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Submitted via IRC for SoyCow3196
A cyberattack could wreak destruction comparable to a nuclear weapon
People around the world may be worried about nuclear tensions rising, but I think they're missing the fact that a major cyberattack could be just as damaging—and hackers are already laying the groundwork.
With the U.S. and Russia pulling out of a key nuclear weapons pact—and beginning to develop new nuclear weapons—plus Iran tensions and North Korea again test-launching missiles, the global threat to civilization is high. Some fear a new nuclear arms race.
That threat is serious—but another could be as serious, and is less visible to the public. So far, most of the well-known hacking incidents, even those with foreign government backing, have done little more than steal data. Unfortunately, there are signs that hackers have placed malicious software inside U.S. power and water systems, where it's lying in wait, ready to be triggered. The U.S. military has also reportedly penetrated the computers that control Russian electrical systems.
As someone who studies cybersecurity and information warfare, I'm concerned that a cyberattack with widespread impact, an intrusion in one area that spreads to others or a combination of lots of smaller attacks, could cause significant damage, including mass injury and death rivaling the death toll of a nuclear weapon.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:23PM (3 children)
The Slashdot Effect might look like a cyberattack, but it's really more like that feeling you get when there are too many cocks in Taco's anus and you can't slip your dick in.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:48PM (2 children)
You don't just try another of his two open ports, like 443 instead of port 80?
In the old days before "https everywhere" and /. effect was a real thing, you could often get past a medium size /. effect by hitting http: instead of https: so aside from the hilarious double entendre this actually used to work.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday August 21 2019, @04:27PM
There was the one time when slashdot's co-located router melted down [slashdot.org].
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Funny) by hendrikboom on Thursday August 22 2019, @10:37AM
To maintain the level of profanity, let me just point out that the other port has teeth.