Mutually Assured Deletion

At the start of the Ukraine-Russia war social media posts and reputable news outlets showed the potentially devastating consequences of unleashing nuclear weapons. Experts commented on the mutually assured destruction that would ensue if Ukraine’s allies were to put ‘boots on the ground’. However, there is little recognition of the fact that one of our biggest security concerns lies closer to home: cybersecurity. 

Digital technology has become an ever-increasing importance in every country’s defence. Gone are the days where the most powerful machinery equated to the most powerful person. When we talk about technology and defence, the first things that spring to mind are advanced weaponry, like Israel’s Iron Dome or North Korea’s shiny new missiles. But really the majority of new defence technology cannot be seen, only the effects of it are felt. Near-peer competitors like China, the United States, and Russia will not directly fire missiles at each other because of the mutual understanding of the shared apocalypse that would ensue. The world finds itself entering a not so stable virtual stalemate with undefined parameters of play. 

The 21st century arsenal of destruction with malware followed by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, an attack on a server meant to disrupt its ability to function. With daily attacks and reports such as “Ukrainian power grid “lucky” to withstand Russian cyber-attack,” there is no denying the role cyber security plays in modern warfare (Tidy, 2022). These attacks do not only occur between warring countries. Ukraine is not unique in its defence against Russian cyber attacks. Google recently reported it found, “…campaigns targeting the military of multiple Eastern European countries, as well as a NATO Centre of Excellence,” (Leonard, 2022). Another headline in the Daily Mail describes a group of pro-Russia hackers named ‘Killnet’ threatening to shut down British Hospital Ventilators (Hussain, 2022). The following week the group was identified attacking Romanian government websites (Judge, 2022).

Cyber warfare is on the rise; states turn to their keyboards before reaching for their weapons. Acting under the protection of anonymity, governments can absolve themselves of any concerns they may have over international condemnation or guilt over civilian fall-out. NBC News reported an example last year: “On Jan. 15, a hacker tried to poison a water treatment plant that served parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. It didn't seem hard,” (Collier, 2021). The article brought to light the frightening reality that cyber attacks can strike critical infrastructure, and more worryingly we are not prepared. 

The U.K.’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) director Sir Jeremy Fleming gave a speech at the Australian National University in which he talked about current global security amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the speech, referring to the last 3 years’ events he noted, “The lesson, for me, that our cyber security isn’t good enough and we need to invest in making it better,” (Fleming, 2022). President Biden made similar remarks to American CEOs earlier in 2022, stating that he would, “…respectfully suggest it is a patriotic obligation to invest as much as you can,” where digital security is concerned (Stacey, 2022). These comments by those responsible for nations’ digital security highlight the current situation’s severity and that immediate improvement is required to successfully fend off attacks. 

To keep up the pace with this ever-changing world of technology, innovative solutions are needed. State leaders need to realise the important role that cybersecurity plays in defence and start investing heavily, and wisely, to adapt to a shifting world order.

Photo: SJSU

Works Cited 

Collier, K. (2021, June 17). 50,000 security disasters waiting to happen: The problem of America’s water supplies. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/hacker-tried-poison-calif-water-supply was-easy-entering-password-rcna1206 

Fleming, J. (2022, March 31). Director GCHQ’s speech on global security amid war in Ukraine. GCHQ Speech Archive. Director GCHQ's speech on global security amid war in Ukraine 

Judge, P. (2022, April 29). Romainian government sites hit by Russian Killnet hacking group. Data Center Dynamic. https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/romanian government-sites-hit-by-russian-killnet-hacking-group/ 

Tidy, J. (2022, April 12). Ukrainian power grid ‘lucky’ to withstand Russian cyber-attack. BBC \News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-61085480 

Stacey, K. (2022, March 22). White House tells CEOs that Russian cyber attack on US is ‘coming’. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/64ff5e7d-aeb9-48ca-a959- 7bbbc8e374d4 

Leonard, B. (2022, March 30). Tracking cyber activity in Eastern Europe. Threat Analysis Group. https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/tracking-cyber-activity-eastern europe/ 

Hussain, D. (2022, May 5). Sinister Russian hacking group threatens to shut down hospital ventilators in Britain after ‘officers arrested hacker for helping to cripple Romanian government websites’. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article 10787595/Sinister-Russian-hacking-group-threatens-shut-hospital-ventilators Britain.html