'Legitimized' Cyberwar Opens Pandora's Box of Dirty Tricks

DillyTonto writes "U.S. officials have acknowledged playing a role in the development and deployment of Stuxnet, Duqu and other cyberweapons against Iran. The acknowledgement makes cyberattacks more legitimate as a tool of not-quite-lethal international diplomacy. It also legitimizes them as more-combative tools for political conflict over social issues, in the same way Tasers gave police less-than-lethal alternatives to shooting suspects and gave those who abuse their power something other than a club to hit a suspect with. Political parties and single-issue political organizations already use 'opposition research' to name-and-shame their opponents with real or exaggerated revelations from a checkered past, jerrymander districts to ensure their candidates a victory and vote-suppression or get-out-the-vote efforts to skew vote tallies. Imagine what they'll do with custom malware, the ability to DDOS an opponent's web site or redirect donations from an opponent's site to their own. Cyberweapons may give nations a way to attack enemies without killing anyone. They'll definitely give domestic political groups a whole new world of dirty tricks to play."

Comments

Another nail in the coffin

[Dodgy G33za]

I grew up believing in the US as a beacon for freedom and fairness. Okay, so it was the 60's and 70's and given what was going down in South America it was probably all a lie then.

Thing is, just recently the US stated that they view a cyber attack as an act of war. Given how targeted Stuxnet was, by this admission they have clearly stated that it is okay for the US to commit an act of war on Iran, a country that has no history of aggression (although plenty of rhetoric, but that is not uncommon for the region).

How would you US citizens feel if you were on the receiving end of Predator drones, cyber attacks and Shock and Awe?

Hypocrisy. The very worst of human traits.

Re:Another nail in the coffin

[Dodgy G33za]

Iran/Persia was never part of the British Empire.The last time they started a war was in 1826 when they attacked Russia. The two nations had fought a number of wars before that so there was plenty of bad blood between the two. So not quite sure where your "part of one" comes from in relation to empires, but they had plenty of opportunity to be aggressive if they desire to be so.

This is the country that didn't use chemical weapons in the Gulf War (the real one, the one that killed a million people) despite Iraq doing so with the complicity of the US.

All I am saying is that when it comes to moral high ground, the US of A has plenty of looking up to do.

Re:Another nail in the coffin

[betterunixthanunix]

Okay, so it was the 60's and 70's and given what was going down in South America it was probably all a lie then.

South America? How about right here in the United States? In the 1960s, the FBI was investigating people who dared to take a stand for their own civil rights, looking for ways to discredit them. It was illegal for two men to dance with each other in some states in the 1960s. In the 1970s, the executive branch of government gained the power to dictate some of the laws it is charged with enforcing. The 1970s saw the rise of paramilitary police across the country -- cops who would easily be mistaken for soldiers if their helmets and body armor was not clearly labeled "POLICE."

How would you US citizens feel if you were on the receiving end of Predator drones, cyber attacks and Shock and Awe?

As opposed to having our homes invaded by men with assault rifles, who shoot our dogs and kill, injure, and terrorize innocent people? I think you need to take another look at what is happening in the United States. We already have the largest prison population on Earth, heavily militarized law enforcement organizations that double as intelligence agencies, and a president who signed into law a bill that allows people to be detained indefinitely without trial, and who has ordered the assassination of US citizens.

So what hypocrisy were you referring to? I think we are doing a fine job of spreading our "democracy."

Don't forget

[PopeRatzo]

This is an arena where a few motivated civilians can play, too.

At the moment, I'll put Anonymous or a group of Eastern European boys I met a few years ago against the best that a political party's "opposition team" can put together.

Playing War in a distributed worldwide network is not the same as throwing a bunch of hardware onto a battlefield.

So far, the best armies on the Internet are not the ones affiliated with a government or establishment political party. Hell, despite the Octopus doing its best, Pirate Bay and wikileaks are still up and running. If they go down, I'll be more worried.

Re:The start of a new arms race

[lightknight]

"I would absolutely love to hear your qualifications for this statement." -> Seriously, this, on /.? It's a flying computer built by a bunch of military contractors.

Bring one to the next major computer trade show, and leave it inside over night. If it isn't outright stolen, it'll be sporting a Tux sticker on its side as a handful of attendants will stay up all night to get Linux running on the damn thing. "Dude, I've got the kernel up and running, but I can't decide: KDE or Gnome?"