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Monday, September 27, 2010

Important article on "Stuxnet and the Year of the Geek"

--“I think Stuxnet the prime example of the modern, targeted cybermunition,” says (Rodney) Joffe. “It’s capable of being unleashed anonymously somewhere in the world, finding its way to a highly specific set of targets and then destroying them without risk to the attacker. In this case, if generating systems were to explode, people could easily be hurt in the process. It's a very short step for there to be loss of life in the future.” --Rodney Joffe, computer security specialist --“There's a blurring of the lines between criminals and nation states. It’s no longer easy or even important to differentiate between a criminal attack and a politically motivated attack, because more and more they're going to blur. The political attacks will employ criminals to develop and generate them.” --Rodney Joffe; --Last week, the cascade of cyberthreats led Gen. Keith B. Alexander, the military’s new commander of cyberwarfare operations, to call for a secure computer network to protect critical civilian and government infrastructure from attack. Back to me: Notice how this has gone over from private, commercial security issues, problems and people to a military general? Also, I should think this may well mean the end of Microsoft's ubiquity. --“I don't consider myself to be an evil person at all—but I will tell you that if it was me and I was evil, I absolutely know how I could kill hundreds of thousands of people, and cause damage to millions; and if I could do that, why would I possibly think that a world that could give us Hitler couldn’t give us someone else who would make that same decision?” --Rodney Joffe. Herein lies your Sci-fi movie---if we last that long as functioning nation-states. The entire article is here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-09-27/stuxnet-and-the-year-of-geek-terror/

1 comment:

Ileana Llorens said...

I just read your analysis post regarding the Stuxnet malware. It’s interesting how experts are pointing fingers at the United States and Israel, when there are other countries to consider. Or as you mention, it’s certainly possible that there may have been collaboration among several nations. After all, hacking into a country’s defense system would be beneficial to just more than one nation.

Like you, I am curious to see how this story plays out. Will we find that there was actual harm done to Iranian computers and information? Or is the idea of successful cyber warfare still too far out there? I thought your readers might enjoy this video (http://www.newsy.com/videos/computer-virus-infects-iranian-nuclear-site/) from Newsy.com. The video takes a look at how different news organizations are covering the issue.

Through short analytical video broadcasts, Newsy.com strives to rid stories from bias and present viewers with perspectives from various global media. Viewers can then form a well-educated opinion on today’s most controversial issues.

Please let me know if I can answer any questions.

Regards,
Ileana Llorens
ileanal@newsy.com