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"Cyber-attack" seems like the wrong term in this case. They weren't trying to attack or damage anything.
by joemi 9y ago
"Cyber-attack" seems like the wrong term in this case. They weren't trying to attack or damage anything.
- AskewEgret 9y agoI agree. As well, these things were called semaphores rather than mechanical telegraphs. Furthermore, the British Navy sent many cannonballs in their direction during the Napoleonic Wars, which were long before 1834. That might count as a cyber-attack.
- KekDemaga 9y agoThey were attacking the market in a sense as it relied on latency of information to determine prices. Certainly I'd dub these gentlemen posthumously as hackers, maybe they were the first.
- francisofascii 9y agoAgree. Sounds like "piggybacking."
- mark-r 9y agoYes, that does seem like the wrong term. Maybe "network hack"?
- empath75 9y agoPhreaking.
- astura 9y agoPlus considering there was a manuscript on cryptanalysis written as early as 800AD (IIRC), it can hardly be considered the first. Additionally, I'd consider cryptanalysis (ie, decoding messages not intended for you) more of an "attack" than this nonsense. I'm sure there were a million other "interfering with communication" instances throughout history,why they picked this particular one is totally baffling to me.