Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/11/17/us-warns-iran-backed-hackers-are-targeting-critical-us-sectors
In recent news the the department of Homeland Security has put out an advisory to be cautious of Iranian hackers. These hackers have targeted vulnerable critical infrastructures such as our healthcare system as well as private companies. These hackers have used ransomware with methods, like phishing emails, and other social engineering to break in. This warning comes after in the past year Russian criminal hackers have caused major trouble in the US. Other companies are taking notice like Microsoft who has put out an announcement that this government back Iranian hackers are very tricky. They spend lots of time building trust via emails and other messengers to gain access and cause havoc. This “low key” hacking some reports say is a new trend to deny any connection to the event and cause harm.
My take on the article is this is Iran’s way to put pressure on the U.S. As we are an entire ocean apart and don’t share solid borders Iran has used our large internet presence and reliance to weaken us and take information. As the internet is a relatively new thing, not many regulations and laws are in place for all these scenarios. Loose guidelines and companies not investing in cyber security pose a massive risk to the US population. With many critical infrastructures like the hearth care system, water treatment/distribution, communications and the other 13 all are at risk from hacks. With many computers now becoming very safe the weakest link is human and social engineering is being used in large scale damaging hacks. Overall this new trend should be taken as seriously as a full scale invasion as it could threaten the lives of the US population.
This topic is related to two ideas we have discussed in class. The first is the Waning of war; as the world develops and modernities, war will become obsolete. This is proved by how conflicts have gone down as well as casualties in war. This coincides with hacking which shows how countries are getting around conventional war. This has shown a movement in the future as conventional war to many countries is not worth the sacrifice and effort. Another is the Liberalism theory. This is defined as how they are more in tune to find reciprocity, cooperation, and build trust than declare war. This is shown by how the US is not publicly retaliating and causing commotion, they warned us and now would rather seek out diplomatic solutions/ non lethal pressure. Overall the liberalism view is being applied in many ways on our society today.