Cyberwarefare, the Internet and you

Listening to NPR on the ride to work, and it has been airing news about Cyberwarefare, US security and what not, and it got me thinking.

Should the government treat Cyberwarfare like any other warfare? Seems like a simple answer, but that would mean much more restrictions and less privacy on the internet. A large enough attack from Cyberspace, and we could be looking at a very restricted internet. I guess the weird thing, is that a Cyberattack could remain anonymous, coming from anywhere, including our own soil directed against the US.

I am rambling (not through my first coffee), but i think Cyberwarfare on a massive scale is much more likely than any other form of warfare with the Big Three - US, Russia and China.

Extending the Law of war to Cyberspace
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130023318

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125598665

Insurgents Hack US Drones
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html

Yes, i know hacking drones is not the same threat level of shutting down Power Plants, or crippling financial systems, but a $26 piece of software should not entitle anyone to watch video feeds from drones in Iraq. I also think many important systems such as those that operate our nuclear weapons, are normally closed systems. Right? Its not like the movie Wargames in the 80's. But there are systems that are online that are very important, and they are not specifically closed off to the internet. Banks (get hacked more than they are willing to let known), Power, Water, Mobile Cells etc.

Maybe its Much ado about nothing, i just thought there was some interesting articles.

Hmm glad i live in canada, There was something much like this in the EU called Net neutrality but it never wen't threw.

Oh noes the internet disruptions in a region or some documents were stolen which shouldn't have been accessible.

It's just to scare the ignorant masses to take away freedoms... I guess it goes both ways.

If power plants are being messed with with through the internet that's just stupidity to blame, who the hell would have that controllable from outside a completely closed network, even if just virtually. And hacking drones... really, even I could make one that's secure.

Good ol' spy footwork has always been around, and spying on citizens won't accomplish much.

If you distrust your own people, get out of office.

Shell said:

Good ol' spy footwork has always been around, and spying on citizens won't accomplish much.

If you distrust your own people, get out of office.

Click to expand...

Well said!

So very true, these massive back end systems should not be accessible on the internet in anyway, problem is these people in power want for example all power stations in a region to talk to each other so instead of spending money running their own lines making a private LAN basically, they just use publicly available internet to do so, or some dumb arse working their connects an outside device to the network.