Just Thinking... (The New Battlefield)

This afternoon the New York Times published a story highlighting the Pentagons plans for a cyberattack on Iran should our negotiations have failed (some would argue they already have).  To me this was a fascinating story, not just about the details of Nitro Zeus (the plans code name) but the entire idea of cyber-warfare against a nation state.  That led me to thinking... if we could do it to them, who is planning on doing it to us either on a micro or macro scale?  What industries, what companies, who would be impacted?  Certainly utilities, and defense contractors, how about hospitals and sub-contractors, and anyone else who does business with the federal government?  The article went on to say we had been planning for years just in-case things didn't go our way.  Again..... it got me to thinking who or what has been happening here?   How do we defend against it, could we stop a major attack or would we be at the mercy of the Feds (God forbid) to fix the problem?

​I have a lot of faith in the private sector to identify and rectify cyber attacks, there is a marketplace incentive to provide these solutions.  My fear would be our military infrastructure who wouldn't benefit from the speed and urgency that you find in the private sector.  Cyber Security is not a buzz word that is going away, we have found a new way to fight without having an all out war (in terms of guns and bombs).   As our understanding and realization of this new battlefield emerges, it will be interesting to see how the marketplace responds.   Should be interesting!

​Al