Slashdot Mirror
US Most Vulnerable To Cyberattack?
alphadogg writes "Several nations, most prominently Russia, the People's Republic of China and North Korea, are already assembling cyber armies and attack weapons that could be used to attack other nations. Given that the United States is heavily dependent on technology for everything from computer-based banking to supply-chain tracking and air-traffic control, it's particularly vulnerable to the denial-of-service attacks, electronic jamming, data destruction and software-based disinformation tricks likely in a cyberattack. Here's what ex-presidential adviser Richard Clarke, who is releasing a new book called Cyber War, and others are saying needs to be done to keep cyberwars from escalating into full-scale combat."
Pray tell, why should a system such as Air Traffic Control even be accessible on a public network such as the internet? To the best of my knowledge air traffic controllers aren't allowed to telecommute. Why aren't networks such as this hardened and kept off public networks?
How else are the Air Traffic Controllers going to get their fix of cute kittens?
well I requested an access to a machine where the procedure to get access are crazy (as in checking you are not a known terorist and making notarized declarations). When I had a problem login onto the machine, I sent a uncrypted/unsigned email to help@service and the admin replied by giving me a password in clear...
The cheapest solution is to outsource the security problem to either 1) India or 2) China. Outsourcing to China can lead to better cost benefits, but is in general less established than the outsourcing establishment already in place in Bangalore. American soldiers trained in IT can train the people replacing them in the PLA (Chinese Peoples Liberation Army) on how to keep America safe, and how to monitor America's networks. Similarly, the PLA can just take over for the Department of Homeland Security as they are already in similar roles (spying on locals, etc) and the cost savings are tremendous. Isn't it wonderful how we can save money by going with the lowest bidder? Is there no problem that Corporate Management/Capitalism can't solve? Look at the great job they have done with the whole banking sector over the past few years! Certainly an amazing job! Its left many people stupefied! I know many people refuse to admit it, but corporate management did a great job with health care prior to the Obama administration doing its changes. Corporate profits were fantastic! Its only right to refuse people to hospitals who are sick. Only the healthy should be allowed into hospitals as they cost so much cheaper to care for. Its an individuals own fault for getting sick/getting into an accident, and they should be made to suffer financially as well as physically. See, the cheapest solution is always best. Capitalism wins again! Yaaaaaay!