4 ms·

Is there any developed country that doesn't have this type of capability? Certainly all five-eyes countries have some form of capabilities. China, Russian, Nort

Is there any developed country that doesn't have this type of capability? Certainly all five-eyes countries have some form of capabilities. China, Russian, North Korea, Iran all regularly demonstrate they do too.

082349872349872 6y ago
The question is: who's putting effort into the far less-sexy defensive capability? compare https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24575935 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24575935
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  Defending systems against hacking tends to be far harder than hacking them, if only because you have to think of everything, and then harden it. Based on the UK's record with IT I would be far more reassured if it was working hard to defend critical civilian infrastructure than if it could take out a few servers in a remote country.
  - KineticLensman 6y ago
    > I would be far more reassured if it was working hard to defend critical civilian infrastructure NCSC has an 'exercise in a box' [0] that you can use for precisely this purpose. [0] https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/exercise-in-a-box https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/exercise-in-a-box
  - C1sc0cat 6y ago
    Both one would hope I wont say any details in public but I do remember conversations with colleagues and some people on a networking course how fragile some of the CNI is in the UK.
- arethuza 6y ago
  I thought that was going to be about the recent 'official' stories that the British Army was going to get rid of its tanks: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53909087 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53909087 What we can be certain of is that the Army will never willingly get rid of its horses.
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    Wow. We somehow failed to notice that horses don't fit in foxholes, but we did eventually get rid of ours when we noticed they weren't really cut out for NBC suits. (Youtube is failing miserably for Parade Song of the Camp Animals. Kipling actually had tunes in mind for them, something none of the interpreters in my bubble seem to have noticed. For instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av2-A-igOJk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av2-A-igOJk By the brand on my shoulder, the finest of tunes Is played by the Lancers, Hussars, and Dragoons, And it's sweeter than "Stables" or "Water" to me-- The Cavalry Canter of "Bonnie Dundee"! Then feed us and break us and handle and groom, And give us good riders and plenty of room, And launch us in column of squadron and see The way of the war-horse to "Bonnie Dundee"! )
    - arethuza 6y ago
      The Army has had more horses than tanks for a while: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-22951548 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-229...
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        > The British Army has not used horses in a combat role since World War I Note that this isn't true - several British Army combat units genuinely fought on horseback during WWII. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1941/aug/06/operations-in-syria#S5LV0119P0_19410806_HOL_41 https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1941/aug/06... And I believe you can still do a combat horse riding course at one of the US special forces schools today. One good explanation for having so many horses is simply that a tank carries four soldiers while a horse only carries one! In reality we have one regiment minus (just two squadrons) of horse mounted cavalry, just one troop plus of horse-drawn field artillery, and a mounted band. Doesn't seem excessive.
        082349872349872 6y ago
        mechanised by 1942: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Somerset_Yeomanry#Palestine_and_Syria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Somerset_Yeomanry#Palest...
- KineticLensman 6y ago
  > who's putting effort into the far less-sexy defensive capability? In this case, exactly the same people. The UK's defensive capability is public knowledge - here's the website of the public facing part: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/ https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/ This article is news because its one of the few times they have spoken about the offensive side.

082349872349872 6y ago

The question is: who's putting effort into the far less-sexy defensive capability? compare https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24575935 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24575935

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
Defending systems against hacking tends to be far harder than hacking them, if only because you have to think of everything, and then harden it. Based on the UK's record with IT I would be far more reassured if it was working hard to defend critical civilian infrastructure than if it could take out a few servers in a remote country.
- KineticLensman 6y ago
  > I would be far more reassured if it was working hard to defend critical civilian infrastructure NCSC has an 'exercise in a box' [0] that you can use for precisely this purpose. [0] https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/exercise-in-a-box https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/exercise-in-a-box
- C1sc0cat 6y ago
  Both one would hope I wont say any details in public but I do remember conversations with colleagues and some people on a networking course how fragile some of the CNI is in the UK.
arethuza 6y ago
I thought that was going to be about the recent 'official' stories that the British Army was going to get rid of its tanks: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53909087 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53909087 What we can be certain of is that the Army will never willingly get rid of its horses.
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  Wow. We somehow failed to notice that horses don't fit in foxholes, but we did eventually get rid of ours when we noticed they weren't really cut out for NBC suits. (Youtube is failing miserably for Parade Song of the Camp Animals. Kipling actually had tunes in mind for them, something none of the interpreters in my bubble seem to have noticed. For instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av2-A-igOJk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av2-A-igOJk By the brand on my shoulder, the finest of tunes Is played by the Lancers, Hussars, and Dragoons, And it's sweeter than "Stables" or "Water" to me-- The Cavalry Canter of "Bonnie Dundee"! Then feed us and break us and handle and groom, And give us good riders and plenty of room, And launch us in column of squadron and see The way of the war-horse to "Bonnie Dundee"! )
  - arethuza 6y ago
    The Army has had more horses than tanks for a while: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-22951548 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-229...
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      > The British Army has not used horses in a combat role since World War I Note that this isn't true - several British Army combat units genuinely fought on horseback during WWII. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1941/aug/06/operations-in-syria#S5LV0119P0_19410806_HOL_41 https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1941/aug/06... And I believe you can still do a combat horse riding course at one of the US special forces schools today. One good explanation for having so many horses is simply that a tank carries four soldiers while a horse only carries one! In reality we have one regiment minus (just two squadrons) of horse mounted cavalry, just one troop plus of horse-drawn field artillery, and a mounted band. Doesn't seem excessive.
      - 082349872349872 6y ago
        mechanised by 1942: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Somerset_Yeomanry#Palestine_and_Syria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Somerset_Yeomanry#Palest...
KineticLensman 6y ago
> who's putting effort into the far less-sexy defensive capability? In this case, exactly the same people. The UK's defensive capability is public knowledge - here's the website of the public facing part: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/ https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/ This article is news because its one of the few times they have spoken about the offensive side.