Cyber Attack

Cyber warfare is a reality in today's world.

PREPARING FOR CYBER ATTACK

Cyber warfare is computer hacking conducted for the purpose of espionage or sabotage. We live in an electronic age. The average person is strongly dependent on, both, computers and power grids. The problem with this kind of dependency is that computers, satellites and even power grids contain vulnerable electric components which can be tampered with by hackers on the other side of the world. Transportation, communication, fuel supply, energy supply and even food and water supply are all vulnerable to disruption when they are targeted by hackers. Many preppers have seen the need to prepare for cyber warfare.

Cyber warfare is a reality in our world today. It goes on every day. The extent of it is hard to gauge because the perpetrators work hard at keeping their identities hidden. In 2009, numerous reports surfaced indicating that the United States' electrical grid system had been infiltrated by hackers. The U.S. Government has admitted that their electric power transmission is susceptible to cyber attack. The perpetrators of cyber warfare may be individuals, terrorist organizations or even governments. The government of Iran has boasted of having the world's second-largest cyber army.

How can you prepare for cyber attacks? Concerned individuals can prepare for cyber war the same way as preparing for other emergency crisis. Have an extra food and water supply. Prepare a “go bag.” Have a “bug in” and “bug out” plan. Because cyber warfare threatens computer systems and the power grid, try to organize your life so that you can live independently of these things. Consider alternative sources of energy such as solar panels.

Do not have all of your financial assets in the form of electronic saving. Own hard assets such as property, gold and silver. Also, guard your personal information closely. Do not put personal information on the internet unless you feel it is necessary to do so. A little preparation can go a long way in prepping for cyber war.
God bless you.

Shawn Stevens
 


REFERENCES :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberwarfare


Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash.


THE RUSSIAN DRAGONFLY

They are also known as the “Energetic Bear” but more commonly called “Dragonfly.” This group of elite hackers, stationed in Russia, has drawn a lot of attention from secret services around the world. They are professional, they are skilled, they are dangerous and their work is highly encrypted and difficult to trace.
While being active in cyber hacking from at least 2011, this group's main claim to infamy occurred in 2014 when they infected 1000 electro-powerplants throughout western Europe and the United States with malware. All in all over 80 countries were affected by this attack. Their malware has now been named after them, “Dragonfly.” They have inside knowledge on how energy facility operational systems work.
One of the latest campaigns conducted by Dragonfly is Dragonfly 2.0 which began in 2015. They have been targeting the United States, Turkey and Switzerland. Their signature mark is the Trojon.Heriplor which, apparently, is only used by them although they also use other Trojans like Karagany. The group is believed to be Russian because some of the code strings in their malware are in Russian. However, some of their code strings are in French, probably just to try and through investigators off. Their attacks just so happen during Moscow business hours.

This group (then called the Energetic Bear) was first detected by CrowdStrike, a security company in California, and since that time has been popping up all over the place. They attack, not only power grids, but health care systems, governments and defence contractors.
You like having your lights and electrical appliances all working? You had better have a back-up plan for when Dragonfly strikes the Canadian grid.

Shawn Stevens

 

References
Dr. Peter Vincent Pry. Blackout Wars.State Initiatives To Achieve Preparedness Against An Electromagnetic Pulse Catastrophe. icgtesting.com. Printed in the USA.LVOW03s0009090816 499513LV00037B/626/P
https://symantec-blogs.broadcom.com/blogs/threat-intelligence/dragonfly-energy-sector-cyber-attacks
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28106478
https://securityledger.com/2014/07/industrial-control-vendors-identified-in-dragonfly-attack/
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/technology/energy-sector-faces-attacks-from-hackers-in-russia.html