Challenges of Wannacry

‘WannaCry’ is the latest cyber attack  that hit 150 countries since the Friday, 12^th May 2017. The exact financial damage could not be ascertained at the time of writing, s but it has badly affected  health and other essential services across the globe thus adding misery in the life of common people. The life line of today’s world called Internet is subjected to threats on day to day basis in may form, sometime stealing identity, hacking governmental and corporate website. Now a time has come the governments around the world have  to take this particular case as a  wakeup call.

Modus Oprendi

The culprits/ attackers  have designed ransomware to allow infection of one computer to quickly spread across the networks as  a chain reaction, once you are the victim, they ask you to cough up ransom of $300  that's why we saw  the numbers increasing all the time. Although a temporary fix earlier slowed the infection rate, the attackers had now released a new version of the virus.

There are going to be some tough questions on today for those institutions which didn't do enough to keep their networks secure, as well as the organisations that were best placed to stop it happening in the first place - the NSA USA and Microsoft.

The NSA in US keeps a chest of cyberweapons to itself so it can hit targets, but Microsoft has long argued that this is dangerous. If there is a flaw in Windows, the company clarifies, surely the safest thing to do is to let its team know straight away so it can be fixed.

But Microsoft is to be equally blamed, they failed to consider what obligation it has to update all users - not just the ones who pay extra for security on older systems.

Updating a personal computer(PC) for an individual is a piece of cake, but thing of a customer having  a network having  size of Britain's National Health Service? Tough - time-consuming, expensive and complex.

For a company like Microsoft to say it won't keep those systems safe unless they shell out more money, then that in itself is some  kind of a ransom.

Future Challenges

In a time-span of 25 years, the internet has transformed our life, be it communicating, transacting and accessing the knowledge. The internet promised   brave new world, and also offered new possibilities for addressing the challenges facing the world. Yet, mounting concerns over the impacts of globalization, rising social and cultural divisions, rapid spread of scamsters, hackers, growth spread of false or misleading information online, glorifying terrorists by certain section,  all this raises uncomfortable and pressing questions: is the internet eliminating divisions in society or is it accentuating them?

Internet Society in association with the International Security Department at Chatham House organized an event on 11^th May here in London. It brought together internet experts, industry influencers, senior government officials and opinion-formers to consider some of the most challenging questions relating to the impact of the internet on society : will the internet of the future be a force for social cohesion or will it contribute to the fragmentation of the public sphere?

Keynote speaker was Prof Erik Huizer, Chief Technology Officer SURFnet; Research Associate, University of Utrecht and other members of panel were  Dr.Syed Ismail Shah, Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, James Arroyo Obe, Director, The Ditchley Foundation, Dr Unoma Ndii Okorafor, Founder & CEO, WAAW Foundation, Rebecca Mackinnon, Director, Ranking Digital Rights, New America. The event  was moderated by Ms. Kathryn Brown, President and CEO, Internet Society. I could find many issues relating to cyber attacks and cyber crime discussed in this discussion.

The growth and ubiquity of the Internet is a sign of progress and innovation. One of the panelist pointed out that in a country like Pakistan after introduction of  smart phone internet users jumped from 3.79 million to 43 million in a short span of time.  However, it was feared that this kind of unprecedented growth may lead to a tipping point in the future where the risks to society and freedoms grow faster than the benefits.   While the impact on personal freedoms and human rights in a future that is ever more connected is far from clear, it is likely that challenges related to surveillance and the loss of privacy and control over ones data will become more pressing. As we have witnessed in the current Wannacry cyber attack.  

We see that  with increase in the Internet converges in the physical world and infrastructure, the threat of highly destructive cyber-warfare is on the rise.  It not only about the potential for cyber-warfare conducted by nation-states, but also by independent political movements and private actors. In addition to the direct damage done by attacks themselves, the government and public responses to such attacks could be equally consequential.

The alertness, prompt response at the government level may stem the impact cyberattacks and cybercrime. But this is possible when there is a close co-ordination between various stakeholders such as security agencies, researchers as well as regulators.

The negative trend is the increase in cybercriminal activity. The positive trend is our ability to build more kinds of devices and protocols that will make it harder. At the same time, however, the growing scale and complexities of the Internet, combined with its openness, and the ease and lost cost in which attacks can be launched make the challenge formidable for the future.

As such, the direct impact of cyberattacks and cybercrime themselves, as well as potential responses to them, make them a formidable force that will shape the future of the Internet as well as the very existence of our society.

 Cyberattacks and cybercrime are on the rise globally Wannacry is not a standalone case. Therefore we need more  financial investments, policy efforts and other innovative means to combat them. And as our economies, infrastructure, societies, and lives becomes increasingly digital and Internet connected in the future, the consequences of vulnerabilities may be much more significant. The growing number, impact, and spread of cyberattacks and cybercrime will increasingly shape the narrative around the Internet.

It should be our effort to make internet a free space where a common man can surf, transact and  entertain without any fear. An individuals  may not develop a belief that  the risks of the Internet outweigh the benefits, and pull back from use of the Internet due to a lack of trust and confidence.

Government responses to the issues will clearly shape landscape in the coming time, especially as the Internet becomes more entwined with infrastructure. As soon as the hospital services are crippled, electrical grid is attacked or a train derails, regulators and lawmakers only then the government machinery comes to action. In fact the governments should have will to take drastic actions in response to threats to an individual internet user.