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Keyboard Warfare…It’s On!
By Lafe Tolliver, Esq
Guest Column
With the Sony Pictures executives capitulating to the
censorious dictates of what is now being described as cyber
warfare emanating out of North Korea and under the
illustrious leadership of the despot Kim Jung Un, the world
is entering the new and real phase of keyboard war!
Real or imagined threats of further damage being done
to Sony Pictures if they were to release the picture, The
Interview, which depicts the demise of the North Korean
dictator, was enough for the Sony Boys to throw in the towel
and yell, “Uncle” to this Supreme Leader of a bare bones
country.
Yes, North Korea won a world wild coup with their
blusterings of a 9/11 type of damage being done to Sony
Pictures if they were to release the film which mocks the
foibles of this devilish imp of a leader.
North Korea is known for its history of sabre rattling
and now with its apparent ability to rattle the financial
market of Sony Pictures, the world wide stakes of who has
the power and who doesn’t have the power has shifted.
Now, the paradigm has shifted to the unstabilizing
reality that with a keyboard and a CPU and certain fiendish
intents, certain people can cause havoc in the world and
practically shout down governments and impose their terms
and conditions on other nations as to what they believe
should be their operating protocol.
Sony Pictures has felt first-hand the power of the devil
working a keyboard and this type of mischief is just
beginning.
With this notch on their computer belt, the North
Koreans, if it was in fact they being the puppet master in
this debacle, are heady with excitement that they can
possibly be masters of the universe.
Now, a country or a rogue group of computer thugs who
have a chip on their shoulder, or who can act as computer
mercenaries (for a hefty sum), can deliver earth shattering
turmoil in a matter of a few keystrokes.
In Cyber warfare, the universe is the limit and that is
only hedged in by the crafty imagination of the criminal
nerd at the keyboard.
Want to play havoc with a country? Try out these
frightening scenarios because even science fiction is better
than this:
(1) Infrastructure: shut down or greatly impede or strangle
the electric and gas grids that serve a nation. Chaos in
thousands of elevators being stranded along with all street
lights going dark. Candles anyone?
(2) Air travel: imagine at a moment’s notice, all of the
arrival and departure boards as every airport in the USA
going blank and causing every plane to land at the nearest
airport for hours or even days before the knots are untied.
(3) Banking: go to your nearest ATM and find out that your
account has been
deleted and the bank has no record of you or your money
being deposited with them.
(4) Colleges: imagine a hacker getting into the academic
center and literally wiping clean the records of grades for
all students for the past 10 years.
Trying to get a transcript of your grades or graduation
information for a job? Good luck!
(5) Courts: Pinpoint a certain court or prison and knock
out their records and then try to fix that mess as to who is
in jail and for what crime. You can’t. There are no more
computer records to even bring up on the monitor.
(6) Commerce: Say goodbye to the credit card records and
purchases at
Amazon, E-bay, Overstock, Macy’s, Sears and Wal-Mart.
All gone. And by the way, this one is done on the proverbial
Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving.
(7) Car gas: What gas? The pumps are all computer operated
so that when they go down, your car goes cold turkey and you
walk or ride a bike to work.
(8) Insurance claims: Good luck with that. There are no
records that you paid the car premium or the life insurance
policy bill. Death benefits? What…we have no record of your
spouse dying and no records that we owe you anything on that
policy.
The list could go on and on. You get the picture.
Who needs gas and bombs and special trained fighting
forces, expensive ships, submarines, maintaining military
bases and a standing army when all you need is a good cover,
a computer and a CPU and criminal intent to wreak havoc on
your enemy, real or imagined.
If you are a small insignificant country, like North
Korea, and you feel that you are not being respected, simply
let it leak out that you have a “surprise” for certain
nations if they do not do your bidding and voila!...you are
in the money!
Now, who is going to go to war with a country that
adamantly denies its involvement with such computer
chicanery and you are not able to firmly place the blame at
the feet of that government?
Of course the offending nation will use surreptitious
means by which to cover their computer tracks so that the
presumption of being innocent stays with them while the
offended nation scratches their head trying to figure out,
with some absolute certainty…. who did what to whom.
This will become the new world order of cyber warfare.
It is fast, efficient, does not require a huge monetary as
needed to maintain a costly army, navy, air force and best
of all, you can with a straight face deny, deny, deny to
anyone who suspects you.
Expect to see all nations and corporations beginning to
spend enormous sums on fighting this new type of commercial
and military warfare.
With the Internet, now small nations with erratic leaders
and crazed despots can play with the big boys and win.
It is a different world. The computer shot fired at Sony
Pictures by the North Koreans was for all intents and
purposes the signaling of a new arms race and that is: arms
on a computer keyboard!
May the best programmer win.
Contact Lafe Tolliver, at Tolliver@Juno.com
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