Re: Hackers claim hit on CIA website

[Guest guest]

This is exactly why some government agencies, most businesses and all utilities should back away from internet usage. Most of the really important stuff should be kept sealed in offline intranets with little or no direct access to the Internet, just as utilities should keep control of the power grid and generators completely disconnected from the Internet.

They say that this linkage increases efficiency. Perhaps. However, it also greatly increases the chances of a single hacker somewhere in the world collapsing entire systems either deliberately or accidentally. Take it off the net and that won't happen. A little inefficiency would be worth the security, given the nature of the threat.

In a message dated 6/15/2011 10:03:19 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

A hacker group was brazenly ramping up its antics as waves of cyberattacks targeting even the US spy agency expose how poorly defended many networks are against Internet marauders.

[Guest guest]

Counterpoint: Stuxnet.

This is exactly why some government agencies, most businesses and all utilities should back away from internet usage. Most of the really important stuff should be kept sealed in offline intranets with little or no direct access to the Internet, just as utilities should keep control of the power grid and generators completely disconnected from the Internet.

They say that this linkage increases efficiency. Perhaps. However, it also greatly increases the chances of a single hacker somewhere in the world collapsing entire systems either deliberately or accidentally. Take it off the net and that won't happen. A little inefficiency would be worth the security, given the nature of the threat.

In a message dated 6/15/2011 10:03:19 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

A hacker group was brazenly ramping up its antics as waves of cyberattacks targeting even the US spy agency expose how poorly defended many networks are against Internet marauders.

[Guest guest]

Excellent point. If memory serves, Stuxnet was designed to knock out industrial computers and be very hard to remove. If it was placed in some of the remaining factories here in the US or into powerplants, it would be devastating.

I've been wondering how long it will be before someone puts one in a government database, a virus that will operate deep in the background and do something like scramble case or file numbers or maybe even social security numbers? Something like that could go on for some time and cause all kinds of problems.

Counterpoint: Stuxnet.