It is popularly said that one should not paint the devil on the wall.
Indeed, the American President's warning of a war between great powers as a result of a hacker attack - and only as a result of such a hacker attack, can he imagine such a war - sounds profoundly apocalyptic.
But cyber attacks on so-called critical infrastructure, state institutions and private companies have increased to such an extent that nobody can ignore them any longer.
The more extensive the digitization of the state, economy and society advances, the more vulnerable they become and the greater the security requirements.
Don't let them incapacitate
Western intelligence agencies agree that behind many attacks against facilities in the west lie government agencies in Russia and China, as well as criminal groups who, with the knowledge and / or approval of those, act with the intent of extortion.
President Biden recently made it clear to the Russian President which elements of critical infrastructure should never be targets of cyberattacks.
He has now given the answer to the unspoken question of what happens if this “never” is disregarded.
Our societies and the structures of the state cannot allow state or private actors to paralyze them and render them incapable of action.
It is time for awareness of this vulnerability to grow and for more security policy defenses to arise.