This is a guest post from Brian, a regular reader and avid contributor to the site. In this article Brian brings his perspective on recent computer virus outbreak.
If, like myself, you keep an eye on the science and technology side of the news you’ll see, yet again, another nasty computer virus infecting computers all over the world. This time the unpleasant piece of unwanted programming goes by the name of ‘Downadup’ or ‘Conficker B’.
As usual holes in the Windows operating system are exploited, people’s computers and stress levels are seriously put to the test and the sellers of anti-virus software make loads of money.
Or is there something more sinister to all this?
Many theories have floated around the internet ever since the first bug raised it’s annoying little head as to where these viruses come from. Luckily for us some of these theories have, in the end, led to arrests and punishment. But is something as complicated and advanced as this new virus really a spotty computer geek trying to claim fame for a hard evening on his keyboard?
What if... and here comes a very realistic theory.... we, and our computer hardware, are all pawns in the opening move of a hi-tech 21st century battlefield scenario? Viruses planted in all aspects of computer hardware from home PCs to banks and web servers - the signs and symptoms of the infection going unnoticed. Then, from the enemies ‘Cyber HQ’, the call is given.
During the Cold War we all knew of the horrors that awaited us in the event of a nuclear strike, so is this really a nasty threat? It is when, already, a network of hospitals in the north of the UK had 800 computers infected. Just imagine the chaos to ‘life as we know it’ when the internet and computers in general cease to operate in a manner we are accustomed to. Hospitals, financial institutes, our education system, travel, international business - the list is endless – all in turmoil. We don’t have to have cities destroyed in a ball of blinding light and radiation to have our lives ruined.
But who would do such a thing? Again, this is an endless list. To control the internet, or should I say ‘the functionality of civilizations’, is a desire held by many.
It’s all food for thought
Now don’t go rushing off into the hills to live a life ‘off the grid’. Just be sensible. Use authentic software, regularly install security updates, keep an eye on who exactly is sending you what. In the end it is common sense that will stop you becoming an unwilling part of a ‘larger plan’.
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Posted in: Rants
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Hi! My name is 
18 Comments
Leanne, it could probably take an article of own to go into all the details why I wrote what I wrote. I'll try to keep it shorter here.
You say I escalated the discussion. Let me use another formulation: I brought passion into it.
I love passionate discussions. I think, discussions must be passionate, while decisions must be calm. I frequently encounter the opposite though: Calm discussions, and emotional decisions, but that's another story. (I had an education in dialectics, so bear with me... :-))
And it worked out. Somehow. You've become a bit passionate yourself. Not that I planed for it. But I think it was cool how you stepped out. What was a series of remarks, became a story of own. A life form with an audible heartbeat.
So while I generally enjoy passionate discussions, when FUD is involved, I get passionate about the topic as well. It's because from the deepest of my soul I KNOW life adheres to certain universal principles. And trying to overcome threat by means of fear is utterly AGAINST these principles.
I still stand true to my belief: The only thing that FUD produces is string puppets. I still stand true to my belief that uncertainty only bears MORE uncertainty.
I do acknowledge that your intentions are good. But nonetheless, I KNOW that pointing with a finger into thin ether, and yelling "There's the super-enemy. We don't know who or where they are exactly, but we know they are out there, so be CAREFUL" (that is, be fearful), is adding to uncertainty. And at the end of the day, that's not a good thing.
See this video about a very similar affair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAFDAPqvc9U
Having said all this about passion (and WITH a noticeable portion of it, I'm afraid), let me assure you, and everybody else witnessing this, that not for a second I had bad feelings or thoughts about the persons here.
Thanks for making the heartbeat of this possible, Leanne, and Brian too :-)
P.S.
As for my moniker: I'm certainly not hiding. Everybody can find out my true identity - as you did apparently. I've just chosen "Hackadelic" to be my Internet identity. Why? Because I like it that way.
Zoran. I've just taken a quick read through your site and your wiki. Very impressive and in another situation I would have said... hmmm, like minds for sure. Your academic and career histories rival my own 10 years in university, and 15 on the Net. Yet I am ever more puzzled. You with your background could easily confirm the realities of cyber war.
And it isn't so much Fear that drives a discussion like this. (Good discussion on Fear on your site). It is a wish that people would quit being Homer Simpson and wake up to the realities in this beautiful, ugly world. Where ugly often wins, at least for a season.
Since the IT crunch, 2000-01 or so - of which I was a victim, as were so many. (You?) ... And the attitude of government was harsh, attitude of 'common folks' was harsh. With nobody really seeing what went on... until LOL... recent months! And "it" happened to them. Government will bail out the cars, the banks, the liars, the greedy... and pass it down in an Easter basket to the common person.
I've said this since 2000... they done gone and pissed off the wrong folks.
The IT community - the brilliant, technical minds. We are the ones who "built this thing." And we are, if anyone, the ones who know how to take it down. And no amount of military or political 'mental mightiness' can even come close to this group. It it weren't so UNfunny, it would be funny. They need to befriend this entire group and make them very happy, no matter what it takes. We need this brilliance. We can live without new cars for awhile. And we surely can live without the greed in banking and the credit industry, and ALL high, secret places.
Oh. And President Obama. I'm a hippie gurl who was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado in the beginning and height of women's topics. As well as the racial issues of the 60s. I was a baby "N.O.W." supporter and "libber," and I was a child of parents who were determined to raise children to be "color blind."
They succeeded. All 3 of us girls married "color," and the grandbabies have all been a wonderful latte color, model quality.
So!! It was with much difficulty that I approached the voting days here. Who would have thought that, as a woman with bi-racial children - after all the ugliness both as a society, as well as what came against us *personally^ even in "modern" USA in the 1970s, 80s, 90s AND STILL NOW - that I would live to a time where I would have to choose and even FRET over voting for which? ... A woman or an African American? (McCain is a hero, but not presidential... I live in Arizona, and we >don't want USA run like AZ.) I became an ardent Obama fan, but am thrilled to see what is still going on for Hillary.
I just really do not understand why you escalated this discussion. I think others here, including myself, are simply concerned that the threat IS there. And most of humanity is too lazy to question and research. And yes, once the light goes on in the attic, then they would be driven by blind fear. On that, you are correct.
sigh. time for zzzzzz's.
http://www.leannecarsonboyd.com
Hmm, Mr. HACKadelic. None of us here seem to be on the attack, but you. In our discussion of possible Cyber attack, we've talked about possible chaos because of a future Super HACK into governmental digital services. The only one of us who has hidden behind a moniker, is you. And even the ghostwriter name you've chosen is a bit fearful, considering the topic.
None of us here has made things up. Nor have we written the book. We just seem to be more aware than the average joe, of what COULD come to pass. However, check page 2 of this link, and at least one book has been written. Also please note that #1 spot is from the CIA, at the tender young Internet age in *1996* ... so NO, this is nothing new. And NO, none of us made it up, nor are we a cult or a religion. This is reality. And in 2009, that is 13 Internet years... an EON in what has passed under the bridge.
What kinda concerns me is that it almost feels that you are defensive. Who is attacking you? Perhaps you have a feeling of having been found out? Oh gee, my imagination... oops.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=foreign+information+warfare+attacks
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/1996/dci_testimony_062596.html
Simply: people need to know, really know, that digital prowess is far more dangerous, and thus alarming, than Nukem Killum.
Well I though already said clearly it's just another speculation. I'm the last to believe in secret agendas (contrary to other "angles" here, apparently). But after all, this is all about just that: All kinds of weird "angles" and mental experiments, and I added mine to it. Sorry for not being mainstream. (Well, no, not really sorry. ;))
Let's keep the discussion friendly. No one had a secret agenda here.
"This is reality calling" said Alice in the burrow.
What is the name of the sect you folks belong to? How is this ideology called? The New Conspiratism?
Or is it religion? Must be some kind of, since only religion puts blind belief over ratio.
A theory is a scientific construct, with clear criteria what it takes to be one.
What you do is just throwing in some wild threat scenarios of an obscure, almost mystical super-enemy "out there". Such "enemies" come in handy, because when you cannot point at them really, you also cannot say how your progress is in fighting them. You can keep up your defcon status forever, and also keep up your "defense" measures forever, whether the "enemy" exists or not, and you can always say "Hey, civilization survived, so I was right in doing what I did."
I bet you voted Bush. You two obviously share the same taste about how "generic" a concept of an enemy should be.
You are spreading a dangerous kind of ideology here my friends. It was dangerous 1933, and it's not less dangerous today.
Truth is, what you are preaching *does not* make people live a life self-responsible and sovereign. Let's face it: It's only FUD you a creating: Fear, uncertainty, and doubt! Those are all bad allies for sovereignty. Bad allies for any human values. FUD does not create happiness, freedom, or wisdom. Not even compassion. FUD creates string puppets.
But wait, how come then FUD is good for you?
Let me make a speculation of own (but at least I admit it is one):
YOU are the real enemy. YOU are part of that obscure, omnipresent meta-organization, a paladin of those mythical dark legions, servant to that evil force that has tried to enslave humanity and conquer the world ever since the dawn of mankind (and thee seed of which it is said existed from the very day of creation, in the shape of that acherontic daemon whose name we're still afraid to speak out loudly...)
Not bad for starters. Perhaps I should found my own religion, just so to set up competition with yours? :P
But you are right about one thing: This little brainchild of yours has never been a new angle... just a blind angle.
@Brian. You are right on. I admire your stance for starting it in the first place. People need to be aware. Thank you!
@Hackadelic - "Perhaps it's them again preparing the next cyber-holocaust, who knows?"
Yup. Who knows?
Through the ages with humanity, it is always difficult to know who your friends are. In this particular segment of history, it is even more difficult, as most things are presented by a medium where the real Legion can be hidden in 0's and 1's. Enemies cannot be confronted with the usual means of protecting a country, but only by high tech methods... and most of the world is a Newbie.
Dear Mr Hackadelic,
This is reality calling.
How you can say that the idea of your 'I-Judgement Day', or the article, is speculation or theory?
Have you not noticed that, since the dawn of mankind, one race, religion, nationality, tribe or whatever has always looked for better and more efficient ways of dealing with an enemy or rival? And if so, in today's day and age, how possibly can we overlook the possibility of the internet being used as an area of 'battle'? War isn't just about mud, trenches, bombs and bullets.
Also, unlike the shot of a rifle, the rumble of a tank or the roar of a plane... there is no direction to look in to find the enemy! Our reliance and thirst for E-commerce, Facebook, YouTube and Google have all helped create the ultimate stealth bomber.
Two last points....
The article never mentioned "A new angle"... just 'another' angle.... due to the sophistication of this new virus.
Then, at the end, the article tries to pull people's heads out of the clouds by making suggestions as to the safety of their computers.
A new angle???
If, by that, you mean your "very realistic theory", and your scenario of an orwellian cyber-world... I'm sorry to tell ya, pal, but it's not new.
It's upsetting enough that people always escape into the same mental traps about dealing with threat. Making iJudgmentDay prophecies like this (<= no, it's not a typo, its i-Judgment-Day, and it will get to you through your iPod, iPhone, iWhatnot ;-) ), and calling them "theories", when they are speculations at best - it really makes my mind blow! Such nonsense has been around for, what? 35 years at least, and it doesn't get better with time. That, my friend, is the real madness.
And Leanne, nice try to take away some jobs from the 3rd world, but would you REALLY feel safer if your equipment came from, say, Kansas? (A hint: Kansas was not only the idyllic home of Dorothy Gale, but also the place of preparation of the Oklahoma City bombing. Perhaps it's them again preparing the next cyber-holocaust, who knows?)
No Dave I've never read the book. My idea for the article comes from being aware of the many flaws in having such a massive dependency in all things 'hi tech'.
I'll look into the book though, sounds interesting.
Thanks
Brian, have you read Neuromancer? It's William Gibson's classic that foresaw perpetual cyber-warfare. Your post reminded me of it. Definitely an important book for anyone "plugged in."
John... regulation is no answer. Forgive me if this is just the 60s Hippie Gurl talking, but when has regulation ever worked? How do you regulate "infinity"? How do you put the Internet inside of a box? In our current global crisis, if you watch as legislators in D.C. or in UK ponder and rant and rave... HOW do you regulate what's happening just down the block, let alone the largest knowledge base known to humanity? The Internet has finally put humans up against the wall... find a way to regulate YOURSELF, or collectively we blow the thing sky high. And even if regulation happens, that is of no consequence to the warmongers, the powermongers, those filled with hate. You cannot regulate that side of humanity. It's what makes great TV shows... ferreting out the worse criminals on the planet. If regulation really worked, 911 would not have happened, we wouldn't be playing war in Iraq, and children wouldn't disappear from the streets. Regulation does ONE thing: it provides job security for a chosen few.
This is one of the reasons why the internet should be regulated.
This interesting article ties in with other recent news items. Scientists are predicting a massive solar storm for 2012 which will knock out electronics and possibly the electricity grid over most of the world. This will also spark enormous fires, and coincides with the theory of immense world upheaval in 2012, predicted by the Mayans countless centuries ago. The Mayans were right about so many other things they predicted. Chaos won't begin to describe it.
Vladimir is my guru... serious help to me over these months of diving off the deep side of WP. YEARS of high level Web did not prepare me for what chunks of the elephant I bit off! hehe. Again, thanks... great article!
No problem Leanne,
It was a pleasure to give something to Vladimir and his 'followers' for once.... his plugins and themes are a big help to us all.
Take care
Brian
Brian, thank you for this article. I think you are right on cue; I do not think any of what you've explained is out of the realm of imagination, or of reality. What you've described, I've discussed for over two years... World War III will not be nuclear, but by armaments in the ether. I believe the tools of war already reside on millions of computing components, world wide. Tucked away. Waiting. How long does it take to "migrate the Web"? On any given appointed day and hour, one push of a button could literally take down enough major systems that targeted locations could be crippled in an instant. And then a domino effect, to cripple outlaying areas of the primary locations. If enough systems go down within hours... communications, travel, shipping of goods, electricity... pandemonium would reign.
No need for monsters from space or bullets or bombs.
Like Rachel Carson stated: Not with a bang but a whimper.
We need to TRUST our computing equipment. We need to know the source, the makers, are on the side of world peace. We need to quit outsourcing and quit buying equipment from those that are not trustable. They are the ones seeding our equipment and digital tools. I believe that a vicious system is already mostly in place.
Forget about current viruses. It's the planned invasion that lies silent for now, that is of concern.