In a recent interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation”, Trump adviser US Rep Mike Waltz suggested that the government needs to take a tougher stance on cyberattackers. Instead of playing defense, Waltz said that it might be time to go on the offense.
Taking a tougher stance
Waltz’s comments seem to come on the heels of a recent state-sponsored cyberattack from a group out of China calling themselves Salt Typhoon. The group was said to have been targeting the US telecommunications infrastructure. This included major US telcos such as AT&T and Verizon.
This allowed the hackers to gain access to sensitive information and collect traffic data from both individual users and businesses.
While Salt Typhoon’s attack is not the first nor will it be the last, the Trump adviser believes that adopting a tough stance could discourage cyberattackers in the future. He says that it might be time to consider going on the offense and “start imposing”. This could result in “higher costs” and consequences to hackers that steal data, spy on the US, and affect the country’s infrastructure.
Waltz does not mention specifically what kind of actions the government will take against these bad actors, but it is something that they will be looking into. “Well, I’m not going to get ahead of everything that we’re doing day one, but taking a different approach to cyber, looking at our doctrine, and starting to impose costs on the other side to get them to knock this off, is something we’ll be taking a look at, I think.”
Increase in cyberattacks
Cyberattacks are a new form of warfare. Instead of fighting physically on the battlefield, cyberattacks can be just as effective, if not more so, and equally devastating. A lot of a country’s infrastructure tends to be connected online. This includes things like utilities, banking, and more.
Disrupting these infrastructures can cause a ripple effect and affect things like a country’s economy. For instance, ransomware attacks can be extremely crippling. Take for example hospitals, where ransomware attacks can prevent medical staff from accessing critical patient information. This has the potential to lead to loss of lives and make treatment less effective.
As technology becomes more advanced, so do the methods employed by these hackers. In fact, from 2022 to 2023, the number of cyber-related incidents in the US is said to have increased by more than 15%. This includes attacks like phishing, ransomware, and more.
2024-12-16 15:05:17