Link to Article: https://news.sky.com/story/costa-rica-declares-state-of-emergency-following-russian-speaking-criminal-cyber-terrorism-12609215
Summary: Costa Rica has declared a national emergency because of a cyber attack on government systems from Russian-speaking cyber criminals. This is a world first for a State response to a cyber attack. The Conti ransomware gang has taken credit for this cyber attack. The purpose of this cyber attack was to extort money from the Costa Rican government and to render IT systems unusable. The United States offered 15 million dollars in rewards for information regarding leadership of the Conti gang.The US State Department said this,”In offering this reward, the United States demonstrates its commitment to protecting potential ransomware victims around the world from exploitation by cyber criminals.” The State Department adds that this ransomware group has been responsible for hundreds of attacks over the past two years and they estimate that they have made more than 150 million dollars from victim payouts. The Conti Gang has also pledged it’s full support to Russia and says this, “If anybody will decide to organise a cyber attack or any war activities against Russia, we are going to use […] all possible resources to strike back at the critical infrastructures of an enemy.”
Analysis: With technology advancing and with people becoming more reliant on it cyber attacks are just as threatening as physical attacks. Costa Rica going into a state of National emergency shows how dangerous these cyber attacks can be. This attack from Conti could stop all IT in Costa Rica’s government which could have massive effects on the country. It could stop lots of processes and make it so Costa Rica after fixing the issue will have to spend lots of time going back and fixing these issues. There is also the fact of the close ties between Costa Rica and the United States so close that this cyber attack could be seen as a threat to America as well. America is also responding to this attack by trying to get information about the Conti group in order to help Costa Rica. We can also see that this Cyber terrorist group is also threatening any country that opposes Russia which in a time like this where Russia is invading Ukraine makes this threat all the more scary and worrisome.
How this relates to class: We see how allies react to threats of allied countries. America is responding in a big way to the threat to Costa Rica. We also see how threatening Cyber attacks are in this day and age. Costa Rica being in a state of emergency reinforces how much things like this can affect a country. This cyber attack by stopping some of the processes of Costa Rica have crippled the country and made it difficult for them to continue functioning. It also shows us how conflicts can affect the world. We can see that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is affecting countries even on the other side of the world.