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So, while watching the excellent "Great War" video series a few years back about World War 1, it repeatedly came up that the generals were caught off guard by h

So, while watching the excellent "Great War" video series a few years back about World War 1, it repeatedly came up that the generals were caught off guard by how technology had changed war. In particular, the advantage had swung to the defense, and for the first time no matter how good the morale and courage of your charging troops, they could all get mowed down before they reached the enemy. It took a while before they realized that it was a new game. I suspect we are in a similar time, albeit in a mirror image way; the advantage has dramatically swung to the offense. You can attack your opponent's infrastructure, without even showing your face. We could end up in a cyber war aimed at each other's critical infrastructure (which has a real potential to kill people), without ever really deciding we wanted to go to war. The ability to even know who your opponent is, has never been as big a problem before. I suspect we will have some WW1-style misunderstandings at the top, in several countries.

aphextron 5y ago
>We could end up in a cyber war aimed at each other's critical infrastructure (which has a real potential to kill people), without ever really deciding we wanted to go to war. We're already there. Although most of it happens by way of modern day privateering. The Colonial pipeline hack was only possible because of the ability of de facto state sponsored groups like Darkside to exist. As long as there is an implicit guarantee of no consequences for attacking the west, they will continue to escalate.
- rossdavidh 5y ago
  "Privateering" is an excellent analogy (if it's even different enough to be considered an analogy, and not just more or less exactly the same thing).
- cudgy 5y ago
  Are you sure it was “Darkside”? If so, based on what evidence?
  - aphextron 5y ago
    Based on the evidence that they publicly claimed responsibility.

aphextron 5y ago

>We could end up in a cyber war aimed at each other's critical infrastructure (which has a real potential to kill people), without ever really deciding we wanted to go to war. We're already there. Although most of it happens by way of modern day privateering. The Colonial pipeline hack was only possible because of the ability of de facto state sponsored groups like Darkside to exist. As long as there is an implicit guarantee of no consequences for attacking the west, they will continue to escalate.

rossdavidh 5y ago
"Privateering" is an excellent analogy (if it's even different enough to be considered an analogy, and not just more or less exactly the same thing).
cudgy 5y ago
Are you sure it was “Darkside”? If so, based on what evidence?
- aphextron 5y ago
  Based on the evidence that they publicly claimed responsibility.