U.S.-based computer security firm Norse has released a real-time animated map that illustrates ongoing cyberattacks around the world. Without a doubt, the U.S. is getting constantly hammered by hackers.
In just 45 minutes, the U.S. was the victim of 5,840 cyberattacks.
Screenshot/map.ipviking.comWithin that span of time, the U.S. suffered from 27 times more cyberattacks than Thailand, the second most targeted country. Thailand was the target of only 220 cyber attacks during these 45 minutes.
The Norse map does not represent all hacking attempts in the world. Instead, according to Smithsonian Magazine, the map relies on a Norse honeypot network — a network purposefully designed to detect hacking — to provide a representative snapshot of global hacking attempts.
In actuality, there are orders of magnitude more hacking attempts on any given day than recorded by Norse. For instance, there are an estimated 20 million attacks per day against locations within Utah. There are 10 million daily hacking attempts against the Pentagon alone.
China is responsible for the vast majority of these attacks. Within the 45-minute span, China accounted for 2,513 attacks. The U.S. accounted for the second highest number of attacks, with 1,550 attacks originating within America. However, a number of American attacks targeted computers elsewhere in the United States.
It is likely that these intra-U.S. attacks are the result of "zombie computers" — computers that have been compromised by a hacker and carry out attacks at the hacker's discretion.
Chinese cyberattacks are highly damaging to both the U.S. economy and national security. China is currently developing a new plane that is modeled after stolen plans for the U.S.' F-35 fifth-generation plane.