RENEWED CONCERN OVER 'DIGITAL PEARL HARBOR' (MSNBC)

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RENEWED CONCERN OVER 'DIGITAL PEARL HARBOR'

From the moment U.S. top cybercop Richard Clarke uttered the words "digital Pearl Harbor" in 2000, the technology world has been engaged in bitter debate: Could hackers really cause as much chaos with computers as terrorists armed with bombs and guns? Or are security experts simply spreading fear and trying to sell products when they talk about cyber attacks?

The discussion had died down until recently, owing to the fact that no digital Pearl Harbor ever occurred.

But then came reports late last year that Chinese nationals were actively attacking computers run by the U.S. government and private British companies, all of which were vehemently denied by the Chinese government.

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Ya China supposedly has an army of computer guys who are experts in cyber warfare. China will be a huge problem in the future and this army of cyber soldures can definatly mess things up. I sure hope The FBI, CIA whatever has their own army that can prevent attack and even launch their own if provoked.

If you work with a system that could cause financial loss or physical destruction (including loss of life) assume it's a military target.

It probably is.

I thought all the Chinese were too busy gaining credits in 'evercrack' and gold pieces in other multiuser games...

A) China isnt(and doesnt seem to be) interested in anything but trade and peace. They might strong arm at times, but what country doesnt?

B) China has a looming labour shortage. Their one child policy has started a bottleneck in their labour force. They are going to fall out of the manufacturing business and become a net importer, much like the USA. This will enhance the need forpoint A.

Interesting analysis, however, I'm not sure about the labor shortage. Rural areas are still very impoverished. People are leaving farms to find work in cities. I think this trend may continue for a long time.

actually chinese labor is cheap and easy to get. They're growing too fast.

i smell Fud on this topic. Sure a cracker could break a banking network. As for the morons that put dangerous controls on the public networks they need to be smacked. Do not put open network access to say a power plant, use a closed private network basic security 101 duh

It's not particularly the Chinese I'm concerned about. I say "military target" because that represents a certain level of effort in attack.

There are a number of systems I'm aware of that could kill hundreds or even thousands of people if mis-operated. Some of them have multi-home computers connected to the Internet. Others have ... different security flaws.

I very much want engineers to worry about how their systems can be abused.

True, they have vast reserves of underemployed unskilled labour in the countryside, and more skilled labour than they have a use for (a situation that is not at all rare in the Third World). Plus, if their one-child policy looks like it's going to become counterproductive anytime soon, they can simply end it, or import labour from the desperately poor Indian countryside, for example.
Just because China doesn't practice Bush's policy of 'talk loudly and carry a big stick' doesn't mean they're not interested in hegemony - apart from Canada, Costa Rica and the Principality of Liechtenstein, there aren't many countries out there without imperial ambitions.