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>> "It is worthwhile to apply the same scepticism for placement of attribution as was applied with the Sony hack." Just playing devils advocate here. The alte

>> "It is worthwhile to apply the same scepticism for placement of attribution as was applied with the Sony hack." Just playing devils advocate here. The alternative is to do as the USG did and immediately jump to conclusions based on not that great evidence. If they don't give others the benefit of the doubt why should we give it to them?

dsjoerg 12y ago
If your goal is to understand who is doing what, then you want to be smart about how you draw conclusions. If, on the other hand, your goal is to flame people who have done bad stuff when the opportunity arises, then yeah, go for it.
d23 12y ago
Because 1) the USG isn't one single guy and 2) the truth might be more important to some than conclusion-jumping.
hueving 12y ago
Displaying a lack of intellectual rigor in response does not garner any respect from people that can think. The quickest way to get people smart to tune out is to engage in a political mudslinging contest lacking real content.
cyphunk 12y ago
I agree and this is what I was hinting at with the last point. I think in the end there is no way to update our understanding to a world filled with acts of conflict that are difficult to attribute. We've lived in an attribution luxury until now. So this Hippocratic of attribution will probably continue. I do think in the end the public will just learn to take attribution with a grain of salt. This is why I think cyberwarfare represents one of the most fascinating areas of exploration for political science students. In addition to the collective psychological affect from attribution complexity (further discussion if interested https://medium.com/@cyphunk/the-nature-of-conflict-is-changing-f9ef39709cab https://medium.com/@cyphunk/the-nature-of-conflict-is-changi...) there is also the breaking down of the 2 state/coalition actor assumption. The actor could be from a known state enemy, an unclear enemy just disturbed by your trade/sanctions policies, some activists with a cause or a bunch of people from b/chan doing it for the lulz. The absurdity of the US response and attempt to protect some lousy hollywood comedy only illustrates this change of environment all too clearly.

dsjoerg 12y ago

If your goal is to understand who is doing what, then you want to be smart about how you draw conclusions. If, on the other hand, your goal is to flame people who have done bad stuff when the opportunity arises, then yeah, go for it.

d23 12y ago

Because 1) the USG isn't one single guy and 2) the truth might be more important to some than conclusion-jumping.

hueving 12y ago

Displaying a lack of intellectual rigor in response does not garner any respect from people that can think. The quickest way to get people smart to tune out is to engage in a political mudslinging contest lacking real content.

cyphunk 12y ago

I agree and this is what I was hinting at with the last point. I think in the end there is no way to update our understanding to a world filled with acts of conflict that are difficult to attribute. We've lived in an attribution luxury until now. So this Hippocratic of attribution will probably continue. I do think in the end the public will just learn to take attribution with a grain of salt. This is why I think cyberwarfare represents one of the most fascinating areas of exploration for political science students. In addition to the collective psychological affect from attribution complexity (further discussion if interested https://medium.com/@cyphunk/the-nature-of-conflict-is-changing-f9ef39709cab https://medium.com/@cyphunk/the-nature-of-conflict-is-changi...) there is also the breaking down of the 2 state/coalition actor assumption. The actor could be from a known state enemy, an unclear enemy just disturbed by your trade/sanctions policies, some activists with a cause or a bunch of people from b/chan doing it for the lulz. The absurdity of the US response and attempt to protect some lousy hollywood comedy only illustrates this change of environment all too clearly.