The Unfelt Influence of Geopolitics on Cybersecurity
ACT 1: The Past and The Present
If we look at the past, the first recorded action of espionage has existed since the times of King Hammurabi of the First Babylonian Empire back in the 1700’s BCE. Around a thousand years later in the 500’s BCE, this strategy of hidden operations was first advanced in The Art of War by Sun Tzu. As time goes on, it has become clear that this conduct of hidden operations has existed since ancient times and only changed because of technological advancements. Now, what does this have to do with cyberwarfare? Well, Modern cyberwarfare may also be attributed as a form of hidden operations such as espionage, in a sense that it benefits one party and harms the other and is done in the shadows. In cyberwarfare’s case, this “shadow” refers to the digital space.
There is significant debate among experts regarding the definition of cyberwarfare. While the majority of scholars, militaries, and governments agree on the fact that it means the use of cyberattacks against an opposition, causing comparable harm to actual physical warfare, there has never been a case of a war happening because of two or more parties launching a cyberattack at each other.
In today’s digital environment, our data and assets both important or not, are increasingly being stored in computers. In recent years, many enterprises have started to shift into a digital transformation to further economic potential. This transformation has also been accelerated since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring greater reliance on digital systems to limit physical contact between parties. As our data is being increasingly stored in computers, so does the risk of our data being exposed to various cybercrimes resulting in a greater need for cybersecurity.
In recent times cybersecurity can no longer be exclusive to the digital world, but has bubbled as a geopolitical issue. Critical infrastructure such as communication channels, energy factories, etc, has been the main target in recent conflicts. The digital space is increasingly becoming the main battleground for nations to fight for control over such detrimental pieces of technology. These pieces are also shaping up as the main tools of a nation to be used as a means against their oppositions.
ACT 2: Agression
Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in late February of 2022, coordinated cyberattacks have been launched as part of the war effort, impacting both these conflicting countries and also worldwide nations as a whole. In the wake of this invasion, it has become clear that hybrid warfare is the new strategy and geopolitics as well as cybersecurity are both intricately linked. Over these past few months, Ukraine has faced threats including massive DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attacks, increased malware attacks, misinformation attacks, etc.
We can see that as long as the physical conflict goes on, the digital conflict may as well go on and maybe even continue after the former has subdued or has not even started in the first place. This is attributed to the fact that cyberwarfare is not limited by geographical boundaries and the laws of war such as the Geneva Conventions in the way physical conflict does. This sense of freedom has made it possible that countries that are not neighboring each other but have several conflicting interests may be considering engaging in the form of cyberwarfare that protects their interests. This can be seen again in the recent Russo-Ukrainian war where three German energy companies have been targeted by Russia in cyberattacks since the invasion began.
ACT 3: Retaliation
The Situation in Ukraine and Russia’s involvement in using cyberattacks have put Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) on high alert. It raises the question of how nations approach cybersecurity and geopolitical risks as a whole. At the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summits 2022 that was held in Maryland, Paul Proctor said, “Geopolitics and cybersecurity have become inextricably linked. Therefore, as security leader, you need to be looking at the global threat landscape from a business lens. Every business decision made in this environment has security implications and vice versa.”
The Russian Invasion of Ukraine was the latest crisis that provides solid problems on how we should deal with these forms of cyberattacks. In times of crisis, CISOs must collaborate with other operations to cover their geopolitical weaknesses while spreading information to the wider enterprises on the critical importance of security. Failing to do so may put the entire enterprise a risk of a cyberattack, potentially by nation-backed hacker groups.
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References
- https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-06-10-how-geopolitics-impacts-the-cyber-threat-landscape
- https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/98218-geopolitics-and-cybersecurity-are-intrinsically-linked-cyber-strategies-must-shift
- https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/cybersecurity-risk-regulatory/library/cybersecurity-geopolitical-conflict-board-ceo-response.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberwarfare
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine
- https://thediplomat.com/2020/12/the-geopolitics-of-cybersecurity/
- https://www.cirt.gov.bd/the-effect-of-geopolitics-on-cybersecurity/
