Cyber Attacks Are Getting Worse for Business

BigTech’s failed response to the worst bugs in modern history reinforced the roadmap used to redirect accountability and perpetuate cybersecurity inequity.

Michael Figueroa (He/Him)

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Intel led an elite group in responding to the worst computer vulnerabilities in history. (Photo by Slejven Djurakovic on Unsplash)

In January 2021, Microsoft knowingly left customers exposed to an active cyber attack for at least two months while it fixed flaws in its Exchange software. A month earlier, SolarWinds admitted that an attacker was actively victimizing customers using malicious code that had be inserted into its software ten months prior. Despite the substantial harm caused by each event, the power the companies wield over customers will likely help them deflect significant accountability and reinforce a system of privilege that is steadily eroding global cyber defenses.

There are many other examples, but one 2018 disclosure serves as a foundational case study in cybersecurity inequity. It was then, six months after discovering the worst computer bugs in history, that a secret response effort coordinated across seven technology industry titans collapsed catastrophically a week sooner than planned. Its failure to effectively shield technology customers from harm clearly exposed a system of privilege that continues to stymie hardware and software supply chain security today.

Jann Horn, a 22-year-old security researcher on Google’s Project Zero vulnerability hunting team, reported potential flaws in computer processors to major manufacturers on June 1, 2017. Horn’s discovery that a hacker could potentially steal data from every computer, phone, and smart device on the planet was the technology industry’s worst nightmare come true.

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the brain that determines the result of any computer function. As a physical piece of hardware, it operates by breaking down the millions of instructions and calculations at the heart of each function into electrons that it channels through an extraordinarily complex maze of conductive pathways. Each time a pathway carries an electron, it generates a minuscule amount of heat that rapidly accumulates.

One way that manufacturers keep CPUs cool enough to remain stable while also satisfying the world’s insatiably growing appetite for computing power is…

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Michael Figueroa (He/Him)

Latinx tech & biz exec making solutions more accessible for mission-driven orgs. Fmr President, Advanced Cyber Security Center. linkedin.com/in/michaelfigueroa