So it seems:
WASHINGTON (AP) — A widespread computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the Web sites of the Treasury Department, the Secret Service and other U.S. agencies, and South Korean government sites also came under assault.
South Korean intelligence officials believe the attacks were carried out by North Korean or pro-Pyongyang forces. U.S. officials so far have refused to publicly discuss details of the attack or where it might have originated.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that its own Web site was among several commercial sites also hit.
This is how small powers can damage large ones in an era of asymmetric warfare. The more dependent you become on the wonders of technology, the more vulnerable you are as well. We have already seen the fruits of addiction to that 19th century technology “the internal combustion engine” which even today forces us to maintain a military presence (or threaten one) wherever the fuel which powers such engines exists in the ground. Yet, we have less control today over that resource than ever before.
How much more vulnerable are we to cyber attacks on our electronic and online infrastructure, and how much less costly are the “weapons” against such targets for the attacker to employ. And if North Korea can do this, why won’t a future non-state actor adopt the same methods? Al Qaeda may already be a dinosaur with its strategy of massive terrorist attacks on symbolic structures and its tactics of using bombs and planes as missiles to effect mass slaughter. The real threat to any society is to destroy its ability to continue to exist. What happens if we lose the ability to manipulate all that necessary data and to transmit it when and where and to whom we need it sent? Which is the greater danger?
