EmailNews
The effects of cyberattacks: Traffic jams and blackouts
It's no secret that cyberattacks are a harsh reality that businesses and individuals have to deal with these days. Whether victims of attacks themselves, or feeling the effects of a company data breach, hacking activity has been consistently rising in the past few years.
In fact, a new resource from one cybersecurity firm shows just how prevalent malware infections and other infiltrations have become. According to NBC News, the data protection organization recently launched an interactive map that shows cybercrime occurring around the globe in real time. Now, users can see where and when these security instances are happening, the moment they take place.
While there's no doubt that hacking happens, many are unaware of the damaging effects such events can have. To underscore the importance of protection measures like encryption, authentication credentials and other essentials, let's take a look at some of the most harmful cyberattacks in recent memory, as well as their widespread effects.
Worldwide Web traffic slowed by cyberattack
In March of 2013, the world saw one of the biggest cyberattacks ever reported, which not only caught the attention of service providers, but also slowed Internet traffic for users around the globe. According to V3 contributor Alastair Stevenson, several different connectivity vendors discovered a level of attack not previously experienced before.
"While we don't have direct visibility into the traffic loads they saw, we have been told by one major Tier 1 provider that they saw more than 300 GB per second of attack traffic related to this attack," one security firm told Stevenson. "That would make this attack one of the largest ever reported."
Because of the escalated traffic levels, the systems that link the Internet together became overwhelmed, exceeding the limit that even the largest routers can handle. As a result, all other Internet traffic was considerably slowed.
Physical traffic jam caused by cyberattack
Internet traffic isn't the only aspect that can be significantly impacted by a cyberattack. Late last year, a major traffic jam - involving cars this time, instead of data - occurred due to a cyber attack in Israel, causing roads to be shut down and resulting in more than $100,000 in damages.
According to the Associated Press, while the security breach is still a classified matter, experts were able to report that a Trojan attack on the Carmel Tunnels toll road security cameras caused the traffic jam and road closures.
"The attack caused an immediate 20-minute lockdown of the roadway," stated Associated Press writers Daniel Estrin and Raphael Satter. "The next day...it shut down the roadway again during morning rush hour. It remained shut down for eight hours, causing massive congestion."
The cybercrime was address in the subsequent days, returning traffic patterns to normal. However, the AP noted that that the Carmel Tunnels is the most high-profile location attacked in Israel.
Potential for blackouts due to cyberattacks
According to The Wall Street Journal, even the electrical grid is vulnerable to cyberattacks, which could cause widespread interruption of utility services. James A. Lewis, Center for Strategic and International Studies director, noted that a physical attack of the system would be much more difficult than carrying out a cyberattack.
"An attacker [using Internet-based tools] with enough resources could cause blackouts in the U.S.," Lewis told the source.
While such a widespread security incident has yet to be reported, experts think if one did occur, it would likely come from malicious sources overseas. This type of attack may be more likely than many would believe, as the energy sector comprised 59 percent of all the cyberattacks occurring last year.
Protect data in transit with an SSL certificate today.
corporate office
Thawte
The Gateway
Century Lane
Century City, 7441
Cape Town
South Africa
Postal Address:
P O Box 15986
Panorama 7500
Cape Town
South Africa
Call: +353 1 793 9141
Fax: +27 21 819 2950
