One would assume that the most important residence, the most important government facility, the most important person in the United States, perhaps the world – would have the most secure digital network on the planet. It would be the ultimate example of cyber security, unbreachable, impenetrable, a perfect example of what a secure cyber network should be, a model for organizations and agencies to emulate.
Unfortunately, it now appears that even the perfect model has a few flaws.
Word was released this week that hackers had done the unthinkable and breached some of the digital systems at the White House. Hackers with digital fingerprints from Russia gained access to some data in the White House, but spokespersons for the Obama administration claim that the only data exposed was of a non-classified nature. It appears that the breach had gone undetected until the White House was tipped off by persons/security firms unknown that the breach had occurred. Personnel from the FBI, Secret Service and NSA were immediately called in to investigate the breach. The cyber security team at the White House has been working to mitigate the intrusion since the notification was provided, which has resulted in some disruption in computer operations.
No cyber security system is perfect of course, but if the brightest, most talented, best educated cyber security personnel in the free world can’t develop a tamper proof digital network, where does that leave the rest of us? It seems that the ‘space race’ of the cold war has now become the ‘cybersecurity race’ of the new millennium. Let’s cross our fingers that ‘our’ cyber experts are better than ‘their’ cyber experts and the ‘good’ guys will prevail once again.
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