First, a history lesson.

When the first computer virus surfaced in 1982, it was called Elk Cloner. The first malware variant to hit the internet was in 1986 and it was named The Brain. As you can tell, naming viruses and malware is not an art, but most certainly creates an air of mystery and leaves an ominous shadow over the creation.

Computer viruses and malware are designed specifically to cause damage. The type of damage inflicted by these creations is what determines which are viruses and which are malware. By definition, malware will infect with the primary goal of destroying or disabling digital property. Ransomware is an example that will encrypt your computer to force you to pay large amounts of money to get the infected files de-crypted.

What is killware?

Killware is designed to do one thing – to cause physical harm. The first-ever example of this was an unsuccessful attempt in Florida where a water treatment facility was the target. The plan was to contaminate water that was distributed to residents. This attack took place in February 2021. Fortunately, the hackers failed at what could only be viewed as an act of terrorism that could have killed many innocent people had it gone off without a hitch. What is curious about this specific incident is that although it received a lot of media attention, how many other incidents involving killware have taken place and did not receive media attention?

How else can killware be used?

Essentially, that is an easy one to answer. Killware is effective when executed anywhere that some form of machinery is being used. Naturally, that machinery must be network-enabled and have access to the internet to be vulnerable. This means that machine-controlled environments such as hospitals, construction sites, infrastructure, manufacturing, and factories are all potential targets. Anywhere smart devices operate the day-to-day activities that are connected to the internet can be infected with killware.

So… should you be worried?

This is not such an easy question to answer. However, let’s think about the possibilities for a moment. If you are not a high-profile, Fortune 500 executive, the chances that someone is going to hack into the smart devices in your home or office are rather slim. But if you happen to be a powerful member of your community and the business sector you work within, maybe you might want to consider the possibilities of an attack of some kind.

With technology continuing to evolve, it might not be such a bad idea for you to stay aware of the potential for problems somewhere down the road. After all, the technological threats of today did not exist 25, or 50 years ago, so having awareness is always a good part of preventive measures. Knowing the possibilities, and preparing for them just keeps you in the loop.

In Conclusion

Killware is a very real and potent threat. And this is just the beginning. Since killware is not as widely distributed as ransomware or any other type of “ware” out there, doesn’t mean it isn’t going to increase its popularity. With the speed at which technology keeps moving, killware may become the next weapon of mass destruction for terrorist organizations. As extreme as that may sound.

The upside is that first-world nations have intelligence agencies that are monitoring the situation and in doing so, are protecting their countries from killware taking over and wreaking havoc. What awaits third-world countries that lack these resources is anyone’s guess.

While this is not meant to scare you and is very much speculative, the reality is that with the internet, anything is truly possible.