So sophistication == Exploiting dozens of Windows zero day exploits.
The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
121–130 of 507 posts
Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm having a hard time imagining a virtual WMD that is worse than the instant obliteration of millions of people.
You know what's worse than the instant obliteration of millions of people? The slow obliteration and starving of millions of people. Imagine Venezuela, but much much worse. Picture a society that doesn't know how to create institutions, conduct trade and collaborate with the people around them without the aid of a computers. Now, I don't know if disabling their computers would result in an incredibly dysfunctional so…
> You know what's worse than the instant obliteration of millions of people? The slow obliteration and starving of millions of people
Yeah, I'm going to have to sort of disagree with you there. Once you are dead, you are dead. If you are starving, things can still change and you can still have free agency.
Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
You know what's worse than the instant obliteration of millions of people? The slow obliteration and starving of millions of people. Imagine Venezuela, but much much worse. Picture a society that doesn't know how to create institutions, conduct trade and collaborate with the people around them without the aid of a computers. Now, I don't know if disabling their computers would result in an incredibly dysfunctional so…
Actually, in a capitalist country it might be easier to survive such an attack. If there is demand for a product or service, people and businesses will find a way to meet that demand. Millions of people working independently to satisfy their local market demand. It would probably hurt centralized socialist or communist countries more since it severs their control, surveillance, and communication mechanisms.
Supply will be lower than what’s currently available. Prices could go up. If so, lower income households may not survive.
Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
#124If this short read piked your interest in Stuxnet, I can recommend the book "Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon". It explains in great detail how Stuxnet worked and, which I found the most exciting, how it was discovered and reverse engineered.
i second this, i really enjoyed that book.
Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
#125I bet it was a bitch to debug and test it :)
Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
You know what's worse than the instant obliteration of millions of people? The slow obliteration and starving of millions of people. Imagine Venezuela, but much much worse. Picture a society that doesn't know how to create institutions, conduct trade and collaborate with the people around them without the aid of a computers. Now, I don't know if disabling their computers would result in an incredibly dysfunctional so…
Actually, in a capitalist country it might be easier to survive such an attack. If there is demand for a product or service, people and businesses will find a way to meet that demand. Millions of people working independently to satisfy their local market demand. It would probably hurt centralized socialist or communist countries more since it severs their control, surveillance, and communication mechanisms.
I agree that markets tend to buffer the effects significantly.
The problem is in times of crisis, the appreciation of market dynamics and rule of law tend to wane. Even if those things are intact, the flow of goods and services can be undermined by well-intentioned but misguided politicians.
My point was simple. Despite the systems of trade, a catastrophic shock in trade or production systems could literally kill millions in a way that is more brutal and horrific than instant obliteration.
Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
You know what's worse than the instant obliteration of millions of people? The slow obliteration and starving of millions of people. Imagine Venezuela, but much much worse. Picture a society that doesn't know how to create institutions, conduct trade and collaborate with the people around them without the aid of a computers. Now, I don't know if disabling their computers would result in an incredibly dysfunctional so…
Actually, in a capitalist country it might be easier to survive such an attack. If there is demand for a product or service, people and businesses will find a way to meet that demand. Millions of people working independently to satisfy their local market demand. It would probably hurt centralized socialist or communist countries more since it severs their control, surveillance, and communication mechanisms.
So what happened during the Irish Potato Famine?
Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
#128I want to do this.
Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
#129- windows security is not Uranium HD Ready /s
- remember systems evolve, these failures aren't hard to harden, both at the electromechanical and human level.
- raw network and electronic activity can be monitored
- is there a way to render MITM UI (the fake display loop) impossible ? a feedback loop pc -> devices, and if deltas are too high ALERT ?
ps: is IBM refining radioactive material ? ;)
Re: The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written
#130Stuxnet changed history. Any "game of chicken" style equilibria is broken if the probability a nuclear actor's command and control drops below 100%. If there is even a 1% chance that when a Big Red Button is pushed the missiles fail to launch the game becomes unwinnable. Simulations of imperfect information in dynamic brinkmanship where both players are known to have advanced cyber capabilities results in a single dr…
The problem is not everyone on the world stage is a rational game theory nerd that links to papers like we want them to be. Also 60 years of treating every other country as a box in a threat model to be manipulated against other boxes has been a completely unmitigated disaster, so maybe we should stop that.