tweakxc03
05-25-2010, 08:38
Hello...This is my first post (other than my introduction). I haven't seen a threat for which this question would be appropriate so far. First, I am a civilian (and as indicated, a guest on this forum). Thank you all for your service and sacrifice.
I've seen a lot of discussion about survival on this forum, which has been quite helpful and informative. However, I haven't seen much discussion regarding the ramifications of a significant cyber attack.
Perhaps I am ill-informed. I recently watched an interview covering this as a serious threat to our infrastructure (power grid, utilities) and economy. I can't find the interview online at present to link. Anyway, one of the people interviewed was a consultant for the CIA. He indicated that perhaps one of the biggest risks to our national security was a successful cyber attack on the systems that handle daily reconciling of financial accounts. If this were successful, everything could go to zero. The interview goes on to document other successful cyber attacks on the Pentagon and other locations.
Secondly, there are plenty of other causes for a financial meltdown bigger than the one we have already seen. After reading The Black Swan - The Impact of the Highly Impropbable (Taleb), it becomes pretty obvious how fragile our financial system is.
Our country's population is already highly polarized politically, angry at the government, angry at big business, the financial system, etc. We are already seeing revolts and riots in Greece.
I guess my main question is, does this kind of topic come up in your training? Previous posts by The Reaper and others have discussed large-scale disasters, but mostly those physical in nature. What is the likely social response to a disaster that doesn't cause immediate physical damage?
Thanks,
Adam
I've seen a lot of discussion about survival on this forum, which has been quite helpful and informative. However, I haven't seen much discussion regarding the ramifications of a significant cyber attack.
Perhaps I am ill-informed. I recently watched an interview covering this as a serious threat to our infrastructure (power grid, utilities) and economy. I can't find the interview online at present to link. Anyway, one of the people interviewed was a consultant for the CIA. He indicated that perhaps one of the biggest risks to our national security was a successful cyber attack on the systems that handle daily reconciling of financial accounts. If this were successful, everything could go to zero. The interview goes on to document other successful cyber attacks on the Pentagon and other locations.
Secondly, there are plenty of other causes for a financial meltdown bigger than the one we have already seen. After reading The Black Swan - The Impact of the Highly Impropbable (Taleb), it becomes pretty obvious how fragile our financial system is.
Our country's population is already highly polarized politically, angry at the government, angry at big business, the financial system, etc. We are already seeing revolts and riots in Greece.
I guess my main question is, does this kind of topic come up in your training? Previous posts by The Reaper and others have discussed large-scale disasters, but mostly those physical in nature. What is the likely social response to a disaster that doesn't cause immediate physical damage?
Thanks,
Adam