How the Militarization of the Internet is Changing Warfare 204
puddingebola writes in with a link to a New York Times article about how the militarization of the internet is changing contemporary warfare. "The decision by the United States and Israel to develop and then deploy the Stuxnet computer worm against an Iranian nuclear facility late in George W. Bush's presidency marked a significant and dangerous turning point in the gradual militarization of the Internet. Washington has begun to cross the Rubicon. If it continues, contemporary warfare will change fundamentally as we move into hazardous and uncharted territory. It is one thing to write viruses and lock them away safely for future use should circumstances dictate it. It is quite another to deploy them in peacetime. Stuxnet has effectively fired the starting gun in a new arms race that is very likely to lead to the spread of similar and still more powerful offensive cyber-weaponry across the Internet. Unlike nuclear or chemical weapons, however, countries are developing cyber-weapons outside any regulatory framework."
Peacetime? (Score:5, Insightful)
We have been at ware since early 2000's. It's not peacetime.
Internet vs USB (Score:2, Insightful)
I thought Stuxnet was transferred via USB.
http://www.matrixgp.com/?page_id=760
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Say what?!? (Score:5, Insightful)
marked a significant and dangerous turning point in the gradual militarization of the Internet.
And all these attacks coming out of Chinese universities are what, game playing?
Military takes on all mediums so it was inevitable efforts would evolve. WW III (should it come) will certainly involve a lot of concentrated attacks over the web, to bring it down, because it's far faster communication than simple radio or Television and goes around the world in milliseconds.
Peacetime? (Score:5, Insightful)
This did not start with Stuxnet (Score:5, Insightful)
It is a grossly inaccurate to state "Stuxnet has effectively fired the starting gun in a new arms race...". On the contrary, Stuxnet only makes a large percentage of the population aware of an arms race that started long ago.
Re:Unregulated (Score:5, Insightful)
What needs to happen is people need to wake up and realize the constant theme of history, war creates war, violence creates violence. Only free trade and respect for human liberties create peace.
Re:This needs to stop (Score:5, Insightful)
This hasn't been proven beyond reasonable doubt.
And it won't be for decades. These are top-notch spies we're talking about here, with the most powerful military in human history defending them. There's as much proof that the US was involved in Stuxnet as there is that the US was involved in the Venezuela coup: They had the means and the motivation, and left some evidence behind that sure looks suspicious, but no definitive proof.
Maybe.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Someone should note that while everyone watches Stux and similar, the Chinese have been carrying out Cyberwar, and constructive espianage for many years now. Their aggressive war activity has netted, and continues to net them economic gains far far outstripping the silly games being played around the Iranian nuclear program.
And, further, unless its actually challenged, the price and cost of that makes the Iranian Nuclear issue peanuts.
Re:There's no WAR here (Score:5, Insightful)
So if the virus made the centrifuges explode and people died would you change your mind?
Re:There's no WAR here (Score:0, Insightful)
So if the virus made the centrifuges explode and people died would you change your mind?
As opposed to the people who may die if they don't?
I'm okay with that.
Money, and nothing more (Score:1, Insightful)
You seem to think that war is about everything *but* money. On the contrary, war (i.e. military spending) is 100% about money. The dirty little secret is that "power over the people" isn't the end goal at all; power is merely a stepping stone to the real end goal: money. The "Hitlers" of the world -- those who are motivated by power alone -- are *extremely* rare. These are the mentally ill. The vast majority of career politicians don't actually "enjoy" stealing your god-given right to self-ownership; what they enjoy is the profit they reap from it.
Your rights are NEVER oppressed for the sake of oppression! Your rights are oppressed for profit. Not very romantic, is it?
Re:rules of war (Score:5, Insightful)
Then you don't understand war. What is limited is what doesn't really help to win battles or wars. If a church or a historical building is used as a defensive position you can atttack it, but if it isn't, it survivies. Regular ball rounds do plenty of damage. Chemical weapons mostly inconvinience trained troops. Who also breach minefields with little operational delay.
The rules help minimize the damage to property and society and between societies. You don't just have to win a war, you have to establish a stable peace. I knew a lot of veterans from the Calgary Tanks who because they defended the beach at Dieppe while the infantry was taken off became prisoners of war for 3 years. Under your "enlightened" philosophy I imagine they're no room for POW's either.
Well, better not exercize those views in a real war zone. With professional troops your side would likely throw you in jail. If captured, you're likely to be shot out of hand.