The real world is fragile. It is unnerving, to say the least, to see how a virus can cause such massive disruptions across the globe.
The digital world is fragile as well, as rampant cyberattacks have shown us. It is no coincidence that some of the language we use to describe cybersecurity threats is taken from the biological world, specifically terms such as “viruses” and “infections.” The similarities are striking.
Perhaps this is a teachable moment. How do we apply lessons from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to the world of cybersecurity?
The Virus as Metaphor
Coronavirus, like many computer viruses, was a zero-day attack. There was no forewarning, no minor outbreak where it could be contained before proliferating. Then it spread quickly, with no treatment or mitigation, causing enormous devastation.