Stuxnet to Sunburst

Book excerpt: Stuxnet to Sunburst: 20 Years of Digital Exploitation and Cyberwarfare takes the reader on a journey from the terrorist attacks of 9/11 onwards and the massive insatiable appetite, focus and investment by the Five Eyes agencies, in particular the U.S., to build the capability of digital eavesdropping and industrial espionage. With tens of trillions of dollars moving throughout hundreds of thousands of staff, and many contractors draining the country of intelligence and technical capability, the quest was simple and the outcome horrifying. No one in the world has connected the dots, until now. From digital eavesdropping and manipulation of the agencies to Stuxnet, this book covers how the world's first use of digital code and digital certificates for offensive purposes against the Iranians and their nuclear power facilities, caused collateral damage. Proceeding to today's SolarWinds attack, code-named Sunburst, the same methods of exploitation and manipulation originally used by the agencies are now being used against companies and governments with devastating effects. The SolarWinds breach has caused knock-on breaches to thousands of client companies including the U.S. government and is estimated to cost more than one trillion dollars. The monster has truly been turned against its creator and due to the lack of security and defence, breaches are occurring daily at an alarming rate. The U.S. and UK governments have little to no answer. The book also contains a chapter on breaches within the COVID-19 sector from research to immunisation and the devastating December 2020 breach of SolarWinds.