The Stuxnet computer worm appears to have been engendered to disable centrifuges of the kind that are used to enrich Uranium. Thus, whoever created this potent piece of cyber espionage was able to cripple many of the products made by Siemens, the German manufacturer whose technology is used in the production of such equipment. Cyber warfare is crocking up to be one of the most potent forms of combat, to the extent that it has the potential to disable modern societies, which depend on computer programs to function smoothly. Facebook has over 500,000,000 members—can you imagine what would happen if a worm were invented that knocked out the faces and the friending capacity of the service? Facebook employees, and users, would have to figure out something else to do with their time, and Mark Zuckerberg’s holdings and net worth would become as meager as they are private. Yes, it’s a grand idea that Stuxnet may have slowed down the Uranium enrichment process in Natanz, or whatever secret location the Iranians are using, but what if the worm turns out to be like the bedbug epidemic that’s afflicting parts of New York City? There are Luddites like the Unibomber who will be content to roast coyotes in little shacks in the vast Northwest wilderness, but the rest of us are wired de facto and de jure into social networks that have replaced the nuclear family. The virus that’s capable of defusing Iranian nuclear capability may also have the potential to create chaos with the lingua franca of our culture, the Internet.
Viruses are part of life. Be they itty bitty organism that cause the common cold or the ones that pack a big punch such as Ebola or Marburg, those nasty hemorrhagic variants. As you say, since most of the industrialized world’s population is wired together, much like an extended living organism, the spread of computer viruses seems so au naturale. So if we are in the business of creating weaponized viruses as dogs of war why not the electronic kind. The risks to the population are the same.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the New York City Cimex lectularius is concerned. The spread is not confined to the Big Mattress. The little bugger is now almost as ubiquitous as the common house fly across broad swaths of the nation. Such that some people are requiring their soon to be house guests to complete online questionnaires as to their comings and goings to prevent a guest propagated infestation. Now when family comes a calling, the instead of saying, “Can’t wait to see you,” the cry is, “I know a great little motel just down the road.” Unless of course their computers are infected with Marburg.
Anonymous I have been enjoying all yr comments recently. Are your initials FW by any chance?
ReplyDeleteNope, not FW, but if I told you where would be the fun in that. Two more strikes and if you strike out I will reveal myself.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, are you JJ.
ReplyDeleteStrike two.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I will take one last try, are you CD?
ReplyDeleteStrike three; you have gone down swinging, waving at a curve ball in the dirt. Don’t you love baseball analogies especially this time of year when the leaves turn to crimson hues, the heat of summer is gradually replaced with a chill that seems like a dive into a cool pool, and New York City street fairs are in their full glory?
ReplyDeleteAlthough a promise is a promise and I should make the obligatory revelation, but to paraphrase a great philosopher of our times, it all depends on what your definition of “promise” is. I fear that coming out of the Wordpress closet would make the whole idea of posting new comments less fun and exciting. So batter up!
OK I am pretty sure it's my old friend Peloni Almoni. I was put off the track by the change of ID,but there are three pieces of evidence i offer up: knowledge of scientific terminology and an elite level polymathism, persistence in continuing this communication, generosity of spirit that is a result of both inner disposition and effects of progressive education (the generosity I refer to lies in taking a quantum approach to the notion of three strikes)
ReplyDelete