The day will come where something major is taken down by a cyber attack. The power grid, water supply, traffic grid or something important that will likely cause deaths. Until that point this sort of stuff just isnt going to be taken seriously, at least by the public. We are so reliant upon this stuff as a society now that it would have major impacts. Even something such as the cell network or satellite TV would cause major unrest across the country.

As a fun side note let us not forget that terrorists and foreign governments aren't our only worries here. It was only 5 years ago that we missed a massive disaster by only a week that could happen at any time going forward. That pesky sun up there could really put a damper on all of society in the blink of an eye. Imagine how society would react if all those things listed above just shut down at the same time. Most people would be pretty dicked myself included haha. All those preppers would have their time to shine though!

7/11/2017 9:25:21 AM

Already happening in Ukraine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2015_Ukraine_power_grid_cyberattack

https://www.wired.com/story/crash-override-malware/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/technology/ransomware-hackers.html

[Edited on July 11, 2017 at 10:57 AM. Reason : a]

7/11/2017 10:56:44 AM

Well I guess the inverse of this happened to Qatar. The UAE ratfucks Qatar's government websites to Trump up a reason for the other gulf Arab states to blockade them. I'd argue this should be a clear instance where Qatar should be allowed to defend itself, if needed.

It's also clearly an instance where the US and other western intelligence agencies should all call a spade a spade and tell Saidia Arabia to go fuck itself and end the blockade. Judging by how gleefully Trump tweeted about the UAE ratfuck im guessing there is no chance of that happening. Thus we slowly slide deeper into the unknown of cyber attacks and response and where lines should be drawn.

7/17/2017 4:40:24 PM

Links for the events you're describing...

I more specifically don't understand what you mean when you say "ratfuck" and "blockade".

7/18/2017 7:29:50 PM

The hack and plant:
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/17/15983460/qatar-uae-hack-boycott

The blockade:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/07/qatar-weighs-seeking-damages-gulf-blockade-170718145928093.html

Ratfuck:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratfucking

7/18/2017 7:46:56 PM

A few things here.
1) the cyber "attack" if you can call it that, is a very small portion of what's at play. The cyber portion of this story is significantly less than what DPRK did to Sony, and had a much lesser direct effect on the population of the victimized nation. While I recognize the impact on international relations, the UAE hack really only threw a small log on an already burning fire.

2) Al Jazeera can use whatever language they like, but I disagree that "blockade" is the correct term. That's like saying the US has a blockade on Iran because we don't let Iranian flagged ships pull into our ports, and don't allow our aircraft to fly into Tehran. I recognize that in this case because of the geography, the effect is much greater; but it's well within the rights of the listed nations to conduct international relations the way they feel best suits their interests. A naval blockade (not unlike what occurred during the cuban missile crisis) is an act of war. Not allowing aircraft to transit through your airspace destined for a nation that you're not friendly with is well within international law. (I believe I mention that in a previous post in this thread.)

3) Yes, if UAE did in fact conduct some sort of cyber attack on Qatar, then they are the aggressor, and should have to pay some sort of restitution Qatar. I suspect this will be very minimal because of the real lack of damage done. I recognize that according to Al Jazeera this is a really big deal, but when that news corporation is partially owned by a member of the Qatari royal family, its reporting on the matter should be highly scrutinized.

7/19/2017 5:03:08 PM

It's like our military's information security is being run out of the local middle school's media center:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/secret-f-35-p-8-c-130-data-stolen-in-australian-defence-contractor-hack/

10/12/2017 12:25:29 PM