NSA hacking tools now available for anyone to use, is your computer vulnerable?

All computers using system that predate Windows 10 are vulnarable.

The majority of the world's computers are vulnerable to NSA hacking, according to a hacktivist collective that has just released another trove of NSA developed malware to the media. The ShadowBrokers, a hacktivist collective previously leaked accurate information on NSA malware to the media.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- NSA attack tools which can infect a majority of the world's computers, have now been released to the world and could be used to attack entire nations. Any computer or server system running any Windows operating system before Windows 10, is vulnerable to these newly leaked programs. This amounts to 65 percent of the computers in the world.

The tools were leaked by The ShadowBrokers, a hacktivist collective that previously released a cache of NSA malware tools. Although the leaks make the world aware of the malware, they also make it possible for savvy users to adapt the tools for their own use. Hackers can then use these tools to get into computers.

The only way to prevent these hacks is for Microsoft to patch their products, and for users to apply the patch. Without that, computers will remain vulnerable.

Microsoft has said some of the vulnerabilities released by The ShadowBrokers have already been patched as recently as March.

Most people ignore or dismiss these reports as esoteric reading of interest only to computer geeks, but we should all be concerned with the development of advanced hacking tools.

Some experts predict that World War 3 will not be fought with missiles and bombers, but instead with hackers and lines of computer code.

In one hypothetical scenario, computers hackers manage to shut down power and water for the city of Los Angeles. Within three days, as food and water run out, the people begin to riot. Without electricity, traffic will remain snarled, and millions of people will only be able to move on foot. Emergency supplies and National Guard cannot easily get into the city. Next, comes disease, made worse by the general mayhem. Who needs to bother with a nuclear weapon when the people themselves will do more damage?

Financial systems can also be destroyed, as well as government and law enforcement databases. 

In a matter of hours, the United States could be thrown back into the 1980s. But few people will know how to cope after decades of reliance on computers and automated systems.

The other problem with such weapons is they can be employed by anybody. Even a small nation like North Korea could strike the U.S. with a malware attack, making hacking more of an equalizer than nuclear weapons themselves.

Indeed, it is rumored that U.S. hacking operations are the reason why North Korea and Iran do not have working nuclear weapons.

The world is more vulnerable, and the playing field is more level than most people believe.

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