Book chapter · 2023
Why Cyberattacks Disrupt Society and How to Mitigate Risk
In Cybersecurity for Decision Makers, pp. 1–28, CRC Press / Taylor & Francis · Published
Summary
Strang and Vajjhala (2023) reviewed 25 major publicly reported cyberattacks from 2020–2022, classified by attack type, source and motive, to examine why attacks succeed and how organizations using Industry 4.0 can mitigate cyberattack risk. They classify 44% of the attacks as extortion, 32% as service disruption and 24% as data theft; 36% involved bitcoin ransom. The authors trace many incidents to missed warnings, unpatched systems and insecure contractors, and recommend log audits, prompt patching, scanning of software updates, awareness training and contractual cybersecurity clauses.
Practical implication. To mitigate cyberattack risk in Industry 4.0 environments, decision makers should audit logs, patch promptly, scan software updates, train staff, add cybersecurity clauses to procurement contracts and deploy intrusion detection systems.
- The Problem
- Industry 4.0 organizations are increasingly exposed to cyberattacks, yet decision-makers lack an evidence-based picture of why attacks succeed and how to mitigate them.
- The Methodology
- Narrative review and descriptive case analysis of 25 major publicly reported cyberattacks (2020–2022), classified by attack type, source and motive, with a review of Industry 4.0 security issues.
- The Core Finding
- An analysis of 25 major cyberattacks (2020–2022) found extortion to be the most common motive (44%), followed by service disruption (32%) and data theft (24%), with 36% involving bitcoin ransom. Most incidents traced to missed warnings, unpatched systems and insecure contractors, which log audits, prompt patching, update scanning, awareness training and contractual security clauses can address.
- The Citation
- Strang, K. D., & Vajjhala, N. R. (2023). Why Cyberattacks Disrupt Society and How to Mitigate Risk. In N. R. Vajjhala & K. D. Strang (Eds.), Cybersecurity for Decision Makers (pp. 1–28). CRC Press / Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003319887-1
The summary, key findings, methods, implications and relevance notes on this page are this website’s own description of the chapter, written from the published abstract and text. The official abstract and citation details are given further down.
Key findings
- Finding 1. The chapter classifies 25 major global cyberattacks from 2020–2022 by type, finding that extortion was the most common central motive at 44%, followed by service disruption at 32% and data theft at 24%.
- Finding 2. Of the major cyberattacks reviewed, 36% were for bitcoin ransom — 20% directed at customers or end users and 16% at companies — while only 8% extorted governments, many of which refused to pay.
- Finding 3. Service disruption cyberattacks (32% of incidents reviewed) were largely attributed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the authors estimate accounted for 20% of the major cyberattacks.
- Finding 4. Among the major cyberattacks reviewed, data thefts targeted pharmaceutical drug trade secrets (8%) and government defense industry classified material (12%), which the authors consider potentially the costliest in strategic terms despite data theft being the least common attack type.
- Finding 5. In the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, the company paid $4.4 million in bitcoin to the DarkSide group; the U.S. Department of Justice later recovered 63.7 bitcoins (about $2.3 million).
- Finding 6. The FBI received 791,790 complaints of suspected internet crime in 2020 with reported losses exceeding $4.2 billion; phishing, non-payment/non-delivery scams and ransomware were the top three crimes.
- Finding 7. The authors recommend checking system integrity and audit logs regularly, isolating and cleaning systems when unusual activity is detected, installing security patches on schedule, and adding cybersecurity risk management awareness training for decision makers and end users.
Source: Strang & Vajjhala (2023), In Cybersecurity for Decision Makers, pp. 1–28, CRC Press / Taylor & Francis. DOI: 10.1201/9781003319887-1
The chapter in detail
What question does this chapter answer?
Why should decision makers be aware of cybersecurity in the context of Industry 4.0, and how can organizations using Industry 4.0 assess their cybersecurity vulnerabilities and mitigate cyberattack risk?
What did the chapter find, in detail?
Reviewing 25 major global cyberattacks from 2020–2022, the authors classify 44% as extortion, 32% as service disruption and 24% as data theft; 36% involved bitcoin ransom, with 20% targeting customers or end users and 16% targeting companies. They trace many incidents to missed warnings, unpatched or unmonitored systems, insecure contractors and software updates, and recommend regular log audits, prompt patching, scanning of software updates, awareness training, contractual cybersecurity clauses, intrusion detection systems and international cooperation, including regulating bitcoin.
Why does it matter?
Cyberattacks have crippled governments and companies, disrupting supply chains, fuel and food supply, healthcare and public services, and the FBI reported losses exceeding $4.2 billion from internet crime in 2020. The chapter gives decision makers concrete lessons from real incidents and argues that organizations adopting Industry 4.0 technologies must assess their vulnerabilities and put benchmark-based cybersecurity policies in place, or users will lose trust.
Methods and data
| Research question | Why should decision makers be aware of cybersecurity in the context of Industry 4.0, and how can organizations assess their cybersecurity vulnerabilities? |
|---|---|
| Design | Narrative review and case analysis of major publicly reported cyberattacks during 2020–2022, classified by attack type, hacker source and central motive. |
| Data | 25 major global cyberattacks (Table 1.1), including BlueLeaks, SolarWinds, Colonial Pipeline, JBS, Kaseya, Ireland’s HSE, Vastaamo, the Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine and Costa Rica. |
| Methods | Descriptive classification of incidents into data theft, service disruption and extortion, cross-tabulated by central motive (Table 1.2), plus review of Industry 4.0 security issues. |
| Main result | Extortion was the most common type (44%), followed by service disruption (32%) and data theft (24%); nearly all extortion demanded payment in bitcoin. |
| Implication | Decision makers should audit logs, patch promptly, scan software updates, train staff, add cybersecurity clauses to procurement contracts and deploy intrusion detection systems for Industry 4.0 environments. |
| Citation | Strang & Vajjhala (2023) · DOI 10.1201/9781003319887-1 |
Definitions and key terms
- Industry 4.0
- The fourth industrial revolution: the digitalization of industry through technologies such as the Internet of Things, cyber-physical systems, big data analytics, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and autonomous machines. — as used in Strang & Vajjhala (2023)
- Cyber extortion (ransomware)
- A cyberattack that demands money or assets, often by encrypting critical systems with ransomware or threatening to publish stolen data until a ransom, typically in bitcoin, is paid. — as used in Strang & Vajjhala (2023)
- Parkerian hexad
- Six elements of information security — confidentiality, control, integrity, authenticity, availability and utility — that cybersecurity investment aims to protect. — as used in Strang & Vajjhala (2023)
Opening summary
Cybersecurity attacks have crippled governments as well as private and public companies around the world (Sawik 2022). The impacts have been serious and costly, including disrupting the supply chain, impeding e-commerce transactions, theft of government classified information and publicly disseminating confidential personal data. The US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI, 2021) estimated the total cost of cyber terrorism was $4.2 billion USD by the end of 2021 (data for 2022 were not yet analyzed at the time of writing). The BlueLeaks cyberattack on 271 US anti-terrorism agencies resulted in 270 gigabytes holding 700,000 law enforcement police officers’ classified personal data being broadcast on Twitter and stored on a public website for free download (Lee 2020). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 1244 data breaches in the US, with over 446.5 million information records stolen, which cost stakeholders over $575 billion (Sawik 2022).
This chapter has no published abstract; its opening paragraph is reproduced from Cybersecurity for Decision Makers.
Limitations
- Many cyberattacks for data theft, service disruption and extortion likely took place that were not reported publicly and therefore could not be included in the chapter.
- The chapter does not review every cyberattack; it covers major global cyberattacks representative of type, motive and impact, up to the time of writing in 2022.
- The authors call for detailed analysis in developing countries, comparison with developed countries, and future research focusing on each cybersecurity challenge separately.
Practical implications
- Organizations should check system integrity and audit logs regularly, isolate and clean systems when unusual activity is detected, install security patches on schedule, and add cybersecurity risk management awareness training for decision makers and end users.
- Decision makers should scan software updates and add cybersecurity clauses to contracts; the authors trace many incidents to missed warnings, unpatched or unmonitored systems, insecure contractors and software updates.
- The chapter argues that organizations adopting Industry 4.0 technologies must assess their vulnerabilities and put benchmark-based cybersecurity policies in place, or users will lose trust.
- The authors call for detailed analysis in developing countries, comparison with developed countries, and future research that focuses on each cybersecurity challenge separately.
Drawn from Strang & Vajjhala (2023), In Cybersecurity for Decision Makers, pp. 1–28, CRC Press / Taylor & Francis.
When this research may be relevant
This chapter may be relevant to researchers and decision makers studying ransomware and cyber extortion trends, cybersecurity in Industry 4.0 and critical infrastructure, lessons from incidents such as SolarWinds, Colonial Pipeline and the HSE attack, and management-level mitigation practices such as patching, log auditing and contractual security clauses.
Research topics addressed: cybersecurity; cyberattacks; cyber terrorism; ransomware; cyber extortion; data breaches; DDoS attacks; Industry 4.0; Internet of Things; cyber risk management; Russia–Ukraine war; bitcoin; critical infrastructure; decision makers
How to cite
- APA 7
- Strang, K. D., & Vajjhala, N. R. (2023). Why Cyberattacks Disrupt Society and How to Mitigate Risk. In N. R. Vajjhala & K. D. Strang (Eds.), Cybersecurity for Decision Makers (pp. 1–28). CRC Press / Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003319887-1
- MLA 9
- Strang, Kenneth David, and Narasimha Rao Vajjhala. “Why Cyberattacks Disrupt Society and How to Mitigate Risk.” Cybersecurity for Decision Makers, edited by Narasimha Rao Vajjhala and Kenneth David Strang, CRC Press / Taylor & Francis, 2023, pp. 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003319887-1.
- IEEE
- K. D. Strang and N. R. Vajjhala, “Why Cyberattacks Disrupt Society and How to Mitigate Risk,” in Cybersecurity for Decision Makers, N. R. Vajjhala and K. D. Strang, Eds. CRC Press / Taylor & Francis, 2023, pp. 1–28, doi: 10.1201/9781003319887-1.
BibTeX
@incollection{strang2023cyberattacks,
title = {Why Cyberattacks Disrupt Society and How to Mitigate Risk},
author = {Strang, Kenneth David and Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao},
booktitle = {Cybersecurity for Decision Makers},
editor = {Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao and Strang, Kenneth David},
pages = {1--28},
year = {2023},
publisher = {CRC Press / Taylor \& Francis},
doi = {10.1201/9781003319887-1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003319887-1}
}RIS
TY - CHAP TI - Why Cyberattacks Disrupt Society and How to Mitigate Risk AU - Strang, Kenneth David AU - Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao ED - Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao ED - Strang, Kenneth David T2 - Cybersecurity for Decision Makers PY - 2023 DA - 2023/05/25 SP - 1 EP - 28 PB - CRC Press / Taylor & Francis DO - 10.1201/9781003319887-1 UR - https://www.narasimharao.net/research/cyberattacks-disrupt-society-mitigate-risk-industry-4-0/ LA - en ER -
Links and files
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