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America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

theregister.com

41–50 of 218 posts

Re: America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

#41

So in what way does this help the American people?

My guess is that they were overtly trying to show Russia that we aren’t a direct threat to them anymore in the vain attempt to avoid fighting a two front war in the upcoming global war. Unfortunately, Putin is likely going to keep invading up to Germany’s Fulda Gap. If we’re still a part of NATO, we would have no choice but to declare war.

> Unfortunately, Putin is likely going to keep invading up to Germany’s Fulda Gap

Russia can barely handle a stalemate with Ukraine. They have zero chance offensively against Poland and the Baltics, let alone the full blown might of the EU+UK (which also have independent nuclear weapons in France and to an extent the UK). That doesn't mean that a Polish offensive can march into Moscow, but it doesn't have to for Putin to lose power. He's showing his strongman strong army bullshit to be little more than a paper tiger, and at some point even the nihilistic to death Russians will get tired of the meat grinder for literally no reason.

Re: America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

#42

So in what way does this help the American people?

They get to collaborate with the rest of the world on security instead of relying on their government protecting them. This will push companies that are exposed to lawsuits to up their game and re-organize. And given their exposure to lawsuits, I doubt they'll drop the ball. They can't afford to. This is one area where the private sector should not need a lot of help. I have a European perspective to this. This isn't…

It helps the American people because they will need to rely on foreign countries for their cyber security?

Heck, those nuclear subs and aircraft carriers are only making the American people less likely the collaborate with the rest of the world on security too.

Bin the entire lot

Re: America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

#43
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think that phrase is related to the phrase, “he who does not work, does not eat”, which is in the Bible: https://biblehub.com/2_thessalonians/3-10.htm The phrase “he who does not work, does not eat” was never intended by its author to be applied to those who were physically incapable of working. You might say otherwise, but Saint Paul had been a very traditional adherent of the Jewish faith, which had require…

Since there is plenty of room for uncharitable interpretations, it would be controversial. More controversy about religion. The status quo "in god we trust" is universally hopeful. "God help us" can sound helpless (cheek in tongue)

This is the first that I have heard of them. The apparent inspiration for the phrase had never meant to be interpreted to justify a lack of charity. Only those with poor understandings of Christianity’s history and teachings would think otherwise. I would think the “uncharitable interpretations” of the phrase “God helps those who help themselves” are by those with poor understandings as well.

Re: America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

#44
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think that phrase is related to the phrase, “he who does not work, does not eat”, which is in the Bible: https://biblehub.com/2_thessalonians/3-10.htm The phrase “he who does not work, does not eat” was never intended by its author to be applied to those who were physically incapable of working. You might say otherwise, but Saint Paul had been a very traditional adherent of the Jewish faith, which had require…

Since there is plenty of room for uncharitable interpretations, it would be controversial. More controversy about religion. The status quo "in god we trust" is universally hopeful. "God help us" can sound helpless (cheek in tongue)

The only difference is the vibe; the actual words have pretty similar meanings.

Re: America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that they were overtly trying to show Russia that we aren’t a direct threat to them anymore in the vain attempt to avoid fighting a two front war in the upcoming global war. Unfortunately, Putin is likely going to keep invading up to Germany’s Fulda Gap. If we’re still a part of NATO, we would have no choice but to declare war.

That feels overly deferrential to Putin... It's like a person with muscles witnessing a beating and then when the perpretaror notices, looking away and saying "I didn't see anything!".

So, cowardice?

Re: America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

#47
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that they were overtly trying to show Russia that we aren’t a direct threat to them anymore in the vain attempt to avoid fighting a two front war in the upcoming global war. Unfortunately, Putin is likely going to keep invading up to Germany’s Fulda Gap. If we’re still a part of NATO, we would have no choice but to declare war.

> Unfortunately, Putin is likely going to keep invading up to Germany’s Fulda Gap Russia can barely handle a stalemate with Ukraine. They have zero chance offensively against Poland and the Baltics, let alone the full blown might of the EU+UK (which also have independent nuclear weapons in France and to an extent the UK). That doesn't mean that a Polish offensive can march into Moscow, but it doesn't have to for Puti…

> Russia can barely handle a stalemate with Ukraine.

See, people look at the stalemate and often draw false conclusions. It's not that Russia was too weak militarily, it's that Ukraine put up one hell of a fight.

And all these economy size comparisons are mostly meaningless. Sure Russia may have a GDP of Italy but by the same logic Ukraine (which is a fraction of Russian GDP) should have lost long ago.

> They have zero chance against Poland and the Baltics

Russia's chances against the Baltics are pretty good, I would say 1 in 3. And for Putin it's a proposition with no downside: at worst he loses another few hundred thousand subjects.

Re: America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

#48
post #2

> It's the global catalog that helps everyone – security teams, software vendors, researchers, governments – organize and talk about vulnerabilities using the same reference system so why was only the US federal government funding it, especially if it wasn't expensive to maintain? this is the follow up question to every headline and won't be seen as controversial later, so why bother treating it as controversial to s…

> especially if it wasn’t expensive to maintain Okay, so we’ve established that the cost of the endeavor is low. > it’s the global catalog that helps everyone organize and talk about vulnerabilities I would argue that leading and controlling the organization that provides the world with the single most ubiquitous cybersecurity resource justifies what you characterized as a meager cost in reputational capital alone. >…

> I would argue that leading and controlling the organization that provides the world with the single most ubiquitous cybersecurity resource justifies what you characterized as a meager cost in reputational capital alone.

Someone in the original HN thread about funding wrote a post explaining how poorly run CVE org was and it had been like that for years. It had a giant backlog, ignored criticism, and moved very slowly.

Then the second it shutdown a volunteer organization was assembled overnight.

> Control of something like the CVE registry is essentially a geopolitical concern at this point

This is purely a reputational concern. Being on government networks doesn't make it instantly more trustworthy or safe. Just like everything regarding security it takes lots of people looking at it, people reporting issues, and an organization that deals with issues promptly.

Re: America's cyber defenses are being dismantled from the inside

#49

So in what way does this help the American people?

I'm not endorsing it, but it's roughly consistent with Trump's underlying philosophy that the international systems that USG manages are a subsidy from the US taxpayer to the rest of the world, and one which goes unappreciated. Under this premise, the USG would save money at little cost if they were replaced by industry consortiums or other countries' state initiatives. If my extrapolation is correct, even GPS might eventually be in the line of fire.

I need to be clear that I do not endorse this view. The role of the United States in facilitating global cybersecurity, not to mention navigation, trade among much else, almost surely pays dividends far beyond what it costs us. The amount of international goodwill that the United States enjoys is remarkable particularly in light of our various foreign policy "mistakes", and I think we have these systems to thank.

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