The movie "The Interview" terror threats

[MDS]

I wasn't referring to him so much as the particular idea alleged in the article, and its implications in the uncharted waters of nation-states dabbling in the dawn of cyber warfare to which you had also referred.

The article I linked was the result of a hasty Google search, and I only skimmed the opening grafs to see if it was referring to the same thing, so I'm not sure it contained the illustration I was looking for (the one I recollect from back in August), which was "What happens if you have automated counter attacks set up, and the people who attack your (power grid/defense IT architecture/whatever) have done it through a third party, so that when R2D2 goes to shoot back at Unit 121, it burns the servers of an Estonian hospital to the ground instead?"

The meatspace version of this has happened in the past, usually with cruise missiles.

I hear you. It's just that the details of "the attribution problem" are technical and boring, and We the People are sure as hell not going to educate ourselves about them. But suffice to say that it's not prima facie stupid to plan for automated counter-intrusion. Frankly, it's the way of the future, and it's been foretold in the feminazi-scifi literature. None less than the inventor of the phrase "cyberspace" described it as "ice." (In a few years, we may be able to deduce whether the neckbeards in the Fort prefer their scifi with a deep-rooted and carefully crafted hipster overtone, or an equally deep-rooted but more organic, classical feminist rant type of quality.)

Also, note that a "hack back" lacks the kinetic emphasis of a cruise missile. In many cases, and I theorize here speculatively, the automated countermeasure's immediate compromise of an innocent third party is the only reason a true attribution is at all possible. Without any true harm to the innocent third party, mind you, beyond a second insult their expectations of privacy or whatever, after they already got popped by whoever is really behind the attack we're responding to.

So. The gubmint will do some stuff, hopefully with due caution and minimal ethical ambiguity. Then, like good citizens of an open and democratic society, we'll judge the gubmint - based somewhat on information made available but based mostly on the pundits debating this stuff on TV - and act accordingly at the polls. Unless this all happens to far ahead of an election, in which case the insidious Kardashians will act to erase any memory of the event by the time we reach the polls. Except the forgotten atrocity involves zero Estonian hospital burnings.

Importantly, though, our intuitions about the effects of cyberwar will evolve. IMO, (and anyone who tells you they know just how this will play out is either full of bluster or has a crystal ball,) the macro effects of cyber will be influential in nature. For example, a company with a large manufacturing capacity and cheap labor can benefit from blueprints or etc. While the inverse of that won't work for a company with a lot of IP and 99% outsourced manufacturing operation - you can't download a copy of your victim's factory or cheap labor. Then again, the Kardashian Butt is a powerful weapon on the side of Good.

This is a fascinating topic and we're barely scratching the surface of an introduction. But yes, it's a lopsided situation in many ways, and it will be fascinating to see how balance is restored.

[Drang]

My access expired years ago, pretty much anything sensitive I knew is irrelevant anymore. However, there is still a large north Korean expatriate community in Japan, heavily involved in illegal dealings, much of the proceeds of which get funneled back to Pyongyang. The "official unofficial" nK web presence is actually hosted out of Japan -- I wound up diming out a couple of our pilots my last tour because when I suggested that accessing that network on a .mil computer was unwise, they basically told me to fuck off. (Come to think of it, this was shortly before the 8th Army SIGO shut down all access to any web site that didn't end in .mil or .gov, which screwed up my ACAP process. s*i*g*h)

Anyway, north Korea's Infotech is pretty lame, all right, but remember that short round was attending a boarding school in Switzerland when he got anointed, so it is not impossible that they are responsible.

That said, I too find this less than convincing:

U.S. Said to Find North Korea Ordered Cyberattack on Sony - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — American officials have concluded that North Korea was “centrally involved” in the hacking of Sony Pictures computers, even as the studio canceled the release of a far-fetched comedy about the assassination of the North’s leader that is believed to have led to the cyberattack.

Senior administration officials, who would not speak on the record about the intelligence findings, said the White House was debating whether to publicly accuse North Korea of what amounts to a cyberterrorism attack. Sony capitulated after the hackers threatened additional attacks, perhaps on theaters themselves, if the movie, “The Interview,” was released.

If ever there was an administration in which my first thought when "senior administration officials" leak something off-record is "What are they hiding?", this is it.

[ToddG]

Release the movie for free by streaming worldwide

This was the exact thought I had. I bet you could even find a few companies willing to pay for ad time during the movie.

Texas Theater to Show 'Team America' In Place of 'The Interview'

So awesome.

I for one welcome our Pyongyang overlords.

All your base are belong to Nork.

I'm an unpatriotic nutcase raving about The Illuminati.

I may have edited your quote unfairly.

[GardoneVT]

So awesome.



I may have edited your quote unfairly.

Speaking of editing posts......

https://deadline.com/2014/12/paramou...ca-1201329597/

[will_1400]

Well then let's get to bombing the hell out of them.

I'd be inclined to send in some B-52s with AGM-86C/Ds backed by USS Ohio and USS Michigan for the first waves and then follow up with re-activated and refitted USS Iowa and USS Missouri.

Unfortunately, LOAC prevents such an attack due to things like proportionality

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Reactivating the Iowas comes up on naval forums, every once in awhile. Or really all the time! The consensus is that they are currently in bad shape, it would cost a fortune, big ships close to shore are just targets and there are better solutions. Not that we will do anything military as response must be proportionate.

Their time has come and gone. It will be seen if the Zumwalts are a reasonable shore bombardment solution.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Here's a piece on why the Aurora Theater shootings influenced the "Interview" not being screened. The Aurora theater is being sued for not knowing or taking precautions against a mass shooter. Their defense is that such is an unreasonable burden. Every place can't be a fort. But - with a known threat, theater owners fear they would be liable.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/1...y&ir=Celebrity

[JodyH]

Yay lawyers!

[ToddG]

Yay lawyers!

[MDS]

Anonymous Claims They Will Release ‘The Interview’ Themselves In This New Series Of Tweets

Interesting. The idea is that, if the .torrent of the movie dropped, we could be sure the PRNK wasn't behind this. If it didn't drop, then it was definitely a "serious" threat actor, very probably PRNK. Now we have the .torrent dropping, but by a different group that could conceivably have had access to SPE for years now; or, alternatively, could probably procure the movie through any number of other means.

So, is it as it seems, that the GOP is really the PRNK and Anon is doing a public service here to release the film after all? Or is GOP and Anon basically the same people and they're having fun with cybergeopolitics?



Shall we play a game?