With major cyber attacks happening so frequently, this is definitely something you need to prepare for.
61. Prepare for a financial cyber shutdown. How would you get your money if all ATMS quit working? Do you have all of your banking/investments/etc records backed up? If you pay all of your bills online, how would you do this if all online banking is shut down? If you get paid online, what would happen if payments didn't happen for an extended period of time?
62. Prepare for an electricity grid shutdown. This isn't as far-etched as it sounds, judging by the Texas storm grid-down situation last winter or the very good possibility of California power grids being shut down this summer to prevent wildfires. Take a look at all of the ways you use electricity in your home and figure out what you would do if there was no electricity coming into your home for several days or even weeks. Prepare accordingly.
63. Prepare for your water system being shutdown with no warning. If you are on a well, in most cases, your water system will be just fine (barring an electrical shutdown which would stop your well pump), but for the vast majority of people who rely on municipal water systems, things like cyber attacks or even emergency boil water orders can happen without warning. Are you prepared with multiple sources of water that don't rely on your tap? What would you do if this was a longer-term situation?
64. Prepare for a medical records hack. Recently a couple Florida hospitals went back to using pen and paper due to a major cyber attack. If you had a medical crisis and showed up at your local hospital which suddenly had no access to your medical records, what would you do? Consider always carrying with you a list of your prescription/non-prescription/over the counter medications that you take. Include other important information such as doctor's name, allergies, and medical history (major illnesses/outcomes, any surgeries or other hospitalizations, chronic medical conditions/treatment, etc).
65. A rather new type of cyber attack took place on a meatpacking plant recently. Our food system is highly dependent on computers these days--everything from planting and harvesting machines to packaging and shipping systems rely on computers to function--so consider what would happen if a more wide-spread attack were to happen to our food systems. What could you do to prepare for such a possibility? Maybe grow a garden? Stockpile food? Raise your own animals for food? Go fishing and hunting both for subsistence and as a hobby?
66. Attacks on our transportation systems are an ongoing concern. As we saw during the Colonial Pipeline attack and the MTA attack, you can be going about your business and with no warning there can be a run on fuel which leaves you stranded with no option for getting gas for your vehicle or taking a train which could suddenly be taken over by hackers (thankfully they didn't get that far this time). Even individual vehicles can be hacked (although, to date, widespread hacks of this sort haven't happened. Yet). Do you have multiple ways to get home, aside from your usual method of commuting? Are you able to get to the services you need (groceries, bank, medical services) without the use of your vehicle or public transit? This is definitely something to plan for as it doesn't look like these sorts of hacks are slowing down any time soon.
67. Data breaching is so widespread that it pretty much isn't if but when someone will get your data or even steal your identity via hacks into companies and systems that keep your personal data. It is a frustrating and time consuming process to regain your identity after it has been stolen, so always have a back-up plan and a back-up plan for your back-up plan in the event such a thing happens to you.
68. Location-specific, critical infrastructure cyber attacks are another possibility to plan for. Hackers have tried to attack dams, chemical plants, railroads, and airlines, among other entities which can range from dangerous to deadly for the average person who happens to become a victim of such an attack. Again, consider how such attacks could affect you and your family based on where you live, what's around you, and what activities you normally partake in.
69. Internet/website attacks are pretty common. Whether it is a DDoS attack, an attack that takes out undersea internet cables, or an attack on a major website host like AWS, our entire online life--from downloading library books to our Kindle to ordering stuff from Amazon to calling an Uber and much more--relies on the internet and the websites we need to be functional. What would happen if a large swath of the internet suddenly goes down for an extended period of time? For most of us, we would be annoyed and then maybe go outside and take a walk but many people rely on the internet to work 100% of the time. Critical medical services like this one, this one, and this one, can cause serious or even deadly repercussions if the app/website/internet suddenly goes down. How would a major internet shutdown affect you and how can you prepare for such a possibility?
70. Finally, one of the most common items we use everyday can easily be hacked or shut down for an extended period of time. Yep, our cell phones, which are most people's entire life, have been hacked in the past. From cell tower hacks to your cell network being hacked to your actual phone being hijacked, consider what would happen if you couldn't use your cell phone for an extended period of time. Many of us remember the time before cell phones became ubiquitous, but there are a couple of generations now that have never NOT had a cell phone. Are you prepared for a communications system shutdown that would rendered you unable to communicate with anyone? HAM radios may be one option. Consider other ways you could communicate with others if there is a complete cell service shutdown.
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