Iran started heavily investing in its cyber operations program following the Stuxnet attack (malware that sabotaged the machinery running nuclear enrichment centrifuges) in 2010. Since then, Iran has become a very sophisticated cyber threat able to target critical national infrastructure, financial institutions, education establishments, manufacturers and more.
On Wednesday August 25, President Joe Biden gathered with industry leaders to issue a call to action on cybersecurity and make concrete announcements to bolster the nation’s cyber infrastructure. The high-profile meeting brought together CEOs from the education, energy, finance, insurance and tech sectors, featuring companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America.
A string of Russian ransomware attacks have made headlines in the United States in the recent months, but China has arguably had a more malicious global cyber presence in the last year than their neighbors to the north. While Russian cyber attacks have targeted infrastructure and extorted companies for money, China has led a cyberespionage campaign harvesting trade secrets, intellectual property, and confidential government information.
People in Afghanistan are seeking to delete their online history in fear of Taliban retribution, ranging from journalists to those who worked with western troops and NGOs over the past two decades. The U.S. has its own footprint to worry about too; left behind digital hardware could expose sensitive information and be sold to the U.S.’s enemies.
