OPINION: LEFT TO MY OWN DEVICES: Have Iranians hacked you?

Sep. 15—Maybe you sense this too, and maybe not, but Queen Elizabeth II's passing seemed to me to have expanded the collective sense of selves to a more worldly, universal view. I cannot figure out whether that's ironic, because the British Empire, shrinking as it has been, flies in the face of worldliness. No matter, whenever a global event such as the Monarchy's evolution takes over days of news cycles, I believe that we can grow and learn by tuning in and contemplating our American place in the wider setting of Earth's people, cultures, and to stick to my brand, its security.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine feels similar in how it broadens my attention beyond the U.S. goings-on. When the FIFA World Cup kicks off from the pitch in November we'll have another opportunity. These events, whether celebratory or tragic, present opportunities to envelop yourself into global society and to be unified in part of something bigger than your kith and kin. And, as I suggested, it can also shed light on the pervasive issue of security threats, even within the niche that I crawl around in—information security—that we must stay aware of and continually mitigate.

When it comes to information, at least in its electronic form, we truly are all connected. Hands Across America was one thing, but your being connected to me X-thousand or X-million nodes downstream along the Information Superhighway is only the start. The Royals' internet surely is configured with great care and the highest level of security. Yet, connected it still is to each of our own modems, WiFi networks, and Internet of Things devices. This is why, or at least one reason why, in the Internet Age we earn benefits from understanding the world a little more; from being compassionate, sympathetic and empathetic. We're already communicating with the world, whether we acknowledge that, or use others' languages in doing so. Thus, we must keep learning about it beyond our own selfish bookmarks and news feeds online.

If all the pomp and ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II's death and the concurrent rise of King Charles III's place in the Monarchy distracts the Royals' IT security team to the degree that the ceaseless, focused cybercriminals exploit a chink in their online defenses, there's no question that, directly or indirectly, we will all be more vulnerable in terms of our own information's security.

I've been pointing to the former Queen's death as the illustrative point, but the substance almost matters the least. Russia-Ukraine ... the same. It's not what is going on upon the world stage that we need to track and learn about. It's that we always need to be on guard, and by engaging in those substantive opportunities to learn about the world we not only can continue to have a more global view about how we're all connected via the internet. We also learn about the humans behind the information needing to be secured. Every day, or actually every hour, another opportunity arises.

I hazard to guess that a small percentage of readers, here, know much about or have much connection to Albania, for example. Albania is a rather small nation-state in the Balkans with just under three million citizens. After it gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, the U.S. embraced it through our first wave of diplomacy in the early 1920s. When Italy and Germany later occupied Albania during World War II, we backed away and broke off the partnership. It then wasn't until 1991 that our diplomatic relationship grew again, after the fall of communism. During those 40-50 years there were slight but steady Albanian migrations into America. There are now around 115,000 Albanian-Americans in the U.S., over half of whom live in New York City and its broader Tri-state area.

Our relationship with Albanians continues to grow. Iran's, on the other hand, has grown mostly in its hostility toward Albania. Since ancient B.C.E. the two have been at odds. Albanians' lineage stemmed mainly from the ancient Illyrians, Greek allies. Iranians' ethnicity and history were greatly rooted in the Persian Empire. The recent break-up, diplomatically speaking, between Albania and Iran culminated last week when Prime Minister Edi Rama ordered Iran's embassy staff to vacate its facilities. The diplomatic relationship between Tirana and Tehran severed anew.

Why might you benefit from knowing this, yet another faraway, international kerfuffle involving two nations not including the U.S.? It's partially because, as the ancient proverb goes, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." We align our "friendships" according to third-party relationships. That's by design and necessity. Also, you can learn from this in terms of your own interests in information security.

Go figure, the straw loaded by Iran that broke Tirana's back was a hack. See, Albania has been most welcoming of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, essentially a group of Iranian refugees intent on peacefully overthrowing the oppressive, clerical rule of Iran and replacing it with a more secular democratic government system. Part of that shift includes bringing Iran back to a non-nuclear state.

Iran's response to Albania's cooperation with the resistance was to target its critical infrastructure through cyber-warfare. It devastated Albania's government websites and online functioning. It gained access to or destroyed governmental data, and that of its citizenry. Imagine all of your own personal, financial, educational, healthcare and other sensitive information that the U.S. government maintains. Can you list some? Social Security, student loans, tax information. Now, imagine what happens to your precious data when an enemy of the U.S. lifts it, or changes it, or sells it.

With your acute imagination painting that picture, you are being a worldly citizen. You're growing your empathy for our Albanian allies. This all has as its underpinnings the universal, modern threats to cybersecurity. As a true global citizen, you just have added to information security for all.

Ed is a professor of cybersecurity, an attorney, and a trained ethicist. Reach him at edzugeresq@gmail.com.