An interesting article recently published by the BBC addresses the question of why we rarely hear about cyber attacks carried out by Western countries.
Before delving into the answer, let’s begin with an example where accusations were indeed made against the USA by Russia —
In early June, Russia accused the US of hacking into iPhones within the country, and Kaspersky, a cybersecurity company, reported that many of its employees had been affected by the hack.
The CEO of Kaspersky described the attack as a “highly sophisticated, professional, and targeted operation that impacted employees in senior and middle management positions.”
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) accused Apple of collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) to implant backdoors in their devices. Apple denied these allegations and stated that they do not cooperate with any government agency.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also held the US responsible for the attack.
The article presents several reasons why we hear less about cyber attacks conducted by Western countries:
– Data bias: Western cybersecurity companies have few clients in non-Western countries, resulting in a lack of visibility regarding Western attacks against these nations.
– Selective publication: When these companies possess such information, they are hesitant to publish it immediately.
– Objectives of attacks: Cyberattacks carried out by the US and its allies are primarily focused on gathering intelligence rather than causing substantial damage.
Based on my research, I would like to add some insights:
🛡️ The majority of available data is published in English sources, leading to a clear bias towards Western countries reporting a higher number of experienced attacks compared to the “likely suspects” like Russia, China, Iran and others.
🛡️ Advanced cyber-capable countries, with the US leading the way, are more likely to carry out undetected cyberattacks compared to countries with less advanced capabilities.
🛡️ In the coming years, we might witness an increase in studies based on sources in languages other than English, such as Chinese, Russian, and Arabic, among others. This shift will alter the database and mitigate biases in the data.
I would love to hear your thoughts!
