In a series of recent news articles and official reports, the United Nations revealed it was the victim of a cyberattack in 2019. Hackers gained access to and compromised 42 servers and 25 are still categorized as suspicious for three different domains: those of the United Nations offices in Geneva, Vienna, and of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights.

As the United Nations IT team continues to assess the damage this hack has caused and the casualties that will continue to come forward, it is important to assess how hackers could have infiltrated one of the leading world organizations, and how communication between UN officials and their employees may leave them open to further attack.