Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Under Siege


A military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the surrender of those inside.
Sounds frightening, loud and bloody but today cities are under siege from digital attacks.
Imagine if you will, your city or town or burb gets attacked and basically shuts down. Pay up for you are under siege and nothing digital works. No computer service, no printers, no copiers, everything in city hall is turned off and can’t be turned on. The lights, air conditioning, elevators, fire suppression, coffee makers are all dysfunctional.
Now expand that thought to the hospitals and fire stations and police communication. The utility bills won’t go out but neither can the utilities. The potholes will grow in depth and the streetlights won’t turn on. Security systems don’t work and your smart speaker doesn’t answer back.
Remember everything has a computer in it. Your car, your toaster, your television, etc. are all under the computer command and when it doesn’t work there is no easy solution. The warranty warns of not do-it-yourself tampering while online help lines are no assistance and parts are unavailable due to tariffs.
How much will you pay to get out from this digital siege?
The next war might have no planes or bombs or armies but just a click of the mouse.

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