EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
PAUL BRUCCIANI , CYBER SECURITY
ADVISOR , WITHSECURE
Cryptocurrencies will be the focus of the most sophisticated and persistent attacks . The inflationary forces welling up in economies running on ‘ fiat currencies ’ ( i . e . paper-based promises to pay the bearer a certain amount , backed by the issuing bank ) will attract increasing interest from investors . Cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges will be targeted by criminals and nation states .
The FAANGs will be in the dock
The FAANGs ( Facebook , Amazon , Apple , Netflix and Google ) will come under increasing scrutiny by regulators around the world , for two reasons :
• Cloud service availability : A large-scale , prolonged cloud service outage will raise questions about concentration risk
• Market failure : AWS , Microsoft or Google will become embroiled in antitrust concerns as cloud service users become ever more dependent on the three service providers that control half the global market .
Satellite communications : A geo-political target
Private satcom initiatives like Starlink will be viewed as trampling over long-standing international agreements about the exploitation of space , raising geopolitical tensions . This will lead to the space powers discussing the creation of a geospace treaty to bring order to how Earth-
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin will come under pressure to provide greener ways to maintain security . orbiting satellites are managed . Until then , they will be targets .
The fragile digital world
The irony is that the Internet was created during the Cold War to overcome telecommunication vulnerability , yet today , as geopolitical tensions rise , it is now the source of vulnerabilities . A large amount ( 90 %) of international Internet traffic travels through just 436 submarine cables , if several lines are severed , which is easily done , there is very limited spare bandwidth to cope . Expect Internet connectivity to come under threat in response to adverse geo-political events . If there is a ‘ plan B ’ worth having it is ‘ How we will operate without the Internet ’.
Green computing
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are digital money protocols that enable peer-to-peer transactions without need of a central intermediary . Data mining is a computationally intensive way to prevent fraud and create trust among cryptocurrency users . The Bitcoin network alone , for example , uses as much power as an entire country like Malaysia or Sweden . Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin will come under pressure to provide greener ways to maintain security .
The Ethereum Foundation says its switch from a ‘ proof of work ’ to ‘ proof of stake ’ verification method has led to a 100 % reduction in energy for computation . Although it is a more environmentally friendly alternative to proof of work , it is also less secure .
Expect to see environmental regulation of computationally inefficient cryptocurrency service providers . Expect to see new forms of fraud based on subverting the ‘ proof of stake ’ security approach .
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