November 4, 2022 | New York Sun

How Washington Can Fend Off the Cyber-Threats of the Future

Thanks to the increased scale, scope, and frequency of cyber-enabled attacks across the American economic landscape, we now see the risks associated with cyber-enabled economic warfare more clearly.
November 4, 2022 | New York Sun

How Washington Can Fend Off the Cyber-Threats of the Future

Thanks to the increased scale, scope, and frequency of cyber-enabled attacks across the American economic landscape, we now see the risks associated with cyber-enabled economic warfare more clearly.

Excerpt

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 taught America that even the most technologically unsophisticated actors could physically threaten the homeland. But as little as 15 years ago, the idea that a technologically backward nation could harm the American economy seemed ridiculous.

That is, until 2012. American banks got a serious wake-up call when Iran launched relentless, systemic, and widespread cyberattacks on the American financial system. Tehran’s hackers also destroyed Saudi Aramco’s computers in 2012. The following year, North Korean actors shut down banks and media companies across Seoul.

Ms. Ravich is the chair of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. She serves on the U.S. Secret Service’s Cyber Investigation Advisory Board and was as a commissioner on the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, vice chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, and co-chair of the Artificial Intelligence Working Group of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board. Annie Fixler, who co-authored this piece, is deputy director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Ms. Ravich and Ms. Fixler are the editors of a newly released monograph on cyber-enabled economic warfare as waged by Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. Follow Annie on Twitter @afixler. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Issues:

Blockchain and Digital Currencies China Cyber Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare Iran Iran Global Threat Network North Korea Russia