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I'm imagining a future where systems have become so complex it's impossible to isolate and deactivate a worm. Malware that may not be effective anymore, but pe

I'm imagining a future where systems have become so complex it's impossible to isolate and deactivate a worm. Malware that may not be effective anymore, but persists on the Internet hopping from unmaintained system to unmaintained system forever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSospSmAGL4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSospSmAGL4

ams6110 9y ago
Malware does that now. There are enough unpatched/vulnerable systems on the internet at any given time that nothing is ever really eradicated.
eob 9y ago
When alien archeologists study the third rock from Sol, they will find no life save for IRC C&C bots chattering back and forth. Feels like the end to an interesting sci-fi novel.
- DonHopkins 9y ago
  That would be Stanislaw Lem's most depressing but aptly named masterpiece, "Fiasco". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiasco_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiasco_(novel) http://garethrees.org/2012/05/31/fiasco/ http://garethrees.org/2012/05/31/fiasco/ 2. Radio static A radiolocation map of the planet showed hundreds of transmitters of white noise, which merged into shapeless blotches. Quinta was emitting noise on all wavelengths. In the Cold War theory: “What came to mind was an image of “radio warfare” taken to the point of absurdity, where no one any longer transmitted anything, because each side drowned out the other… All bands of radio waves were jammed. The entire capacity of the channels of transmission was filled with noise. In a fairly short period of time the race became a contest between the forces of jamming and the forces of intelligence-gathering and command-signaling. But this escalation, too, penetrating the noise with stronger signals and in turn jamming the signals with stronger noise, resulted in an impasse.” Other hypotheses considered: “The noise was either the scrambling of broadcast signals or a kind of coded communication concealed by the semblance of chaos.” [It’s a consequence of the Shannon–Hartley theorem that the maximum information is transferred on a channel in the form of white noise.]
  - gech 9y ago
    Sounds like American politics on the Internet right now
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- peteforde 9y ago
  https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ppzd9g/complexities-human-sitcom-431-v15n12 https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ppzd9g/complexities-human...
throwanem 9y ago
That's actually a major plot element in Peter Watts' ßehemoth trilogy.
- qb45 9y ago
  Nitpick: isn't it β instead of ß?
  - throwanem 9y ago
    Crud, it is. Well spotted, and thanks for the catch!
jlgaddis 9y ago
Check your web server's access logs. I still see evidence of Code Red [0] on a regular basis. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Red_(computer_worm) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Red_(computer_worm)
problems 9y ago
That's already the case last I checked - plug any machine into the internet directly you'll still get scanned for vulns from early 2000s.
tlrobinson 9y ago
That seems pretty inevitable, not unlike biological pathogens. Actually, I can imagine a future where we use AI to eliminate biological pathogens, but digital pathogens proliferate.

ams6110 9y ago

Malware does that now. There are enough unpatched/vulnerable systems on the internet at any given time that nothing is ever really eradicated.

eob 9y ago

When alien archeologists study the third rock from Sol, they will find no life save for IRC C&C bots chattering back and forth. Feels like the end to an interesting sci-fi novel.

DonHopkins 9y ago
That would be Stanislaw Lem's most depressing but aptly named masterpiece, "Fiasco". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiasco_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiasco_(novel) http://garethrees.org/2012/05/31/fiasco/ http://garethrees.org/2012/05/31/fiasco/ 2. Radio static A radiolocation map of the planet showed hundreds of transmitters of white noise, which merged into shapeless blotches. Quinta was emitting noise on all wavelengths. In the Cold War theory: “What came to mind was an image of “radio warfare” taken to the point of absurdity, where no one any longer transmitted anything, because each side drowned out the other… All bands of radio waves were jammed. The entire capacity of the channels of transmission was filled with noise. In a fairly short period of time the race became a contest between the forces of jamming and the forces of intelligence-gathering and command-signaling. But this escalation, too, penetrating the noise with stronger signals and in turn jamming the signals with stronger noise, resulted in an impasse.” Other hypotheses considered: “The noise was either the scrambling of broadcast signals or a kind of coded communication concealed by the semblance of chaos.” [It’s a consequence of the Shannon–Hartley theorem that the maximum information is transferred on a channel in the form of white noise.]
- gech 9y ago
  Sounds like American politics on the Internet right now
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
peteforde 9y ago
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ppzd9g/complexities-human-sitcom-431-v15n12 https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ppzd9g/complexities-human...

throwanem 9y ago

That's actually a major plot element in Peter Watts' ßehemoth trilogy.

qb45 9y ago
Nitpick: isn't it β instead of ß?
- throwanem 9y ago
  Crud, it is. Well spotted, and thanks for the catch!

jlgaddis 9y ago

Check your web server's access logs. I still see evidence of Code Red [0] on a regular basis. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Red_(computer_worm) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Red_(computer_worm)

problems 9y ago

That's already the case last I checked - plug any machine into the internet directly you'll still get scanned for vulns from early 2000s.

tlrobinson 9y ago

That seems pretty inevitable, not unlike biological pathogens. Actually, I can imagine a future where we use AI to eliminate biological pathogens, but digital pathogens proliferate.