Into the void: Your tech and security in digital darkness | WeLiveSecurity

Not
every
computer
problem
is
due
to
a

war
in
Ukraine,
or
the

failure
of
the
power
grid
in
Texas.
But
let’s
say
your
network
access
gets
shut
off
from
the
rest
of
the
world
due
to
a
catastrophic
event.
Whether
it
is
an
armed
conflict,
a
decision
of
an
authoritarian
regime,
an
incident
affecting
undersea
internet
cables,
or
your
connection
is
just
squeezed
to
a
trickle
by
overzealous
network
restriction
and
power
grid
issues;
how
secure
will
you
be
(and
for
how
long)?

It
used
to
be
your
computers
functioned
fine
in
standalone
mode;
now
they
continually
beacon
to
the
cloud.
But
what
if
the
cloud
gets
shut
off:
are
they
so
hamstrung
that
you’ll
no
longer
be
secure?

At
first,
you
probably
wouldn’t
notice
any
change
in
local
applications
and
the
operating
system.
You’d
definitely
notice
cloud-only
apps
in
the
browser,
but
eventually,
all
the
silent
computer
updates
that
hum
along
in
the
background
will
catch
up
with
you,
and
stuff
will
start
to
break.

First,
cloud
backups
wouldn’t
be
happening
unless
perhaps
they
were
inside
your
remaining
zone
of
internet
access.
But
also
your
security
would
continually
weaken
and
you’d
become
increasingly
vulnerable
as
your
applications
and
operating
system
fell
further
behind
from
their
updates.

The
exposure
would
not
be
linear.
Basically,
some
tech
(like
ours)
wouldn’t
respond
in
the
same
manner
as
in
a
standalone
environment
as
software
that’s
more
critically
linked
to
the
cloud,
like
Windows.

So,
what
if
a
natural
or
man-made
disaster
pulls
the
plug
on
your
internet
access?
How
would
you
–
and
your
computer
running
Windows
and
all
manner
of
software
–
handle
the
disruption?
How
would
ESET’s
own
software
do
in
the
same
context?

In
the
(conveniently
printable)
paper,
we
posit
these
kinds
of
questions
with
ESET
Distinguished
Researcher
and
Windows
expert

Aryeh
Goretsky.

If
you’re
more
of
an
‘audio
person’,
a
version
of
this
conversation
is
also
available
as
a
podcast
below.

Happy
reading/listening!

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

See author's posts