[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[infowar.de] Feds Really Do Fear Hippy Terror
http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/index.blog?entry_id=1564566
Feds Really Do Fear Hippy Terror
If you were curious, as I was, why the notional evildoers in DHS's
anti-cyber terror wargame Cyber Storm were anti-globalization lefties
instead of home grown right wing extremists or al Qaida, it turns out the
threat model was completely in keeping with the Bush administration's
assessment of where terrorists are festering.
From the very end of the government's newly-and-partially-declassified
National Intelligence Estimate summary:
Anti-U.S. and anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise and fueling
other radical ideologies. This could prompt some leftist, nationalist, or
separatist groups to adopt terrorist methods to attack US interests. The
radicalization process is occurring more quickly, more widely, and more
anonymously in the Internet age, raising the likelihood of surprise
attacks by unknown groups whose members and supporters may be difficult to
pinpoint.
We judge that groups of all stripes will increasingly use the
Internet to communicate, propagandize, recruit, train, and obtain
logistical and financial support.
If you accept all that, it begins to make sense that someone like the
fictional Worldwide Anti-Globalization Alliance, and its radical arm, the
Black Hood Society, would be the first to launch devastating cyber attacks
against the power grid, air traffic control, etc., as laid out in a "For
Official Use Only" DHS presentation (.ppt) given to industry security
professionals last June.
But Salon wonders why the NIE neglects threats from the other end of the
ideological spectrum, given that the worst pre-9/11 U.S. terror attack
occurred when right-winger Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in
Oklahoma City.
That this claim about "leftist" terrorist groups made it into the NIE
summary is particularly significant in light of the torture and detention
bill that is likely soon to be enacted into law. That bill defines "enemy
combatant" very broadly (and the definition may be even broader by the
time it is enacted) and could easily encompass domestic groups perceived
by the administration to be supporting a "terrorist agenda."
Similarly, the administration has claimed previously that it
eavesdrops on the conversations of Americans only where there is
reasonable grounds (as judged by the administration) to believe that one
of the parties is affiliated with a terrorist group. Does that include
"leftist" groups that use the Internet to organize?
Good question. If you're part of a group in the mold of Cyber Storm's
villainous "Freedom Not Bombs," you may want to switch away from AT&T as
your long distance carrier ASAP.
Actually, you're probably using Working Assets already, you cyber
terrorist scumbag.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: infowar -
de-unsubscribe -!
- infopeace -
de
For additional commands, e-mail: infowar -
de-help -!
- infopeace -
de