Cybercrime is at an all time, or at the very least, we are more aware of it than ever before. The New York Times brought this alarming news to us in their article, “Cyberattack Disrupts Printing of Major Newspapers.”
An unusual cyberattack on the Los Angeles Times disrupted printing operations there and at newspapers in San Diego and Florida recently is reportedly been identified as coming from outside the United States. Computer malware attacks on infrastructure are rare, but not new. Russia has been credibly accused of shutting down power grids in Ukraine and a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia, Iran crippled a casino in Las Vegas, and the United States and Israel attacked a nuclear enrichment plant in Iran. But this would be the first known attack on major newspaper printing operations and the powers that be have stopped short of accusing a specific foreign government.
Even if the attack was the work of foreign hackers, it is important to remember that it does not necessarily mean it was backed by a government. Ransomware attacks are frequently the work of criminal groups.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
