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NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

nytimes.com

111–120 of 214 posts

Re: NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

#111
post #56

Such a bleak picture of the future where the only solution is for all of us to give up our privacy and allow the government to watch us so they can keep us safe. There are so many rants I could go off on this article I would not even know where to start but I will say this. What about the option of peace building? Why not put 1/3 of your insane military budget towards a new mission of going into the places you have t…

> muh can't we all just get along

Take the Hitler / Darwin pill: as long as there are separate entities and limited resources, they will be in conflict. Accept it, it's a part of nature. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wjMmeNS9wA&t=2m53s

Re: NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

#112
post #72
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Russia also recruits cyber criminals, offering reduced sentences if they work for the government[1] "The cellmate said that people incarcerated for cybercrimes could get out before trial, in exchange for working for the government. Another inmate had already taken a deal, he said. “It was an offer to cooperate,” Mr. Artimovich said. “Why else would you work for the government?” he added. “The salaries are tiny. But i…

You think that's some kind of exception? All kinds of cyber criminals also work for western governments/agencies as consultants. E.g.: "Since 2000, Mitnick has been a paid security consultant, public speaker and author. He does security consulting for Fortune 500 companies and the FBI, performs penetration testing services for the world's largest companies and teaches Social Engineering classes to dozens of companies…

The difference is that Mitnick served his time (and is no longer considered a criminal in the US system) but in Russia you can get out of jail early.

Re: NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

#114
post #74
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but we are almost certainly doing this already as well. So there's no advantage to be gained there. If a cyber criminal is valuable enough, ie-not a script kiddie, we're already making the offers. We need ideas that are somewhat out of the box. Something that isn't already being done that we can start doing to bolster our capabilities.

AFAIK we aren't doing that. Once you've been caught doing criminal activity, you pretty much have no chance of getting the security clearance required to do cyber work for the government. They're willing to overlook criminal activity if you are up front about it and have never been caught, but any sort of criminal record is a showstopper for cleared government work.

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Re: NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

#115
post #69

That states like China and Russia can recruit the best cybersecurity talent in their respective countries, and force them to work for the government, while the United States can't, is a problem. If I were the president, I would focus on talent recruitment and retention. Google is paying its top cyberstaff 700k? Offer them 1M. Also get rid of archaic hiring practices like drug tests, and streamline the process to obta…

> That states like China and Russia can recruit the best cybersecurity talent in their respective countries, and force them to work for the government, while the United States can't, is a problem. Huh? Why the united states couldn't? It's government/military budget is much higher... As for the "force them", China and Russia don't need to force anyone to work for their cybersecurity teams either (nor it would be wise…

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Re: NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

#116
Unrelated (kind of): do you guys/girls recommend books (especially novels) that cover the subjects of futurism, espionage, cyber warfare and other related topics ? I find the current situation to be very dystopic and would love to read more about it. Thanks in advance !

Re: NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

#117

No, in my opinion, we need to start working so that wars don't even make sense. A concept of the distant past. A future in which our descendants don't even know what wars are. In my vision there are no legitimate reasons for wars to exist at all. Of course this concept will sound alien and completely nuts for the majority, who are still in the fear based mindset; But then you can ask: So how do we protect ourselves f…

To achieve your goal, you will need to change the very fundamental fabric of humanity and the reality of resource scarcity. Here are some examples that can lead to war: economic gain,territorial gain, religion, nationalism, revenge, civil strife, defensive. Below are a few expressions of what it can look like: * Actor A burned your crops -> Do nothing (appeasement) * Actor B disrupted your servers causing economic lo…

Yeah absolutely. It will happen. In time. But not now. What you think as the fundamental fabric of humanity is but a stage. We will overcome it. Unfortunately until we get there, much suffering will still ensue.

Re: NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

#118
post #116

Unrelated (kind of): do you guys/girls recommend books (especially novels) that cover the subjects of futurism, espionage, cyber warfare and other related topics ? I find the current situation to be very dystopic and would love to read more about it. Thanks in advance !

Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, Jennifer Government. Also, read through the thread. I saw Neuromancer recommended already :)

Re: NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

#119
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that turned out so well when we tried it 100 years ago. Instead, we got WW2, the most destructive war in history in absolute terms.

No, we tried isolationism before WW2, different from GP is asking for.

Yeah, isolationism absolutely isn't the way; Quite the contrary;

Re: NSA Official: We Need to Prepare for the Future of War

#120

No, in my opinion, we need to start working so that wars don't even make sense. A concept of the distant past. A future in which our descendants don't even know what wars are. In my vision there are no legitimate reasons for wars to exist at all. Of course this concept will sound alien and completely nuts for the majority, who are still in the fear based mindset; But then you can ask: So how do we protect ourselves f…

To achieve your goal, you will need to change the very fundamental fabric of humanity and the reality of resource scarcity. Here are some examples that can lead to war: economic gain,territorial gain, religion, nationalism, revenge, civil strife, defensive. Below are a few expressions of what it can look like: * Actor A burned your crops -> Do nothing (appeasement) * Actor B disrupted your servers causing economic lo…

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