Readers,
The Perilous Times discussions that happen in class have made me think about what would be called "Perilous Times" in modern day. It was when I was in this mindset when I came across the "Stuxnet Virus." Stuxnet is a very advanced computer virus that many believe was designed by a nation the size of the US or England, with the purpose of trying to shut down the Iranian nuclear factories. (A full article can be read here).
This "cyberattack," as it has been referred to as, made me think of the implications it would have on perilous times. The virus has the ability to spread through anything on a computer, Word documents, e-mail, even flash drives. If, in perilous times, the government decided that this virus posed a large threat to the safety of the people, what measures would they take to stop it? Would they ban access to the internet, the largest media and information database in the world? Its frightening to think about what technology does to change how the world is handled, but it's definitely something that we do need to look at so we can ready for it when it comes.
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteCyber war is really scary. When you think that things like our power grid and even nuclear program are run by computers connected to the Internet (and thus susceptible to attack) it's alarming how devastating an attack could be. Perhaps most frightening is fact that an attack can be almost impossible to trace, letting countries execute strikes with anonymity.