This is the future of war...

[softball]

Georgia accuses Russia of waging cyberwar

The Georgian Embassy in the United Kingdom has accused Russia of launching a cyberwar against the country's websites to coincide with military action in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.
CBC News

A spokesman for the embassy on Monday said all Georgian websites had been unavailable over the weekend because of interference from Russia, forcing Georgia to redirect traffic and solicit help from other countries to disseminate information about the military action.
The spokesman said it had not yet been proven that Russia was behind the cyberattack, but told CNet, "Who else might it be, though?"
Russia has been accused of making cyberattacks before, including last year against Estonia, another former state of the Soviet Union. The source of those attacks was also not proven.
The president of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, seconded Georgia's accusation on his website.
"Along with military aggression, the Russian Federation is blocking Georgian internet portals," read a statement on Kaczynski's presidential website. "On request of the president of Georgia, the president of the Republic of Poland has provided the website of the president of Poland for dissemination of information."
The Russian Embassy in London denied the cyberwar, as well as the military attack.
"I'd like to draw attention to a misunderstanding," an embassy spokesperson told CNet. "There is no Russian [military] attack. There is peace enforcement in South Ossetia."
The Polish website, however, said Russia had attacked the port city of Poti on the Black Sea, killing more than 100 Georgian civilians and soldiers. The site said residential complexes had been targeted, along with airports and other infrastructure.
Many of Georgia's key websites have relocated their servers to other countries. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Rustavi 2, a prominent television station, have moved their servers to the United States, for example.

[RawAlex]

disinformation campaigns are as old as the hills. Propaganda in all it's forms is a very old trick, you can go back to WWI or so and find radio stations set up to send the message to the population of the opposition, claiming all is well. The Korean war was packed with this sort of thing, and to this day the US spends tens of millions of dollars each year to try to broadcast into Cuba.

Hacking websites or trying to shut down web access is a very useful way at this point to create disinformation or at least to stop the flow. Heck, sending in a bunch of geek troops to take over data centers and redirect traffic or modify websites would probably be a really interesting way to change the tide of a battle.

[softball]

disinformation campaigns are as old as the hills. Propaganda in all it's forms is a very old trick, you can go back to WWI or so and find radio stations set up to send the message to the population of the opposition, claiming all is well. The Korean war was packed with this sort of thing, and to this day the US spends tens of millions of dollars each year to try to broadcast into Cuba.

Hacking websites or trying to shut down web access is a very useful way at this point to create disinformation or at least to stop the flow. Heck, sending in a bunch of geek troops to take over data centers and redirect traffic or modify websites would probably be a really interesting way to change the tide of a battle.
This is beyond propaganda. I remember when they shut down Lithuania. In a couple of days the country was nearly paralyzed. This brings commerce and communications to a halt. This is Russia pushing buttons. Putin, as I have said many times, is hell bent on restoring Russia as a Superpower. Just recently, the US had been referred to as the world's only superpower. Think again. Russia is consolidating its control over all of Europe through energy. And this idiot Bush thought that Georgia would be a great addition to NATO. Wait and see what the Russians do in Cuba next. There is not much anyone can do to stop them.
As Russia gets stronger, they will make sure that Iran is taken care of. The Israelis and Americans can bluster and bullshit all they like, but Putin knows that an alliance with Iran gives him an Iron grip on the world's oil supply.
Georgia is just the tip of the iceberg. Also remember Stalin was Georgian and there is still a lot of support for Russia in Tbilisi.
I think this is the kick off of a new world order and it will happen pretty quickly.
The next US president will need to be resolute and get the economy back in order and cut the oil umbilical quickly.

[RawAlex]

It is the same as radio jamming or knocking out phone systems, same old trick, just played in a modern way. No country's defenses should rely on the internet ;)

[Top_Of_Google_Man]

Lets see how long it takes for somebody to do it back to them. see how they like it!

[Toby]

Lets see how long it takes for somebody to do it back to them. see how they like it!
T'is far far more difficult to do when there are multiple large backbones coming into the country

[softball]

Lets see how long it takes for somebody to do it back to them. see how they like it!

The russians are way to practical to toss all their eggs in internet communications or business. They prefer paper and pen and letters. If you want to do serious business with Russians, it is still better to write hard copy. That whole ethic translates through their military and corporate structures.

[softball]

If you want to see how the Russians think, this Pravda (it means truth) is worth reading. http://english.pravda.ru/

[Dravyk]

You know how the air force's motto now is "air. space. cyberspace". I heard a commerical about a month ago that started by saying "what gets attacked 3 million times a day?". Funny, before I knew what the commerical was about I thought, "White House? No. Pentagon?" and that turned out to be the answer.

[softball]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/18/cyber.warfare/index.html

NN) -- The next large-scale military or terrorist attack on the United States, if and when it happens, may not involve airplanes or bombs or even intruders breaching American borders. http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/TECH/08/18/cyber.warfare/art.georgia.cyber.attacks.jpgCyberattackers shut down one Georgian government site and defaced another with images of Adolf Hitler.


http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif


Instead, such an assault may be carried out in cyberspace by shadowy hackers half a world a way. And Internet security experts believe that it could be just as devastating to the U.S.'s economy and infrastructure as a deadly bombing.
Experts say last week's attack on the former Soviet republic of Georgia, in which a Russian military offensive was preceded by an Internet assault that overwhelmed Georgian government Web sites, signals a new kind of cyberwar, one for which the United States is not fully prepared.
"Nobody's come up with a way to prevent this from happening, even here in the U.S.," said Tom Burling, acting chief executive of Tulip Systems, an Atlanta, Georgia, Web-hosting firm that volunteered its Internet servers to protect the nation of Georgia's Web sites from malicious traffic.
"The U.S. is probably more Internet-dependent than any place in the world. So to that extent, we're more vulnerable than any place in the world to this kind of attack," Burling added. "So much of what we're doing [in the United States] is out there on the Internet, and all of that can be taken down at once."

[EmporerEJ]

Don't worry chicken little(s)....
Our country is not quite as vulnerable, as you would all like to think.
Several thousand serious attacks are repelled every day.
Terrorists in caves with cell phones aren't going to bring down the network.
(Unless they kidnap the Verizon guys and make them stay at the cave.:-)

[softball]

Don't worry chicken little(s)....
Our country is not quite as vulnerable, as you would all like to think.
Several thousand serious attacks are repelled every day.
Terrorists in caves with cell phones aren't going to bring down the network.
(Unless they kidnap the Verizon guys and make them stay at the cave.:-)
Dude, I am talking about the Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans, the Pakistanis, or anyone else with major computer smarts and unlimited resources. That wasn't a bunch of terrorists with cell phones that shut down Georgia. That was just a practice run and a warning shot.
BTW, its not just your country. It is the west. You know, Europe...its a little place with 250 or so million people with a strong currency, nuclear weapons and a minor player in a little organization you might have heard of called...NATO. If you haven't, try googling it.

[Buckwheat]

My Mossberg 500 ain't got no chip! . . So come get some "peckawoods"

I puts some B-Wheat kung foo on that ass too :bruce_h4h

[EmporerEJ]

Dude, I am tal.................................a strong currency, nuclear weapons and a minor player in a little organization you might have heard of called...NATO. If you haven't, try googling it.

Yea, yea, as usual, you rattle on and get nasty when your scare tactics are questioned.
Suffice it to say, we, here, in the US have a very good grip on security in that area. And as long as we retain control at the top, we'll ALL be fine.

Your usual "armchair politics" have you talking about NATO, because it's in the news, and you think you understand something.
And, as usual, it's all just blather.

[PervertInPueblaMexico]

Maybe they should upload all of the content shot in the enemy's country to tube sites, and starve them out....

[softball]

Yea, yea, as usual, you rattle on and get nasty when your scare tactics are questioned.
Suffice it to say, we, here, in the US have a very good grip on security in that area. And as long as we retain control at the top, we'll ALL be fine.

Your usual "armchair politics" have you talking about NATO, because it's in the news, and you think you understand something.
And, as usual, it's all just blather.
I guess the news doesn't filter down to West Virginia or what ever bumfuck red...neck part of the woods you live in. But facts is facts. Try getting off of dial up and explore the real world.