Which one’s the terrorist?
Nick Carr blogs today about concern shown by American intelligence authorities about the security vulnerabilities of increasingly popular virtual worlds such as Second Life. He cites this Washington Post article, which in turn quotes from a newly-issued paper from the “Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity”:
“Unfortunately, what started out as a benign environment where people would congregate to share information or explore fantasy worlds is now offering the opportunity for religious/political extremists to recruit, rehearse, transfer money, and ultimately engage in information warfare or worse with impunity.”
The article goes on to note that the CIA has already set up shop on some “private islands” in Second Life for “meetings and training.” And then there’s this:
Virtual worlds could also become an actual battlefield. The intelligence community has begun contemplating how to use Second Life and other such communities as platforms for cyber weapons that could be used against terrorists or enemies, intelligence officials said. One analyst suggested beginning tests with so-called teams of cyber warfare experts.
As Keanu Reeves would say: “Whoa.”
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user Pathfinder Linden.
I definitely should be working right now, but this was begging to be blogged.
Today, two undersea cables were cut at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Apparently either a boat anchor or some geological “event” severed the cables. CNN quotes an expert stating that “the damaged cables collectively account for the majority of international communications between Europe and the Middle East.” India, known around the world as the #1 destination for digital outsourcing, was dealt a sucker punch — 60% of its user base was affected — but it quickly got its breath back, according to the New York Times.
While it is reassuring that these companies had back-up plans for this sort of thing — the NYT article notes that traffic was quickly rerouted through other cables — a Reuters article notes that as of midday, Egypt is only 40% back online.
What would happen if something were to happen to our cables? I know the U.S. is sort of the hub into which all the cables are plugged, so it isn’t as easy as cutting a cord for us. But how vulnerable are we? Can you imagine the chaos, especially of the financial sort, that would ensue if someone were able to disrupt even a quarter of American web connectivity? Surely we have some kind of firewall and stop-loss system?
As more and more of our life — and money – is spent digitally, I would love to know not only how my passwords and privacy are being protected, but how the whole physical infrastructure is being protected as well. How tough is Google’s security at their server farms, for example?
Anyone know?
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user angusf.
