DEVELOPING COUNTRIES SHOW MALICIOUS HACK ATTACK GROWTH

Some attacks may world-wide. Others are focused on a specific nation and may even be considered digital warfare. According to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), recent Russia hacking allegations were an “act of war.” Where are these hacks coming from: rogue nation-states, terrorist groups or the 400-pound hacker in his basement? According to a report from Broomfield, Colo.-based cybersecurity company Webroot Inc., many cyberattacks, such as those that leverage internet of things (IoT) devices, are increasingly being launched by developing countries and not from others that may have more expansive resources to do so. Surprisingly, the U.S. still leads the pack by accounting for 22 percent of internet protocol addresses that launched a malicious attack. Lonas said that increased cybersecurity and data privacy regulations throughout the developed countries, such as the European Union and the U.S., is causing “the bad guys to move to the easier places to launch cyberattacks.” Countries like Vietnam and Ukraine, which account for approximately 12 percent of the total malicious IP addresses, don’t have a robust data protection regime, he said. Daniel R. Stoller is a Senior Legal Editor for Bloomberg BNA’s Privacy & Security Law Report, and a former Research Specialist for Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Government. Before joining Bloomberg BNA, he worked as a law clerk for the SEC. Daniel received his J.D. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.