SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
President Trump Relaxes US Cyber-Attacks Rules:
President Trump has signed an order relaxing rules around the use of cyber-weapons, the Wall Street Journal reports.[*]
It is a reversal of guidelines, drawn up under President Obama, which required a large number of federal agencies to be involved in any decision to launch a cyber-attack.
[...] The US administration is under pressure to deal with cyber-threats, amid growing concerns that state-sponsored hacks could hit critical infrastructure.
Prof Alan Woodward, a computer scientist at the University of Surrey, told the BBC: "We are in a era when certain governments are acting aggressively in cyber-space, and that is rightly condemned by governments such as that in the US.
"To respond in kind is not necessarily the way to de-escalate the situation."
He added: "You wouldn't allow a pre-emptive physical attack without thorough analysis and approval at the highest levels, so why would cyber-attacks be any different?"
[*] Paywalled.
Let's hope extreme care is taken to identify the actual source of an attack, rather than the apparent source.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 17 2018, @04:50PM
The first strikes should be against domestic corporates who aren't smart enough to secure their infrastructure. Start with the utilities. Maybe - just maybe - the corporates can be forgiven for no being ready for a cutting-edge tech strike against them. But, we should start destroying corporations that simply don't care until it's too late. Still running Windows 98 (or ME, or maybe even 3.11?) then you need to be turned inside out, and raked over the coals. Still running Windows? Alright, maybe we'll cut you a little slack, as long as it's Win7. If you've been fool enough to "upgrade" to Win10 then screw you - you're toast.
Six months of punitive campaign against corporations who refuse to secure their infrastructure would change a hell of a lot of attitudes.