The Coming Cyber Pandemic

The Coming Cyber Pandemic

In October 2019 the World Economic Forum brought together the world’s powers and leading health experts and simulated a global pandemic called event 201 of an outbreak of a novel zoonotic coronavirus transmitted from bats to pigs to people that eventually becomes efficiently transmissible from person to person, leading to a severe pandemic. Then, coincidentally COVID-19 happened a couple of months later that mimicked much of what happened during that exercise.

On July 9, 2021, the World Economic Forum held an online Cyber Polygon, or summit of some 57 nations and cyber experts, as well as countless international corporations, banks, etc. to prepare for what they say will be the next global pandemic, a cyber pandemic. To quote the WEF:

A similar summit happened last year in 2020 as well, and now suddenly in 2021 we have seen a spate of high level high profile cyber attacks that have gotten more news attention than any other cyber attacks before due to their large scale and impact on society at large. These coincidences coupled with the overt plan of the WEF’s Great Reset which you can read more about HERE fits right in with the roll out of digital currencies, social credit scores, and the complete digitisation of our world. All of these things lead to greater control of people at every level of society. The WEF has warned, “As the world is more interconnected and global digitisation accelerates, a single vulnerable link is enough to bring down the entire system.” Based on that quote, what has happened in recent months is just a foretaste of what is to come. The cherry on top and perhaps another “coincidence” is the annual summit of the world’s billionaires, media moguls, tech companies, etc. in Sun Valley, California at the same time of the Cyber Polygon with a particular emphasis on cyber security and global warming. So let’s see what has been going on since early May and why we need to be prepared for what comes next.

Colonial Pipeline Hacked

On May 7th there was a huge Ransomware attack against the Colonial Pipeline originating in Texas that impacted the computerised equipment needed for the pipeline to operate. The hacking group responsible then held the encryption key that would reset the system for ransom. This was a huge problem because the Colonial Pipeline operates 5,500 miles of pipeline which stretches from Texas to New Jersey. The pipeline transports 100 million gallons of fuel per day, according to the company’s website, extends across 14 states, and directly services seven airports. Furthermore, it takes two weeks for gasoline to complete its pipeline journey from Texas to New Jersey. And it takes jet fuel about 19 days to complete a similar journey through the pipeline.

By May 12th more than 1,000 gas stations in the Southeast of the United States ran out of gas because of people panic buying. So finally, Colonial Pipeline gave into the demands of the hackers at a price of 4.4 million dollars and were given the software encryption key. Unfortunately it did not fix the problem immediately, but was only the beginning of a very slow process.

Ireland Health Care System Crippled

On May 14th, the cyber attack that struck Ireland’s healthcare system was the worst in the country’s history, and to this day is still causing a major disruption to people receiving adequate and punctual care in the vast majority of hospitals. The ransomware attack spread to nearly every computer in every hospital where all of people’s medical records were being kept including what medicines they were taking and future appointments that had already been made. The gang responsible for the cyber attack demanded nearly $20 million as a ransom and also threatened to start selling data stolen during the attack, a tactic known as “double extortion.” Ireland’s government refused to pay the ransom and began the gruelling process of recovering the systems, calling in the cybersecurity companies FireEye and McAfee to assist. The gang eventually gave the encryption key for free, which did very little to help recover the systems and has said it will still begin selling the data stolen during the attack.

So what was the damage? 600 million dollars of damage as of June 28th to Ireland’s healthcare system. In a digital world that just went back to paper here are the current struggles of Ireland’s doctors.

One of the biggest challenges is doctors now have limited or no access to patients’ records, meaning they have limited knowledge of their medical histories. Lab results now also have to be printed and hand-delivered. That has slowed lab testing significantly and forced the health service to ration blood testing in many places, reserving it only for urgent cases. In hospitals, everything now has to be tracked again on paper. Labels printed onto samples and blood transfusions are now written by hand. Staff have been advised to not even turn on their computers.

Not only that, but also the software used for sharing X-rays and CT scans is down, meaning in most hospitals it has become impossible to send imagery between departments or between hospitals. Doctors were forced to go in person to X-ray machines or else rely on written descriptions. They have, in some cases, resorted to taking photographs of scans with their phones to send to each other via messaging apps like WhatsApp, something forbidden by the health service because of privacy laws.

During a pandemic this is basically a worst nightmare situation, and a problem that is slowly but surely getting fixed.

Not the Meat!

On May 30th, JBS, a company who is the second-largest producer of beef, pork and chicken in the U.S. was hit by a ransomeware attack that forced it to halt all US operations in its beef processing plants. It also effected many of its businesses in other places like Australia and Canada, but to a lesser degree. Luckily as they are a global company with multiple layers of security and IT professionals around the globe, the problem was fixed within 3 days, but only after it paid 11 million dollars for the encryption key. Although the shut down was only 3 days it still had a large impact on the US beef market that effected both suppliers whose beef remained in the freezer, as well as restaurants and supermarkets with expectant customers. However, the problem is far from being over, as this kind of business is still extremely susceptible to future attacks.

1 Of Many

The firm CrowdStrike observed over 1,400 ransomware and data extortion incidents in 2020. JBS was the largest food manufacturer yet to be hit by ransomware, in which criminal hackers paralyze entire networks by scrambling their data, but at least 40 other food companies have been targeted by ransomware gangs over the last year. Ransomware expert Allan Liska of the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future said food companies are at “about the same level of security as manufacturing and shipping. Which is to say, not very.” That quote should be very troubling to all who hear it because even without ransomware attacks on shipping, there are multiple month long backlogs in the world’s ports and container prices have more than tripled. Add in a couple of ransomware attacks and you can say goodbye to the world’s supply chains almost in their entirety. The same goes for manufacturing.

Biggest Hack in History

On July 4th, what is being called the largest Ransomware Attack in history took place that effected 1500 to 2000 businesses and has has impacted many industries including finance, healthcare, legal firms, federal contractors and even federal entities around the globe.

The hacker group called REvil has asked for a 70 million dollar ransom in order for the systems effected to receive the cyber key to reverse the damage that has been done. The attack targeted a U.S. IT company called Kesya who manages some 40,000 customers around the globe. 1,500 to 2,000 businesses may not seem like a lot, but some of those companies are service providers, with hundreds of thousands of clients whose data is also compromised along with there systems being down until the data can be recovered or the ransom paid for the cyber key. About a dozen different countries have had organizations affected by the breach in some way, according to research published by cybersecurity firm ESET.

Although most of those affected have been small concerns like dentists’ offices or accountants, the disruption has been felt more keenly in Sweden, where hundreds of supermarkets had to close because their cash registers were inoperative, or New Zealand, where schools and kindergartens were knocked offline.

Just The Beginning

Anything digital can be hacked, the data stolen and encrypted and held for ransom, and it can be done with relative ease. Not to mention with ransoms in the millions and tens of millions of dollars there is also a lot of incentive for criminal hackers to continue hitting bigger and more important targets that will garner even greater amounts of ransom money. If the World Economic Forum’s warning comes to pass like COVID-19 did, it would mean every digital system would be effected. Everything from power grids to banks, as well as all of the above examples of fundamental needs like food, gas, hospitals, supply chains etc. Don’t think for a second that the WEF is telling us because they care either, because they have their own very public agenda for the Great Reset where they tell us by 2035 “You will own nothing and be happy.” While their agenda is indeed sinister and threatening to take us into a literal end times world government and a digital mark of the beast, let’s get practical for a moment. How can we prepare for such an event and what could be targeted in the case of much larger scale cyber attacks?

Worst Case Scenario

If the power grid was hacked and shut down for an extended period of time we have to think of the wide-ranging implications. Everything digital would no longer work. That means you will not be able to use your credit of debit card, gas pumps will not work, no cash registers, freezers thaw out and meat goes bad, no heat for cooling or heating your house, natural gas would soon run out, toilets and plumbing stop working, water stops running, garbage is not collected, Grocery stores don’t get re-stocked because all logistics are done by computer and transactions for stores to purchase food can no longer be done, and the list goes on. It would be everyone for themselves until eventually most people would have to rely on the government for all of their essentials because most people are not able to provide the basic necessities of food, water, and shelter without the digital world and electricity. This is the kind of attack the World Economic Forum is predicting, and would give the powers that be complete control over the people. If the government has the food, water, shelter, and guns to protect it, and 95% of the people do not have the means to be self-sufficient, the facade of freedom suddenly disappears. It would look something like the 7 years of famine in the story of Joseph in the Bible where all of the people were bringing everything they had of value to pay for food and grain, but with much worse leadership.

Prepare

To prepare for such an event make sure you are able to have the three essentials covered which we mentioned above as being food, water and shelter and add on a fourth one, security. If you can store lots of extra food that does not need to be refrigerated and clean drinking water that would be helpful. If you can grow your own food and have a well or access to a clean river, even better. Be sure to have a means for backup power like a generator and plenty of gas to run it and your car, or solar panels and batteries to store the energy and charge your electric car. If you are in a cold place make sure you have a wood burning stove or fireplace to stay warm. For security, if you are in a good community where people help one another and stick together this is the best way to stay safe, and it is even better if that community is armed and knows how to use their weapons effectively enough to make people think twice before trying to steal your stuff.

If you are not living in such a community, be sure not to tell anyone you have a lot of extra supplies, because you will become target number one for those not prepared. Also, have some sort of weapon that is easy to use, preferably a gun like a shot gun that does not take a lot of experience or aim to protect yourself and your loved ones. This is all worst case scenario preparation, but if in case it does happen where you are living, you and your loved ones will not be complaining and worried about what you are going to do now. Other things to think about are things like essential medications that would be unavailable and to stock up on those, as well as having essential books that you would no longer have in digital form. If ATM’s won’t be working it would be very helpful to have cash on hand. Also, have things you can barter with that other people would need like batteries, toilet paper, gasoline, and even things like ammunition, as well as skills like how to fix a car or any skill that would be valuable and can be used as a trading tool in that situation.

Conclusion

We hope all of this has been informative and helpful in grasping what they are not telling you on the news to see the bigger picture and how to prepare. We are not trying to be alarmist in any way, but simply giving you the information to decide for yourself if this warrants preparing in any way shape or form, and if you do believe that is the case then to begin taking action in doing so. If Joseph would have simply ignored the dreams that Pharaoh had the story would have gone much differently. Perhaps you are in the situation or position you are in right now to be that person of action instead of brushing it off thinking others will do it for you. Adonai bless you and keep you!