From: Brookings Institute
Elizabeth Ferris
Most international staff I know who are working in the humanitarian field aren’t paying any attention to cybersecurity. Why is that? For starters, it’s an issue rooted in the security community which humanitarians have traditionally tried to maintain at arm’s length. But also humanitarians see themselves as the good guys; “we’re delivering food and water to needy people,” the argument goes, “who would want to launch a cyberattack against us?” While this argument has been undermined by the fact that even well-meaning humanitarians are targeted by armed actors using traditional weapons, there’s still a reluctance to pay attention to cybersecurity. And humanitarian actors are under pressure to keep their overheads low so that they can distribute most of their funds to people in need – not to beefing up their IT departments.
Inspired by my colleague Peter Singer’s new book, “Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know,” I humbly suggest four reasons why humanitarians should pay attention to this field.
First, like everyone else, humanitarians are dependent on technology and on the Internet. Our systems are managed, our funds are recorded and our stories are told online. If our servers go down, we’re lost. Even though we work in many countries where internet access is unreliable, we depend on our computer systems. A few months ago, hacking of one retail store – Target – affected some 70 million people. I suspect that systems for tracking online donations for charitable donations are even less secure than for a big commercial enterprise than Target. And the risks may be much greater than those affected by the attack on Target. When life-saving aid isn’t delivered on time and to the right beneficiaries, people can die. This dependency makes us vulnerable.
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