New York Times, and is now a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Advisory Committee. She recently published “This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends” — an in-depth exploration of the global cyber arms race.

CORRECTIONS: In the episode, Nicole says that "the United States could have only afforded 2 to 3 more days of Colonial Pipeline being down before it ground the country — our economy — to a halt." The correct number is actually 3 to 5 days. She also refers to a 2015 study researching why some countries have significantly fewer successful cyber-attacks relative to cyber-attack attempts. That study was actually published in 2016.

RECOMMENDED MEDIA

This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends

Nicole Perlroth’s 2021 book investigating the global cyber-weapons arms race

Reporter Page at the New York Times

Nicole’s articles while the lead cyber-security reporter at the New York Times

The Global Cyber-Vulnerability Report (in brief)

Brief of a 2015 study by the Center for Digital International Government, Virginia Tech, and the University of Maryland that researched why some countries have significantly fewer successful cyber-attacks relative to cyber-attack attempts

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Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_