If food defense was not already challenging enough, it got more so with the latest revelation of a cyber-borne hack of 150,000 security cameras, associated with a major provider of the technology. The hack included security cameras and related software technology, including facial recognition software. Security cameras are integral elements in most food defense programs. The breach enabled access to security cameras in various locations, including inside corporate facilities, hospitals, and health clinics. More importantly, the video archive and facial-recognition technology were accessed, which could enable the identification of people depicted in the videos.
In this case, those responsible for the breach originated not from a nation-state, but rather from a loose collective of hacktivists/anarchists calling themselves, “Advanced Persistent Threat 69420,” or “APT 69420.” The hackers ostensibly did the deed and then bragged about it in order to decry a mixed bag of anti-capitalist, anti-surveillance complaints. Had it been a nation-state, public disclosure would not have accompanied the hack. Nation-state adversaries and criminal organizations trend strongly toward wanting to remain hidden, or at least doing so until which time they no longer want or need to. By then, it is often too late for companies that have been targeted, and financial damages inevitably follow.