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DVD Porn Viruses Ravage US Soldiers' Computers
stevegee58 writes "Tom Ricks' Inbox in the Sunday Washington Post reported that bootleg DVDs purchased in Iraqi markets ('souks') are frequently infected with viruses. Iraqi soldiers were affected as well; electronic interaction between Iraqi and US soldiers frequently resulted in a corresponding exchange of viruses from these infected DVDs."
This sounds like a fairly big national security issue to me...
Now, I do realize that these computers operate on separate networks, but traveling disks that are frequently infected presents an issue. Or, put another way, a tempting target for foreign intelligence.
And before you jump to the 'impossible' conclusion, consider this: What are those Iraqi officers trading with our soldiers by thumb drive? Is it ALL unsec material? NONE of it is of ANY operational importance? Really? Really, really?
That strains disbelief...
And consider this: If the portable drives were intentionally infected by a custom virus designed by, oh say, a super power, would the sec networks have a chance to detect it?
My network would not. I'm certain of that. And I'm also fairly certain that I have far less BillyWare than they do in their deployment.
You know, I'm fairly certain (at least I hope so) that you're either joking or just being a troll (in which case, I'm falling directly into your trap), but as (maybe one of the few) people on this site that were also previously in the military, I'm just about as offended as humanly possible at your comment above.
Not everyone that goes into the military is a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal, and quite a few of us are above average in terms of intelligence. I spent 6 years in the Navy, and I (nor anyone I knew) didn't shoot, rape OR pillage anyone.
On a site like this one, where people from the outside would presume everyone is a pasty and pimply 34 year old living in their parent's basement, I really would expect (just a little) a little more tolerance and less assumption from the people involved.
After having been there a few times, I'll just point out that it is 100% illegal to have any kind of pr0n in country. No DVDs, no Playboys, no nothin, so don't mail it (I realize you made the above statement in jest, but someone reading it may think it's a good idea).
That being said, I've seen more pr0n on classified servers than I've seen in the rest of my previous life. We had to remove about 3 or 4 TB off of one server so the map server could run properly. That and it was slowing down Call of Duty. Mind you, it wasn't all of it, just a couple of TB.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
If that's the case, they've (The armed forces) brought this on themselves. Porn isn't illegal, the soldiers are adults and they're away from their significant others (if they have one). Denying it to them in that situation is just asking for them to go underground for it.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
Please do everyone a favor and learn the difference between the military, an instrument of national power, and the GOVERNMENT that wields it. If you want to meet a person who abhors war, talk to a soldier. If you want to judge someone for wanting to "kill people after the Cold War finished" I suggest you look at the people who decide when and where to send the military. I'll give you a hint, they don't wear uniforms.
If you can't be good, be good at it!
Actually, no, you would not.
You would merely have to know enough history to know that the modus operandi described in my post has been characteristic for invading armies since the invention of armies.
Then you would have to notice that I actually implied that American soldiers were kind of wusses for not raping and pillaging, since all they really do is jack off to porn.
The rest of your post I would rather not comment on in great detail; let it suffice to say that the rest of the world has a bit different view of your army. And of your country.
Ignore this signature. By order.
Well, first of all, you only get to abhor the war as much when you've actually participated in one. Or four.
Furthermore, some people join up in order to finance their education, hoping to hell there would never be a war they would have to fight in.
Then again, as a Croatian citizen, I know fairly well what kind of people also joins the military and fights in wars.
You get all kinds, and thus all generalizations are false.
Ignore this signature. By order.
Huh? For almost three quarters of our countries existance, we didn't have a standing army in peace time. It was only out of fear we kept one around after WW2, and I'd venture a guess that if we didn't have a standarding army the past 60 years or so, we wouldn't BE in Iraq or Afganistan right now, and a good number of other countries may not hate us as much.
As for the literacy rate, it stands to reason you need basic reading skills to be a solider and so they either won't let you in or make you learn to read. Might as well say Hooters employs more women waitresses than any other chain...
Am I not allowed to abhor natural disasters as I have not been in any?
If they are stupid enough to enlist just to finance, well they do not deserve my "tolerance".
I lived through a war.
However, I lived in the capital, which was only a target of several air raids.
Some of my friends survived regular bombings day after day, night after night; some of them had their parents and other relatives killed; some were re-settled or lived in camps.
Do you think my feelings about the war are as deep and as strong as theirs?
I'm pretty anti-war and anti-military myself, for various reasons, but I will never ever try to imagine I can feel as deeply about it as they do.
As for financing your education... people do what they can. Or what they have to. I refuse to judge their choices as long as they act humane.
Ignore this signature. By order.
A lost cause, I suppose, but it seems to me that the root cause of this is a series of insanely bad decisions made by the industry as a whole and by Microsoft in particular, in blurring the line between data and programs in viewable media.
.jpg or a DVD as passively viewed content.
There is no good reason why an email program should willy-nilly try to execute any attachment it sees, and no good reason why a computer should execute stuff on a DVD.
99.99% of the time, the end-user thinks of a
An unholy alliance between technical sweetness (oooh, generality), possibilities for commercial exploitation (this DVD could display ads with a "buy" button on them), and DRM, has created a terrible situation.
The mischief comes in when there are so many parties that have an interest in creating media that are not what they appear to be to the end-user.
When the end-user thinks he's just watching something, the system should enforce the will of the user... not the will of the media provider. If the media does what the vendor wants and not what the user wants, that's a bad capability in itself--but it also is a gaping whole for malware which can subvert that capability to purposes neither user nor vendor want.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
You know, GP can drop the "Christian" part and still make perfect sense. It's against GP's morality to kill other human beings, probably in any situation other than in self-defense (but I cannot truly speak for the GP on this matter). The military exists to do just that. Killing another person isn't a requisite to being in the military, but it is an expectation. And the other side has the same expectations as well. And if killing another person is against someone's morals (like GP's) regardless of whatever logical or illogical basis, then that's that.
Oh, and a soldier is NOT like a policeman. Police exist to keep the peace by enforcing the laws, and provide assistance to citizens in need. In an ideal situation, police serve the public, though that isn't always true. But generally speaking, they serve the law, whatever the law might be. They are not trained to kill, and certainly not trained to survive. To claim that police and military are the same means you either have a warped sense of the place and purpose of soldiers, the place and purpose of law enforcement, or both.
Finally, stop being pedantic. Firearms are designed for maiming and killing, be it human or any other animal. GP is not talking about other "guns". Glue guns have the word "gun" in the name too, but I'm pretty sure when someone puts military and gun together, they don't think about a nozzle that ejects a hot, sticky substance. Have you any other uses for a firearm (not explosives or some other appratus that otherwise uses explosives to propelled projectiles) besides killing or maiming? And don't tell me target practice.
Seesh...I don't know if it's Monday or what, but the mods need to get their shit together.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."