Why Americans must be prepared for cybersecurity’s worst
The interconnected world we live in has brought incredible opportunities for growth in America. It’s made life better in ways we don’t think about — from the phone in your pocket to the groceries at your local store, networks touch and affect almost all aspects of our daily lives. But there is an old adage in war: every great invention can bring great prosperity to the world and can also bring great destruction.
In the early hours of July 16, 1945, the United States tested the first nuclear reaction in a desolate corner of New Mexico. In a seminal moment for humanity, we demonstrated a technology with incredible military and civilian applications, capable of generating clean, sustainable energy while also providing means to terminate life on a scale never seen before.
While different, there are still remarkable similarities between the advent of nuclear technology and the rapid adoption of interconnected devices by nearly every aspect of our society in less than 30 years. By building these networks, we have also created dependencies that can be exploited maliciously, affecting Americans everywhere in mere seconds. From our hospitals and water systems to the banks that store our hard-earned savings, these networks make life more convenient but also create vulnerabilities. The networking of everything is a new chapter in history, and it could become our Achilles’ heel if we don’t take steps to protect ourselves.
If it comes, the next great war won’t start with explosions and bombs we’ve seen in past wars. It will begin with silence — no sounds or sirens. The opening shots will be fired through cyberspace, and the impacts will be immediate, shaking every part of our daily lives. It’s not clear what our adversaries would target first, but we have to prepare for the worst. When the conflict begins, you could lose access to water, electricity, gas at the pump, your credit card, your internet, the traffic lights on your street, and countless other essentials we depend on every day. Worse, we would not know how quickly, or if, those systems could be restored.
While this is alarming, it is also an opportunity for America to adapt and strengthen itself. Cybersecurity isn’t just a government issue; it’s something every American must take seriously. When a business opens, cybersecurity should be a part of the business plan from day one. When a city implements new software across their local government, IT specialists should ensure there are no vulnerabilities that can be exploited. This isn’t about responding to threats, but about building preparedness and resilience.
In recent days, two Chinese state-sponsored hacker groups, Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon ,have reminded us just how vulnerable our systems are. Both groups have been targeting telecommunications and other critical infrastructure owners and operators, nearly all of which provide essential services to the federal government. How they operate provides valuable insight into how we can prevent our own vulnerabilities from having far-reaching implications. Their tactics include exploiting weak passwords, poor data management, factory default settings on software, botnet brute force, and sloppy internal cyber security practices. These weaknesses might seem like common sense to fix, but they’re more widespread than we’d like to admit. We can defend ourselves through using strong passwords that change often, clearing unneeded data or using proper encryption on existing data, implementing procedures to detect brute force attacks, and requiring mandatory cybersecurity training for everyone with access to your network.
The Republican party is poised to lead all three branches of government. We have a mandate to enact meaningful, transformative change in how our nation operates. It is critical that those nominated to lead in the executive branch prioritize the hardening of the infrastructure they oversee.
Looking ahead to the next year, I urge the incoming administration and its agencies to make cybersecurity and preparedness a cornerstone of their agenda, reflected in the budgets that will be crafted over the next four years. The road ahead will require tough decisions about how we acquire and implement technology. The stakes could not be higher, and we must be prepared to ensure America’s resiliency.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell, a Republican, is currently serving his first term representing Texas’ 8th congressional district. He is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, serving on the border security and enforcement and cybersecurity and infrastructure subcommittees.
