Cybersecurity: State Actors and Criminals Pose the Most Serious Cyberthreats

Cyberspace is ubiquitous in business, communication, government, the military, and security operations. This leaves us open to a lot of risks and dangers, which will get worse as we rely on technology more and more, especially the Internet, for daily tasks. There are numerous common sources of cyber threats to digital security, but the two main actors—state actors and criminals—pose the greatest cyber threats to digital security.

State actors

For a variety of reasons, hostile nations may launch cyberattacks against local businesses and institutions, including stealing information, disrupting communication, or causing damage. Even though disruption and vandalism are still common, espionage has overtaken hacktivism as the second most important reason why cyberattacks happen, after making money. The countries listed below are the most vocal supporters of state-sponsored cybercrime:

China: In recent years, China has made significant investments in the research and development of technologies that enable the country to achieve multiple goals in cyberspace. These findings reflect China’s growing dominance in this area.

Russia: Moscow is no stranger to cyberattacks. The Russian government conducts malicious cyber activities in order to facilitate widespread cyber espionage, suppress certain social and political activities, steal intellectual property, and harm regional and international adversaries. Furthermore, some cybercrime organizations have recently publicly declared their support for the Russian government. On April 20, 2022, the cybersecurity authorities of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom issued a joint cybersecurity advisory warning organizations that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could expose them to increased malicious cyber activity both within and outside the region.

Iran: Cyber attacks allow Iran to cause serious economic and national security problems, either on purpose or in retaliation, in a way that makes it hard to say who was behind the attack and makes it less likely that a physical response will be made.

North Korea: The U.S. intelligence community (IC) report mentions that Pyongyang is in a good position to wage “surprise cyber attacks” and that North Korea remains a bit of a “wild card” in waging cyber operations.

Criminal groups

Criminal organizations are groups of hackers who work together to break into computer systems for financial gain. This group is well-organized and knowledgeable. Data miners, programmers, intrusion specialists, and money launderers are among its members. They committed a wide range of cybercrimes, including fraud, hacking, malware creation and distribution, DDoS attacks, blackmail, and crimes involving intellectual property.

Also, they are involved in the sale of counterfeit or falsified trademarked products (e.g., apparel, accessories, shoes, electronics, medical products, automobile parts, and so on), as well as the labels, packaging, and other identifying designs of these products. Financial, psychological, economic, and even physical harm is caused by this type of cybercrime.

Conclusion

We must take into account the threat that these actors pose. Because different actors must have varying levels of cyber capabilities, which influence the sophistication of the attacks they launch and the level of disruption caused by such attacks, cyberattacks have grown in scale, sophistication, and severity of impact. As a result, cyber threats have risen to prominence as a major source of concern.

Cyberattacks can cause power outages and military equipment failures, and they have the potential to result in the theft of valuable and sensitive data, such as medical records, and the disclosure of national security secrets. They are capable of disrupting phone and computer networks, paralyzing systems, and making data unavailable. Threats are becoming more serious as well. Cybersecurity risks exist in all organizations and are not always under the direct control of IT. Cyber threats have the potential to disrupt the functioning of life as we know it, and this is not an exaggeration.