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Air Force Aims for Control of 'Any and All' Computers

Posted by timothy on from the we'd-rather-kill-them-off-by-peaceful-means dept.

Noah Shachtman on Wired.com's Danger Room reports that Monday, the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB introduced a two-year, $11 million effort to put together hardware and software tools for 'Dominant Cyber Offensive Engagement.' 'Of interest are any and all techniques to enable user and/or root level access,' a request for proposals notes, 'to both fixed (PC) or mobile computing platforms ... any and all operating systems, patch levels, applications and hardware.' This isn't just some computer science study, mind you; 'research efforts under this program are expected to result in complete functional capabilities.' The Air Force has already announced their desire to manage an offensive BotNet, comprised of unwitting participatory computers. How long before they slip a root kit on you?

6 of 468 comments (clear)

  1. new meme by isotope23 · · Score: 5, Funny

    new meme -

    Imagine an AirWolf cluster of these......

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    1. Re:new meme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Since we're talking about the military, shouldn't it be, "Imagine a clusterfuck of these"?

  2. They wouldn't do that... by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 5, Funny

    it would be unethical!

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  3. Re:Who comes up with ideas like this? by bennomatic · · Score: 5, Funny

    I love your "pony" comment. A couple of months ago, I was on a conference call with a client, a large defense contractor whose name sounds like it might refer to a hole in the ground where sweet, sticky bee-made syrup comes from, and I used that line. They said, "We would like to see X and Y done by Z date," and I said, "I understand, and similarly, I would very much like a pony."

    My boss called me two seconds after the conf call ended. Since I saw the caller ID, I knew what was coming, and I answered the phone, "Was that inappropriate?" "Yes," was the answer, "but very funny. Don't do it again."

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  4. Yeah, sure. by atomicthumbs · · Score: 5, Funny

    Good luck hacking my laptop. It runs BeOS.

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  5. I think you don't know what "hard-kill" means. by sideshow · · Score: 5, Funny
    It's just zeros and ones. You can TALK tough, but when a 5 cent CD foils your "hard-kill" on my "information" you're really just wasting time and effort.

    "Soft-kill" would mean destroying you computer and therefor rendering you ineffective. "Hard-kill" would mean shooting you in the face and therefor rendering you dead.

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    Hollow words will burn and hollow men will burn.