The Easy Way
Wired, 4:17 p.m. Thursday:
Readers of Richard Clarke’s new book Cyberwar who want to jump to the steamy parts should start at page 64…
Chinese hackers take down the Pentagon’s classified and unclassified networks, trigger explosions at oil refineries, release chlorine gas from chemical plants, disable air traffic control, cause trains to crash into each other, delete all data — including offsite backups — held by the federal reserve and major banks, then plunge the country into darkness by taking down the power grid from coast-to-coast. Thousands die immediately. Cities run out of food, ATMs shut down, looters take to the streets.
Wired, three hours earlier:
On Thursday, Coles, an Australian supermarket chain, said 1,100 checkout terminals crashed… so it temporarily closed several stores in that country. An Intel spokesman in California acknowledged the problem at its headquarters was “significant.” Kentucky State Police lost use of their their entire IT infrastructure, and hospitals in Rhode Island postponed elective surgeries.
Russian mafia hackers? Chinese cyberterrorists? Skynet?
No, silly. Botched automated antivirus-software update. It’s easier to break in when you leave the door open.
That’s my typical Monday morning.
I sit on my ass for three hours as I wait for my machine to download and install the numerous updates.
Just got back from early morning hike through forest which involved a certain amount of dachshund-carrying. I read this with some coffee and the first thought that occurred to me was: why would the Chinese want to destroy stuff they own? Second thought was PINIC. Third thought was: get a Mac.
My God, I’m so tech-savvy and all up in da grillz yo!
@Benedick:
just talking about you on the baldwin thread…
did you see “bullets over broadway”?
@baked: Can’t remember. Might have seen some of it.
@Benedick:
Isn’t it always the case with wiener dogs? Something about being short and elongated. Unlike most dogs, I’ve noticed they don’t mind being carried (in fact, I think they enjoy it a little too much.)
*former doxie “owner”*
@Benedick: PICNIC, doll, not PINIC
@SanFranLefty: Damn. Just when God wrought a miracle and brought my good keyboard back from the dead (aka vodka spill) I’ve forgotten how to use it. Thank you.
@ManchuCandidate: Ours is a hunting dachshund. So he tells me. But it’s been a while since they were out on the trails and we’re all out of shape.
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