Posted on 07/08/2009 5:51:45 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo
http://att.my.yahoo.com/http//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_go_ot/us_cyber_attack
The above link fr Yahoo! on their front page is down and has been for some time.
Yeah, Lil Kim has that MJackson aura......
I’m stunned they can do this to but, I wonder if this was actually staged to expedite Obama’s desired takeover and control of cyberspace “so we can prevent such attacks from ever happening again.”
My bet would be that they’re based in the South. I doubt they’d have as much access to the necessary infrastructure in the North. What I’m wondering is whether this is saber-rattling, a test run in preparation for a real attack to coincide with a military attack, or both.
I think they are at the 8088 XT level by now. Hell they may be up to Tandy 1000’s at this point.
What’s unsettling is we don’t know what’s really going on politically within North Korea right now. What happens if Kim dies? Is he even still in charge? Will power pass peacefully to his son, or will there be a struggle?
For some time, I’ve suspected that his generals are really running the show, and that Kim’s main role is to maintain his cult of personality to keep the rank and file in line. If that’s the case, I’m not sure how confident they are that they can stay in power without him. Worst-case scenario is that they start a war with South Korea in order to rally the population behind them. Crazy, but who knows what kind of ideas you get in your head living in a country like that.
When is somebody going to stick an ICBM up this loser’s backside?
I was just researching (while bored at work) a little on the Kimster. Apparently this is his official song, a popular tune in Nork.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoUybUHXYZ8
What’s really sad is reading the comments. A little of hero worshippers out there.
The problem is, in cyberwar, the balance seems to be heavily in favor of offense over defense. This is generally the case with normal military technology, but the relatively slow rate at which it develops leaves sometimes lengthy periods of time when defensive technologies are ascendant. The much faster development of computer technology means that the ability to attack is almost perpetually much greater than the ability to defend against attack.
That’s how I understand it, anyway.
They hit the banks, too? Did they get all the stimulus dough?
Impossible to get all of it that way - they would have to hit an unknown number of foreign banks too. And not even Congress knows which or how many foreign banks, or even how much money was shunted overseas (in the name of "economic stabilization").
“...and oddly sort of impressive.”
“Many of the organizations appeared to successfully blunt the sustained attacks.”
easily impressed?
I think the mere fact that NK has a cyber attack division while at the same time being a barbaric backwards realm is sort of impressive. So it didn’t completely work—it’s more than I would have thought them capable of doing.
Besides, the NKs will probably learn from this experience and adapt for future actions. Hopefully our cyber folks are doing the same.
Stop at least his golf game is getting better
Your posts are simultaneously quite impressive, and frightening as hell. There are a couple of people on this board whose posts I try to track as my favorites. You’re now on that list. Good job.
A denial of service attack, which is what these events appear to be, are not exactly rocket science.
It’s the network equivalent of sending every North Korean to the same McDonalds. The net effect is long lines and a general lack of availability to anyone else wanting to use the restaurant.
Contrary to what many people may believe, attacking an agency’s website generally has little to no effect on how said agency performs. If you take down Verizon’s website, it will inconvenience their customers, but their cell phones will still work, they’ll still get billed for using them. :)
That aside, critical government functions are generally carried out over networks that are largely invisible to internet cyberattacks, and are in fact isolated from the internet entirely.
That said, a cyber attack, whether effective or not, should be treated as an act of war, and should be dealt with accordingly.
Had the PRK been a little less amateur in their thinking, their attacks would have been directed at a place where they could do some harm, like financial institutions.
Sounds like maybe you have the wrong understanding!
LOL!
My first computer was a Tandy 1000RL!
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