If you are an AT&T Customer, you are probably experiencing network issues today. It’s still too early to tell- but this is probably the result of bad actors trying to disrupt our society and economy.
Unfortunately, this is going to be an ongoing problem. As powerful as the Internet is, it also is very open. Even secure networks have weaknesses. Many times, these breaches are the result of human error. There have been cases of hackers leaving USB drives around hoping someone inside will plug it in. NASA was famously hacked when an employee plugged in a Raspberry Pi, which all come with standard root access info, and have an easy-to-spot network name.
What can you as a consumer do? Nothing really. Maybe monitor your data. These are issues for governments to solve. Electronic warfare is clearly here and slowing or stopping network traffic is a form of weapon. If you are a Cyber Security Expert and want to add a few lines of defense, you can think about these:
1. Password control. If your team is sharing passwords this could give others the ability to get inside systems. This includes Wi-Fi networks, smart devices and anything connected to your network.
2. Physical security. Who can get in and out of your offices?
3. Outside devices. Personal phones, computers and smart devices that an employee may unknowingly connect to your network and open up a hole.
4. WordPress. Update your plugins. An unattended WordPress site can be easy to access.
5. Monitoring. Even tools like Google Analytics can tell you when there has been a change in web or network traffic.
The AT&T Outage and More to Come
