Broadly speaking (and please provide evidence), nowadays is the greater threat:

1) government sponsored hackers (individuals or groups)
2) groups like anonymous
3) individuals living in grandmas basement

Or am I oversimplifying this? Who is really going to be targeting the Obamacare Exchanges (for example)? Who goes after the VA?

I assume organized crime has a hand in hacking?

When you talk to people who have a career in computer or network security (etc), who and what are they protecting exactly (in general)? It seems to be thrown around so generically it reminds me of people who say they went to school for "IT."

Instead of just noodling around aimlessly on Google and Wikipedia I figured id ask you good folk about the big picture. Take the discussion in whatever direction.

Thanks,

10/3/2013 9:31:55 PM

How bout the direction of the soap box?

10/3/2013 9:47:21 PM

Nah that cesspool will say hack attacks are Republicans' fault.

I think id rather have the more technical opinions here.

10/3/2013 9:57:03 PM

Organized crime definitely has a hand in hacking; read up at http://krebsonsecurity.com/

[Edited on October 3, 2013 at 10:10 PM. Reason : computer and network security are much more specialized than "information technology"

10/3/2013 10:09:48 PM

I'm probably way off base, but I don't see a foreign nation that's capable of such an attack doing anything terribly malicious to outright take down something so visible. Doing it to check vulnerabilities and monitor/collect data is another matter.

10/3/2013 10:25:24 PM

Quote :

"Broadly speaking (and please provide evidence), nowadays is the greater threat:"

Greater threat to what exactly?

Quote :

"Or am I oversimplifying this?"

Yes.

10/3/2013 10:35:44 PM

^^d00d have you not heard of China's cyberforces?
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/09/hidden-lynx/

10/3/2013 11:31:57 PM

Quote :

"1) government sponsored hackers (individuals or groups) 2) groups like anonymous 3) individuals living in grandmas basement"

All three of these could be the same people.

10/4/2013 1:27:36 AM

^^ well yea, but they have yet to do anything to outright destroy or cripple anything. Like I said,

Quote :

"Doing it to check vulnerabilities and monitor/collect data is another matter."

10/4/2013 2:09:59 AM

Quote :

"but they have yet to do anything to outright destroy or cripple anything [that we know of]"

[Edited on October 4, 2013 at 10:49 AM. Reason : but yeah, i'd wager a bet that the focus of their hacking is more information focused, not abo]

10/4/2013 10:48:38 AM