Could a Major Cyber Attack Trigger the End of the World

With Iran resuming its nuclear testing and the US and Russia pulling out of important anti-weapon acts, we might be at the brink of a new nuclear arms race. This is a real threat to civilisation and one we should be worried about, but many people ignore the threat of global cyber-attacks. State-sponsored agents and independent cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated at a time when we're getting more dependent than ever on technology. This could be a recipe for disaster. Let's take a look at how cyberattacks could be what ends up triggering the apocalypse.

Chinks in the Armor

As we said earlier, more of our systems are controlled by technology, and that means that everything from our power plants, to traffic light systems, and water purification plants are vulnerable to attacks. And, if you think these are too difficult to penetrate, think again. One attack that targeted a US water treatment plant came very close to poisoning a water reservoir after hackers changed the recipe for purification. If this had gone unnoticed, thousands of people would’ve been affected.

Cyber Attacks Could Lead to a Slow Death

This may sound alarmist, but cyberattacks could have the same death toll as nuclear weapons. The only difference is that they would do it over a much longer period. This could be as a result of food, gas, or electricity shortages, for instance. We could see one massive attack affecting crucial systems, or lots of small coordinated attacks that would be comparable to a guerrilla war. Both would cause widespread damage and insecurity, which could end up destroying the fabric of society.

Hackers are Sending Messages

Hackers are also beginning to flex their muscles and show what they're capable of. In 2017, hackers attacked a large portion of the power grid in Ukraine. The attack could've been much worse if they caused damage to equipment, which they could, but chose not to. A similar attack was perpetrated on the UK electrical system in 2018 and the US in 2019. The worst part in both of these attacks is that the attackers remain anonymous to this day.

Cyber Security to be a Major Concern

Cybersecurity will need to be a priority from now on, whether you're an enterprise or a government agency. It has been estimated that the US has been spending USD $790 million on cybersecurity in 2020, which was a 5% increase from the year before.

A lot of this had to do with fears from attacks from North Korea and Russia, but especially Russia as they have a long history of state-sponsored cyber-attacks. During this period, Australians spent around $5 Billion on cybersecurity. It's expected that this will balloon to $7.4 Billion in 2024, which shows the growing concerns of the general public. It also shows a real effort to counter this threat, which is encouraging.