Cyber ​​attacks - challenges of the 4.0 revolution

(Baonghean) - The malware named WannaCry is creating an "earthquake" around the world and becoming a cyber attack of unprecedented scale. This shows that the challenge of information technology security is becoming an increasingly important issue, especially when the world enters the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Hundreds of millions of dollars "evaporated"

On the evening of May 12, a wave of cyber attacks suddenly occurred, infiltrating about 75 thousand computers in about 100 countries around the world, including countries with high security systems such as the UK, Austria, Spain, Russia, Portugal, the US...

The source of the attack started like most previous attacks, hackers sent documents containing the malicious code called WannaCry and waited for victims to open it. Once the unsuspecting user opened it, WannaCry would lock the host computer and demand a ransom in Bitcoin to restore the data.

WannaCry malware attacks the network causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Photo: Internet

Russia and India are the two countries most heavily affected due to the widespread use of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system - one of the operating systems considered to be at high risk of attack.

Most NHS hospitals have also been hit by the crisis. Appointments have been cancelled, doctors are unable to prescribe medication or access patient records, and X-rays and laboratory tests are unavailable.

Many bank ATMs, gas stations, and business offices in China were completely paralyzed because their computer systems had not been updated to cope.

French carmakers Renault and Nissan have had to shut down factories due to the WannaCry ransomware attack. Hundreds of thousands of other cases have been reported in many countries. The US-based Cyber ​​Consequences Institute estimates that the global cyberattack could cost hundreds of millions of US dollars.

Whose fault is it?

While governments around the world are struggling to deal with the aftermath of this unprecedented cyber attack, security officials are also frantically searching for the perpetrators.

North Korean hackers are among the names being suspected. Cybersecurity giants Symantec and Kaspersky Lab said some code in a version of the WannaCry software appeared in programs used by the Lazarus Group, which has been identified as a North Korean hacking group.

US and European security officials say it is too early to say who might be behind the WannaCry cyberattack, but have not ruled out North Korea as a suspect.

The attack affected many hospitals and medical facilities around the world. Photo: Internet

Previously, technology experts suspected that the Shadow Brokers group, believed to be linked to Russia, was one of the hackers behind the WannaCry malware attack. Hackers stole the "Eternal Blue" tool from the US National Security Agency (NSA), which was designed to silently infiltrate computers using Microsoft's Windows operating system. The group announced this technology on a website in April.

This raises concerns that the cyber weapons used by the US National Security Agency and other countries’ intelligence agencies around the world are serving more for offensive purposes than for defending and protecting businesses and citizens. This offensive approach by intelligence agencies of countries is making the Internet less secure and being exploited by hackers for nefarious purposes.

Meanwhile, some researchers defended the US Security Agency and blamed the users themselves for not knowing how to protect themselves, thus becoming victims of cyber attacks. Because many organizations and businesses are still using outdated operating systems such as Windows XP with poor data security capabilities.

Unpredictable danger

Regardless of who is responsible for the latest major cyber attack, this is an unpredictable danger and a problem that requires the joint efforts of all countries to solve.

The world is entering the era of digital technology, known as the 4th revolution or revolution 4.0. This revolution is promising to improve the quality of life for people when machines and digital devices will "do" many jobs for people in life.

Once the internet is attacked and all data disappears, all factories and machines stop working. This not only causes material damage, but also affects human lives. The recent WannaCry malware attack clearly showed that.

Hospitals in the UK are in crisis because machines such as X-rays and laboratory tests cannot be performed. Such disruptions can put patients at high risk of death. Even more worrying, if hackers attack nuclear facilities, the consequences could be catastrophic.

It is no exaggeration to say that, in today's world, acts of terrorism can come not only from a few extremist suicide bombers, but also from a few keystrokes on a computer - a weapon of mass destruction.

Despite the danger, in many cases, for political retaliation, countries are willing to set up a cyber-attack "army" to target their opponents. In 2012, the New York Times published an investigation showing that the US had launched the Stuxnet computer virus (created by US and Israeli experts) to harm Iran in 2010.

Iran then retaliated against the US with a professional hacker army, with a total investment of up to 20 million USD. The problem is that these cyber-weapon retaliations can be exploited by anonymous hackers to create malware similar to WannaCry.

In such a situation, according to technology experts, the most necessary thing at this time is for countries, organizations and businesses to pay more attention to the issue of protecting the network security system. Many opinions recommend that the United Nations urgently develop an international convention on ensuring cyber security and safety, and at the same time call on countries to commit to not attacking each other in cyberspace in any form.

Thanh Huyen