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OAITW r.2.0

(24,468 posts)
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 09:14 PM Oct 2020

So, we are under cyberattack.

Focused on our hospitals. Who are the bad actors? The answer should define our response. If it's Russia, we are at war with this criminal operation. Need to vote Benedict Donald out of ofice.

See the great Dr. Rachael Maddow explaining it tonight.

23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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So, we are under cyberattack. (Original Post) OAITW r.2.0 Oct 2020 OP
Yes, OA, cilla4progress Oct 2020 #1
TrickBot. It's Russian malware, I gather. dchill Oct 2020 #2
For several years now hospitals have periodically been attacked like this. PoindexterOglethorpe Oct 2020 #3
Hospital systems/election systems. OAITW r.2.0 Oct 2020 #5
It's not just hospitals. foo_fighter999 Oct 2020 #19
The problem is that the internet and associated technologies (email, etc) radius777 Oct 2020 #23
It's been going on for a while. GoCubsGo Oct 2020 #4
2 Pronged. OAITW r.2.0 Oct 2020 #6
That's my thought too n/t Horse with no Name Oct 2020 #9
Ransomware is a major problem radius777 Oct 2020 #7
Correct MoonlitKnight Oct 2020 #22
Our hospital sent us notices today about this Horse with no Name Oct 2020 #8
My GF in Boston is Dir Medical Records at one of the Biggies. OAITW r.2.0 Oct 2020 #11
We're always under cyberattack. TwilightZone Oct 2020 #10
Sure, but maximum chaos, right now, is what Putin wants. OAITW r.2.0 Oct 2020 #12
Her program was highly informative. Figluzzi tweeted briefly about it earlier & Russia it is... Hekate Oct 2020 #13
It all leads back to Trump. OAITW r.2.0 Oct 2020 #14
I wonder what Joe has in mind to retaliate? albacore Oct 2020 #15
It's gonna be WOW. OAITW r.2.0 Oct 2020 #16
We don't really need a Outer "Space Force".... OAITW r.2.0 Oct 2020 #18
Why not an asymmetrical response to knock out their hackers and hacking infrastructure? coti Oct 2020 #21
There have been more or less continuous cyberattacks for the last 30+ years. Klaralven Oct 2020 #17
Trickbot sarcasmo Oct 2020 #20

cilla4progress

(24,731 posts)
1. Yes, OA,
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 09:19 PM
Oct 2020

been reading about this in the news. The great reporters at Gaslit Nation and others.

Haven't watched MSNBC lately. Trying to remain sane in the runup.

May catch Maddow on your rec, tho.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,855 posts)
3. For several years now hospitals have periodically been attacked like this.
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 09:20 PM
Oct 2020

What little I've read about this stuff has strongly said that the hospitals themselves are hugely at fault because they have really crappy security. The people running the hospitals don't understand that they need to pay for a strong firewall.

I'm not an IT person, so I can't assess that statement, but I'm willing to believe it's true.

foo_fighter999

(86 posts)
19. It's not just hospitals.
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 11:17 PM
Oct 2020

Sure, hospitals are huge targets for an obvious reason; patient data can easily be sold off or used for blackmail so it can be a rather nice payday for the hackers. But if they're not investing enough in security, they're certainly not alone. Big businesses often can't see the benefit of investing in cyber security either. Well, not until they get hacked anyway and then find out what it costs to recover from said hack. Along with the sheer dollar cost, there are a number of 'hidden' costs, not the least of which is the damage to their reputation which, when all is said and done, can end up being the most costly part of the intrusion. With all the hacks that have been in the news in the past few years, big businesses are starting to realize they need to invest in computer security but, by and large, many are way behind the curve on this.

But it's not just the big businesses that are at risk. More recently, hackers have been turning their attention to small and medium businesses. These tend to be easy targets as most of them can't afford any real type of computer security. As a result, they get hit with ransomware and either pony up the ransom or, sadly, go out of business.

Add to that the fact that modern-day hackers are much, much, MUCH more advanced than they were in the past and it's a recipe for disaster. The hacker only needs to be right once and they're in. And once they're in, they're pretty much free to do whatever they want. They can roam around your network, undetected, installing malware, exfiltrating data, or setting up a Command and Control server for later use. You name it, they can do it.

As for defending against intrusions, a firewall is just a small piece of the puzzle. Intrusion Prevention Systems, Intrusion Detection Systems, Web Application Firewalls, email scanners, endpoint security software (anti-malware, anti-spyware, host-based firewalls, etc) are but a few of the tools in a rather long list of what is needed to defend against modern computer security threats. Add to that the team of computer security experts required to put the tools in place, keep everything up-to-date, monitor for signs of possible intrusions or suspicious behavior, be on call 24/7 in order to respond security incidents, etc. and you can see where the costs can add up pretty quickly.

It's not trivial to protect computer infrastructure from the modern-day hacker groups. Not by any means. Even if you do all of the above and more and do everything right, all it takes is one careless user or a zero-day exploit and the hackers are in. And once that happens, all bets are off.

radius777

(3,635 posts)
23. The problem is that the internet and associated technologies (email, etc)
Fri Oct 30, 2020, 01:48 AM
Oct 2020

are inherently insecure, and were built that way. We're just too 'open' to hostile countries (and their hackers) who have nothing better to do than sit around and launch attacks. We're sitting ducks. Only our gov't and Big Tech can solve this.

Most attacks originate from outside the Western world (Russia, China, etc) who know they will not face legal consequences. If there was a way to blacklist traffic from those countries at the backbone level (even if coming through proxies) that would be a start.

Then we would only have to worry about attacks coming from within the Western world, but then they would face legal consequences.

GoCubsGo

(32,083 posts)
4. It's been going on for a while.
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 09:24 PM
Oct 2020

The hospital in my town came under a ransomware attack a few weeks ago.

OAITW r.2.0

(24,468 posts)
6. 2 Pronged.
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 09:27 PM
Oct 2020

Attack Hospitals now. And then hit the election sysytem. Russia makes Trump President? Civil War starts....Putin wins.

radius777

(3,635 posts)
7. Ransomware is a major problem
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 09:37 PM
Oct 2020

that many IT people simply don't understand. The typical security (firewalls, passwords, anti-virus) won't stop it as it tends to get in via phishing emails and links that users click on. Training users, disabling all unnecessary services (to reduce the 'attack surface'), applying all patches and running anti-ransomware software - is the only way to defeat it.

Big Tech and our gov't should be doing much more, but we know they won't, so it's on IT departments and computer owners to take the proper steps.

MoonlitKnight

(1,584 posts)
22. Correct
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 11:31 PM
Oct 2020

And the threat is constant and been going on for years.

In addition to layers of security, including ongoing education, good backups to an isolated source can defeat some ransom ware attacks.

They go after the easy targets, which include government and hospitals and businesses that think they can cut corners.

Horse with no Name

(33,956 posts)
8. Our hospital sent us notices today about this
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 09:39 PM
Oct 2020

However, I think the hospitals are a cover and they will attack them first and then the election.

OAITW r.2.0

(24,468 posts)
11. My GF in Boston is Dir Medical Records at one of the Biggies.
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 10:06 PM
Oct 2020

They are totally aware. The hits are on systems that aren't part of a hi-tech hospital consolidations/networks.

OAITW r.2.0

(24,468 posts)
12. Sure, but maximum chaos, right now, is what Putin wants.
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 10:11 PM
Oct 2020

Fuck up Hospitals + Elections = Maximum Chaos.


And if we find out that the attack came from Moscow......is this an act of war? I think so.

Hekate

(90,681 posts)
13. Her program was highly informative. Figluzzi tweeted briefly about it earlier & Russia it is...
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 10:20 PM
Oct 2020

Right now it’s hospitals; earlier on it was some business function & Microsoft dealt with it or tried to; and now election systems are implicated. Russia. It always leads back to Russia.

Our entire infrastructure is at risk, though they didn’t mention that. How would you like all the traffic lights to go out? How about water and heat?

Obama and Biden were hard at taking care of this problem, then Trump was elected and opened the door wide.

Then Rachel moved on to Turkey & Erdogan, and how it was that Erdogan wanted Preet Bharara specifically to be fired, and lo and behold, he was.

I was trying to fix dinner while listening to Rachel and had the fan over the stove whooshing, so I’ll catch her on the rerun later.

OAITW r.2.0

(24,468 posts)
14. It all leads back to Trump.
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 10:26 PM
Oct 2020

He is selling us out to Russia and with the most radical RW religious aspects of our society. No Sale.

albacore

(2,398 posts)
15. I wonder what Joe has in mind to retaliate?
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 10:30 PM
Oct 2020

He's got SO many balls to juggle, but at least he acknowledges that there is a problem... we ARE under attack.
trump ignores the cyberattacks like he ignores the virus.
I am NOT saying go to war... but don't we have cyber-warriors? If not, we better find them, and let the Space Force fade for a while.

coti

(4,612 posts)
21. Why not an asymmetrical response to knock out their hackers and hacking infrastructure?
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 11:27 PM
Oct 2020

I wouldn't mind a few well-placed cruise missiles taking out the assholes responsible for this four years of hell in our country.

 

Klaralven

(7,510 posts)
17. There have been more or less continuous cyberattacks for the last 30+ years.
Thu Oct 29, 2020, 10:43 PM
Oct 2020

Part of the difficulty is technical because the internet was designed by many idealistic people.

Part of the difficulty is political because the US government has resisted implementation of strong cryptographic security in order to preserve the ability to read intercepted communications and data media.

Part of the difficulty is economic, because security requires expertise, diligence, extra work and expense.

On the other hand, continuous attacks means that we have continuous practice in countering and recovering from them.

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