Re: The Hacking Going On And The Breaching Of Computer Networks/Infrastructure......

[apnu]

5. I agree, but try that argument in a board room where the budget is approved.

That's a steep hill to climb.

I've been in that room and had those conversations. I've had board members flat out ask me "how much?" then balance the odds of doing nothing, hiding it, and the cost of paying a fine for being pinched.

Because I happen to work in the Financial industry and several board members had already a few strikes on their regulatory records, I was able to argue the cost of proactive security was cheaper than the fines and permanent expulsion from the exchanges when we get pinched.

Because these attacks have been a constant for years. The difference between now and 10 years ago is Nations have weaponized it.

My IT work goes back to the 90s. We saw hacks and malware back then but it was all pointless because there was no real way to monetize it. I worried what would happen if organized crime got involved. They did, in the mid 00's to 10's. That became profitable enough that Nations have noticed and have now gotten in on the game.

We've known for a long time that Russia was in this game. Recall 2008 when Russia invaded Georgia. That 12 day campaign started with a Russian assault on Georgian Internet and before a tank moved, the whole country of Georgia was cut off from the Internet.

This is really serious and only strong leadership from the Executive Branch, with full Federal support and possible nationalization of cyber protections, will give us any chance of defeating it.

Both the Chinese and Russians know how to attack Capitalism. They can and will exploit all the little tiny islands that are corporations compared to the might and resources of those huge nations. They have unlimited manpower, tech and funds to wage these campaigns. Not even Microsoft has that power.