Year Vulnerability Description Protection Recovery20,000 B.C. FIRE!!! rrrrnnnhh! HOT!! rrnh! arnnh!WHITE LIGHT! SKY! BLIND! rrrnh!GROUND DANCE ORANGE! rnnh! TREES DANCE ORANGE! arrrrnh!MAN! WOMAN! arrnh! ALL! RUN! rrnnh! RUN! RAIN! HOPE SKY RAIN! arrrnh! 400 B.C. Beverages easily poisoned with hemlock Paralysis begins in feet, ascends, with mind remaining clear until the end. Death arrives calmly and peacefully. Do not anger gods with dialectical arguments over concepts of piety and virtue. This will corrupt youths and interfere with state religion. None. You must rebuild philosophy with unpoisoned teachers.1773 A.D. Holes in port security open perimeter to attack Allows tea-based DDOS (Distributed Denial of Sovereignty) attack. Patriots disguised as Mohawks infiltrate King’s ships; destroy tax-free payload; incite widespread revolt. Similar effects noted as far away as France. Try ceasing taxation without representation. (Might be too late.) Annex India.1912 A.D. Weak hulls Design flaws make large ocean liners susceptible to Iceberg Attack (Hubris variant). Patching is impracticable, so build contingency plans despite “unsinkable” marketing claims; even if you’re not sure whether you’re affected, wake up captain; increase lifeboat budget. Telegraph SOS; fill lifeboats; wait for emergency backup.2004 A.D.* Witty-A worm Sends UDP packet from port 4000 to random ports at random IP addresses; attempts to write 64KB of data to a random location on physical disks, destroying them; repeats indefinitely. Block port 4000; download patch. None.2019 A.D. “InternetEnd” multimodal airborne bacterial worm Infects and destroys every computer within a mile. Attack vectors include wireless access points, power lines, cat-5 cable, DVDs, cell phones, satellite dishes, radio transmissions and light breezes. RUN! rrnnh! RUN! RAIN! HOPE SKY RAIN! arrrnh! *Real vulnerability, details courtesy of sophos.com Related content feature Top cybersecurity M&A deals for 2023 Fears of recession, rising interest rates, mass tech layoffs, and conservative spending trends are likely to make dealmakers cautious, but an ever-increasing need to defend against bigger and faster attacks will likely keep M&A activity steady in By CSO Staff Sep 22, 2023 24 mins Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions brandpost Unmasking ransomware threat clusters: Why it matters to defenders Similar patterns of behavior among ransomware treat groups can help security teams better understand and prepare for attacks By Joan Goodchild Sep 21, 2023 3 mins Cybercrime news analysis China’s offensive cyber operations support “soft power” agenda in Africa Researchers track Chinese cyber espionage intrusions targeting African industrial sectors. By Michael Hill Sep 21, 2023 5 mins Advanced Persistent Threats Cyberattacks Critical Infrastructure brandpost Proactive OT security requires visibility + prevention You cannot protect your operation by simply watching and waiting. It is essential to have a defense-in-depth approach. By Austen Byers Sep 21, 2023 4 mins Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe