Are Hackers Taking Over Everything Internet?

On October 30, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, was robbed of $6.3 billion in a record heist, and on November 1 hackers targeted Ukraine’s emergency alert app, sending people in Kyiv a fake nuclear strike alert. Such alerts allegedly happened in Russia, too.

One wholesale fruit and vegetable business owner in London was doing morning rounds when he noticed something odd. The defrost light on a refrigeration unit was on, and the panel read 50C (122F). Another unit suffered the same. It was at this point that he thought, “Is this a cyber-attack?” He quickly disconnected the units by pulling out the internet cable.

On the same day, retailers in Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Sweden reported similar problems. Refrigerators and freezers in some shops soared to the same 122F.

Hackers managed to compromise up to 50,000 Finnish government mobile phones this year; last year they took down the website of the country’s Ministry of Defense. Websites around the world were temporarily taken out of service as a precaution last month when AI technology from the ChatGPT developer, OpenAI, helped discover a flaw in PHP, a computer language used to build much of the world wide web.

According to UK’s National Cyber Security Center, we are in the “foothills” of a new hacking landscape. Referring to flaws in IT systems being exposed by AI technology, Richard Horne said: “There are so many vulnerabilities out there that you could say are waiting to be exploited.”

I have often warned against putting everything online for years now. The world worked perfectly fine prior to the “Internet of Things” (IoT). One has to ask whether the loss and inconveniences from being hacked are worth the gains in efficiency from remote operations.

The NCSC claims AI-powered malicious software will “highly likely” be used in hacking attacks against UK’s power stations, airports, and hospitals by 2028. AI helps attackers with tasks such as scouting targets, locating IT network weaknesses, and writing malicious code.

Some damage is self-inflicted due to security passwords left unchanged from their default values published in many manuals.

Despite companies trying to assure us of safety, vulnerabilities found by leading tech companies soared eight-fold since April. Fortunately, attacks have not increased by the same volume. Not yet, anyway.

Hackers can include criminal gangs, activists, mercenaries, and just people who love creating havoc. Some have links to states; others do not. Speculation abounds. Could a nation’s entire power grid flicker out in mid-winter? Could commerce grind to a halt? Could hospitals be compromised? Even the most sophisticated systems can’t guarantee safety with 100% assurance.

The hacks are a reminder of the vulnerability of everyday objects with internet access, from smart speakers to broadband routers. All devices are potentially susceptible. Manufacturers need to invest in better product security, and consumers must be accepting of the increased cost.

My advice: Don’t connect more things to the internet than necessary. No connection... equals no hack. What does get connected needs to be maintained and updated. Keep files local, backup regularly, and avoid the cloud as much as possible.

Source used: Associated Press

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