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Ear to the Ground

Die Hard 5: Real Life

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Posted on Apr 8, 2009
Flickr / saragoldsmith

Hollywood has given us many a laptop-wielding hacker who causes explosions, blackouts and mayhem with a few malicious keystrokes, but such scenarios may not be confined to preposterous action flicks anymore. The Wall Street Journal reports that cyberspies from China and Russia have infiltrated the U.S. electrical grid, mapped it and left a little something behind.

Wall Street Journal:

Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.

The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven’t sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.

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Outraged's avatar

By Outraged, April 10, 2009 at 12:51 am Link to this comment

Re: jonr

Decipher what “they” SAY.  In this article the message is: Be worried…..but don’t worry.  In this light what would be the only plausible determination?

If you find yourself thinking “WTF”, you’re on the correct path.

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By jonr, April 9, 2009 at 1:01 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

On one hand, we hear, “Be very afraid.”  On the other hand, we hear, “Be very afraid of the people telling us to be very afraid.”  Or maybe we should be afraid of anyone telling us we SHOULDN’T be afraid because they’re just trying to lull us into a false sense of complacency.
It’s all so very confusing, never knowing which threat to take seriously and which to chalk up to people trying to frighten me into doing something I might later regret.

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By Craig, April 9, 2009 at 11:37 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

All the Die Hards were way cooler than this situation… I am a little nervous about this. This makes us look a little more vulnerable, and maybe that’s why the country(s) did it. “I think that China recognizes if in a very strategic sense you want to ensure you have the ability to exploit another country’s potential weakness or vulnerability, but do it in a way that isn’t confrontational …this is a very good way of doing that.” http://www.newsy.com/videos/u_s_power_grid_hacked/
That being said, hopefully the problem gets rectified soon. I just wish we had foreseen the problem, and did not have to simply react to it.

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By artie, April 9, 2009 at 10:18 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Among all nations, we, the masses,  are uniquely gullible and fearful, which allows the power elite to rule and do as they please with impunity.

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Outraged's avatar

By Outraged, April 9, 2009 at 9:41 am Link to this comment

What is it about this that just doesn’t jive?  Maybe its the “beware the commie” mantra, or is it the “war”....and if, and or possible “war” mantra.

Article quotes: “officials warned they could try during a crisis or war”.

”“If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on.”

water, sewage and other infrastructure systems also were at risk.

we have seen cyberattacks against critical infrastructures abroad, and many of our own infrastructures are as vulnerable as their foreign counterparts,”

ARE YOU SCARED YET….

Of course, they also said: “Officials cautioned that the motivation of the cyberspies wasn’t well understood, and they don’t see an immediate danger. China, for example, has little incentive to disrupt the U.S. economy because it relies on American consumers and holds U.S. government debt.”

Watch out…. the commies are coming, the commies are coming…  didn’t Hitler warn of the commies too, why…. I believe he did, he was also incredibly concerned about the Jewish shopkeepers “making all that money” and “ruining” the economy of Germany.  This is bullshit, and textbook case of fascist propaganda.

You have to agree that China does have “little incentive to disrupt the U.S. economy”, but the question needs to be asked, Who would benefit from a war with China?  I can already hear the mantra, “We have to BUILD UP our forces, make more bombs and spend, spend, spend….. seems kinda funny that we have this “major risk”, NON-RISK as we attempt to draw down some of our superfulous arms…....ahem!

Typical fascist fear-mongering paranoia.  BTW, before you go to bed tonight, be sure to check under it, there could be a commie poised for attack lying in wait.

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By Miguel, April 9, 2009 at 4:06 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

So, how far has the USA infiltrated China and Russia? You don’t hear that in the news, now do you? Do you honestly think that the US has not infiltrated both China’s and Russia’s networks, whether it be their power grids, finanical/banking instutions, educational, or even their military? America, and their little partner in crime Israel, are up to no good using what ever technology they can use to not only spie on just China and Russia, but even their so called buddies in the ‘free world’.
Think abou it!

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By Cecil, April 8, 2009 at 7:34 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

nobody kan hurt Uhmericuh.

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knobcreekfarmer's avatar

By knobcreekfarmer, April 8, 2009 at 4:33 pm Link to this comment

should have used Mac’s

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By Jim Yell, April 8, 2009 at 2:50 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

There is an old saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. Corporate America loves to put all the eggs in one basket because it gives them total control, but at what risk? The risk is that someone hostile may find away to cause real and nation wide damage to any of these mega-networks. It becomes more and more clear as the implications of computerized mega webs control everything that we are creasingly vulnerable.

Along with this threat, there are others involving the urge by corporations and governments to put all the eggs in one basket for total control and total profit, as things get more and more centralized one hiccup in the system can bring down the entire country.

Although this is another case only related by the urge to cut costs and increase danger our governments urge to concentrate the military on large military camps has all sorts of implications. While it may or may not save money, what it does is concentrate power among a few commanders, which in itself is a constant danger with the military, but it also removes the spread of military money over the whole country as fewer communities are impacted economically by the infusion of military pay. Translated large sections of the country lose a connectedness with the military and the military begins to focus only on the areas that have the large bases.

The question becomes what about the rest of us? Where are our taxes going, where is our democracy going as fewer people have more power to withhold resources from all of us? We are not just at risk from the Russians, the chinese and etc. We are at risk from the very thing the founding fathers worried about, an out of control military and self appointed dictators.

Something to think about.

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