What makes New York vulnerable to Russian cyberattacks?


The federal government has urged local governments and private businesses across the country to step up cybersecurity measures. Following Russia’s provocations and now invasion of Ukraine, local and state officials are stepping up their vigilance and talking about bolstering defenses of critical infrastructure and other high-interest targets, including transportation networks, power grids and financial institutions. “Pretty much anything that they can do that will cause disruption and perhaps damage,” said Justin Cappos, member of the NYU Center for Cybersecurity and director of the Secure Systems Lab, when asked what kinds of systems attackers would want to target. “Imagine dropping a bomb on something as part of a war, the kinds of things you'd want to target for that – water treatment facilities and power dams and other systems like that.”