From: Eric Murray <ericm@lne.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 14:41:07 -0800 (PST)
To: thad@hammerhead.com (Thaddeus J. Beier)
Subject: Re: IWD_ism
In-Reply-To: <32D172D6.2781@hammerhead.com>
Message-ID: <199701062240.OAA13379@slack.lne.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Thaddeus J. Beier writes:
> 
> > "Information-Warfare Defense Is Urged"
> > 
> >    The Defense Science Board said the Pentagon should
> >    launch counterattacks against computer hackers by
> >    injecting the attackers'  computers with "a polymorphic
> >    virus that wipes out the system, takes it down for weeks."
> > 
> 
> This is completely unbelievable, who are these people?
> I believe that the polymorphic virus is originally from
> the classic "Shockwave Rider" and was seen as an impossible
> fiction even in that book of improbable fiction.

And a virus that "wipes out the system, takes it down for weeks"
is even more improbable- how long does it take to reinstall an OS?

But the objective of this exercise is not computer science
it is political science.  All that's needed is something that sounds
super-high-tech enough that (technically ignorant) members of
Congress will buy into it and fund it.  It doesn't have to actually work.
This tactic has been successful for the military-industrial complex
since before the end of WWII.  They're just extending it in the
new "information age".

What do you want to bet that we will soon be hearing about
needing "first strike" InfoWar capability in order to be able to
"fight on two fronts at once" for "mutually-assured cyber-destruction". 
The first US Army counter-virus will be called the "peacemaker". :-)


-- 
Eric Murray  ericm@lne.com  ericm@motorcycle.com  http://www.lne.com/ericm
PGP keyid:E03F65E5 fingerprint:50 B0 A2 4C 7D 86 FC 03  92 E8 AC E6 7E 27 29 AF