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The internet is becoming increasingly popular with both state and non-state actors as a launchpad for attacks against critical infrastructure belonging to their enemies. A new McAfee report gives a measure of the preparedness and vulnerability of key infrastructure enterprises.
According to a survey conducted by McAfee, more than half of the world's key infrastructure organizations have been at the receiving end of cyber attacks. Attackers usually trigger outages or try and pilfer precious data. Nearly two-thirds of the survey's 600 respondents – IT executives employed by key organizations - reported an increase in attacks over the past year. But going by the results, the worst is yet to come. Around two-fifths of the respondents apprehend a serious attack in the coming twelve months.
“From public transportation, to energy to telecommunications, these are the systems we depend on every day. An attack on any of these industries could cause widespread economic disruptions, environmental disasters, loss of property and even loss of life,"said McAfee CEO Dave DeWalt.
He fears an attack of the magnitude of the recently discovered Operation Aurora being targeted at critical infrastructure. DeWalt termed Operation Aurora “a watershed moment in cybersecurity.” The attack was recently discovered by Google, which revealed that the attackers used zero-day bugs in Internet Explorer and targeted several other organizations apart from Google. It is said to have emanated from China.
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