There are several cybersecurity risks that affect the United States of America. Some of those risks include data breaches, cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, and cybercrime that is targeted towards individuals and businesses. Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, like the electrical grid, financial institutions, or government agencies, oftentimes cause widespread damage and disruption. In more recent years, The United States has experienced an increase in data breaches, with sensitive information being stolen from government agencies and corporations/businesses.
Additionally, U.S. cyber criminals often target businesses and individuals with several different tools/methods, one of which being phishing. Phishing is when an attacker pretends to be a trusted contact, and gets a user to download a malicious file, which gives the attacker access to sensitive information. Another tool cybercriminals use is malware, which is essentially malicious code that is used to gain access to networks, and helps cyber criminals steal data. One more tool cyber criminals use is known as ransomware. Ransomware encrypts company data so that the data can no longer be used or accessed, which forces a company to pay a ransom to unlock and use the data again.
Another country that faces cybersecurity risks is Russia. Most of Russia’s cybersecurity risks come from state-sponsored hacking groups (such as Killnet, or Sandworm) and cyber espionage. Russian hacking groups are linked to many famous cyber attacks, such as the 2016 United States Presidential Election. Similar to United States cyber criminals, Russian cyber criminals also use tools/methods of causing disruption among businesses/individuals, like phishing attacks and the use of malware and ransomware.
The governments of the United States and Russia have different approaches to responding to attacks on cyberspace. The United States government is less involved, having a system where both private businesses and the government work together to counter cyber attacks. On the other hand, The Russian government solves all of its cybersecurity issues on its own, without the aid of private businesses.