By Craig R Smith
Chairman, Swiss America
The recent missile attacks in Syria have much deeper implications for the vulnerabilities throughout the world. While some believe conventional war - complete with bullets, bombs and troops - is on the way, a very different war looms.
It is an absolute certainty that the world is not ready to go toe to toe, or missile to missile, with America. Even after being diminished during the Obama administration, the U.S. military is still, by far, the most advanced and prepared in the world. No sane world power would wish war with America.
However, America is extremely vulnerable to a cyber-war. One in which everything from our banking system to our electric grid are targets. America is completely dependent on the cyber world to maintain our way of life. Our daily conveniences have a soft under belly and our enemies know it well.
Russia and China both have full-time hackers on the payroll, ready to launch multiple attacks on our banking and financial system. We have seen evidence of this with the hack of 80 million J.P. Morgan accounts. Even government employee computers have been hacked and files have been leaked. Target, and other commercial companies, also know all too well about this weakness.
Our enemies are well aware the simplest way to bring America to its knees is to attack our banking and financial systems. I will never forget 9/11/01 not only tore our hearts but also destroyed our financial system. Keep in mind the stock market disappeared overnight and was closed for several days. Nobody could buy or sell a stock, or gain access to their money, as the system lay in the ruble of the World Trade Center.
Osama bin Laden bragged about how little he spent to cost us so much. Our airlines stop flying, hotels were empty, malls were like ghost towns and our economy came to a screeching halt.
In a cyber-attack recovering will take weeks, months and maybe years. What if the electrical grid goes down for weeks? No pumping of fuels would shut down the transportation system. No traffic lights would turn smooth movement into total chaos. There would be no ability for major manufacturers and food distributors to carry on.
What happens when cell phones, internet and communications go down? With our nation addicted to "devices" it would be catastrophic and our enemies are well aware of it. Heck they are depending on it.
What if banks could not facilitate transactions because their systems are spitting out corrupted data? How does anyone pay their monthly bills? What about lunch money for the kids? How do employees get paid, taxes collected and government services continue to operate?
These weak spots in our armor keep me up a night. We know we are vulnerable. The government, banking and electric companies have all acknowledged these potential problems. It would be simple and relatively inexpensive to harden the power grid yet our leaders fight about partisan issues instead. Banks are working overtime to prepare their systems, yet hackers still get in.
While you see headlines of troop movements and battle ships steaming towards all parts of the world never lose sight of our vulnerabilities. Of all the nations of the world no one is more dependent on computers, technology and electricity to maintain its standard of living than America. Will we survive such and attack? Absolutely. However we must each be personally prepared for the period between the attack and the recovery. Give our offices a call today so we can help you stay financially sound, come what may.
