Calling wolf: distinguishing technological glitches from legitimate cyberattacks

The reported outages this week at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Wall Street Journal and United Airlines again bring to the light the central role technology plays in our interconnected world. Our dependency on the ability to seamlessly trade stock online or book an airline ticket has become the same as the expectation associated from any modern day convenience, like instant hydro or clean water.

The outages experienced by NYSE, the Wall Street Journal and United Airlines were coincidental technical glitches. Given the rash of big-brand cyberattacks experienced in recent months, many were quick to assume that these glitches were associated with a cyberattack. At eSentire, we’ve been repeatedly asked if these cases could be the result of a subtle cyber breach.

An important consideration here is the distinct difference between a ‘glitch’ and a cyberattack.

Glitches or technical outages refer to a system failure resulting in the downtime of its core service or primary function. This can result from equipment failures, improperly executed maintenance or weaknesses in software code. Cyberattacks on the other hand, refer to offensive activities with simple objectives in mind: they are designed to steal, alter or destroy data.

Our nation's response to this week’s outages showed a crack in our collective psyche. It’s like we have cultural Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), so raw that even a benign technical outage can trigger fear that cyber criminals have struck again. Our heightened awareness of cybercrime and data breaches, combined with our dependency on technological interconnectedness, has led to a new cyber-psychological condition.