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Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

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Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#41

Post by BWStearns »

hackuser wrote: post #31

Remember that while Israel is a first world country, it's tiny. It's population is 8.4 million, 1/40th of the U.S. and about the size of New York City proper (not suburban, which is ~20 million). Probably the Israeli government does not have the same level of talent and other resources that the U.S. government does. Imagine if the NSA was staffed only with residents of NYC, for example. (However, 3 of 8 US Supreme Co…

This is a bit offset by their large proportional tech sector and compulsory service. The NSA (and gov tech in general) would be a hell of a lot better if everyone had to do a year or two of government service.

Clarification: not to imply that the NSA is bad at their job currently, but if they could borrow two years off of every technical person in the country I can't see how that could hurt.

Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#42

Post by samstave »

hackuser wrote: post #31

Remember that while Israel is a first world country, it's tiny. It's population is 8.4 million, 1/40th of the U.S. and about the size of New York City proper (not suburban, which is ~20 million). Probably the Israeli government does not have the same level of talent and other resources that the U.S. government does. Imagine if the NSA was staffed only with residents of NYC, for example. (However, 3 of 8 US Supreme Co…

Well the density of talented highly smart and technical people in Israel is actually quite high.

I'd bet their tech-sector-knowledge population is higher than Manhattan, by ratio.

Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#43

Post by dang »

samstave wrote: post #32

[in response to the anti Jew comments below]: This is just bad. Trust me I have @dang all over me when I make poor/emotional comments, but this is just ignorant. Nobody cares that the Israelis are Jews, we care when they (and any other homo Sapiens) act like assholes. So this is not a Jewish issue, per se, it's an asshole issue, let's be clear about that.

We've banned those accounts. It's better to flag such comments than to respond to them.

In case anyone is wondering, the way to flag a comment (if you have more than 30 karma) is by clicking on its timestamp to go to its page, then clicking 'flag' at the top.

Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#44

Post by samstave »

littletimmy wrote: post #36
redthrowaway wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alliances are about geopolitics as much as how much we like countries' behaviour. Israel is an invaluable intelligence partner in the War on Terror and a natural ally against Iran. They're also the closest thing to a liberal democracy in the Middle East. As long as the US continues to gain more from its alliance with Israel than it loses, the alliance will endure. No matter how much individual leaders may loathe each…

Not sure how this is true. What do you mean by "ally against Iran"? The US is Israel's ally against Iran, but what has the US against Iran if not for Israel? The entire point of contention between Iran and the US in today's world is Israel. Israel just expects us to fight for it.

I may be misinformed, but I believe the seed of the US' anti-Iran stance comes from Iran attempting to not allow exploitation of Iran by the British empire, our ally and mother, and then after, only because the country of Israel was born and we know their history with each other...

It's an empire-cock-blocking hate we have with Iran.

Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#45

Post by sithadmin »

hackuser wrote: post #31

Remember that while Israel is a first world country, it's tiny. It's population is 8.4 million, 1/40th of the U.S. and about the size of New York City proper (not suburban, which is ~20 million). Probably the Israeli government does not have the same level of talent and other resources that the U.S. government does. Imagine if the NSA was staffed only with residents of NYC, for example. (However, 3 of 8 US Supreme Co…

>Imagine if the NSA was staffed only with residents of NYC

Bad analogy. Israel aggressively imports tech/engineering/science talent from the global Jewish diaspora.

Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#46

Post by [deleted] »

samstave wrote: post #32

[in response to the anti Jew comments below]: This is just bad. Trust me I have @dang all over me when I make poor/emotional comments, but this is just ignorant. Nobody cares that the Israelis are Jews, we care when they (and any other homo Sapiens) act like assholes. So this is not a Jewish issue, per se, it's an asshole issue, let's be clear about that.

[deleted]

Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#47

Post by dfc »

littletimmy wrote: post #38
samstave wrote: post #32

[in response to the anti Jew comments below]: This is just bad. Trust me I have @dang all over me when I make poor/emotional comments, but this is just ignorant. Nobody cares that the Israelis are Jews, we care when they (and any other homo Sapiens) act like assholes. So this is not a Jewish issue, per se, it's an asshole issue, let's be clear about that.

What anti-Jew comments? There aren't any.

HN is not a magical land where people do not leave moronic comments. Between users flagging comments and dang a lot of comments get killed. If you would like to see what HN would look like without some level of moderation turn on show-dead in your preferences. The anti-semetic idiots will be at the bottom of the page.

Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#48

Post by samstave »

dang wrote: post #43
samstave wrote: post #32

[in response to the anti Jew comments below]: This is just bad. Trust me I have @dang all over me when I make poor/emotional comments, but this is just ignorant. Nobody cares that the Israelis are Jews, we care when they (and any other homo Sapiens) act like assholes. So this is not a Jewish issue, per se, it's an asshole issue, let's be clear about that.

We've banned those accounts. It's better to flag such comments than to respond to them. In case anyone is wondering, the way to flag a comment (if you have more than 30 karma) is by clicking on its timestamp to go to its page, then clicking 'flag' at the top.

Awesome, thanks

Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#49

Post by lucio »

obelisk_ wrote: post #3

>Pictures of then-Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the Natanz facility helped the experts obtain needed intelligence on the computers. The computers, their configuration and their rear connections can be seen clearly in the pictures. Eventually, these entry and exit points served as portals to implant the virus. I doubt that this alone was all they needed. Probably once they had identified the vendors…

http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/528cf418eab8ea305c9...

Re: Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US

#50

Post by BWStearns »

>> The deadly virus

>> “changed the code” (the scare quotes bit)

>> to invent a “vaccine”

>> the secret formula... fell into the hands of Russia and Iran

>> increasingly stronger versions of the virus

>> the most deadly version of the virus

Is anyone else not wild about the manner in which "cyber" articles get written? I feel like non-technical readers are left mildly concerned that they're going to come down with a case of the stuxnet and die, or that now that Russia and Iran have a copy of stuxnet we're all doomed.

Most of the language regarding the virus seemed more appropriate for an actual bioweapon. It'd be nice if there were a bit more focus on educating the public than scaring them.

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