Re: military strike possible?

From: Barry Fitzgerald (bkfsec_at_sdf.lonestar.org)
Date: 10/29/03

  • Next message: marco misitano: "RE: a basic lesson in security" 
    Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 09:55:37 -0500
To: Meritt James <meritt_james@bah.com>

    Meritt James wrote:

    >
    >Going from the premptive strike philosophy demonstrated in Mideastern
    >countries, what are your thoughts on a military strike against (as yet
    >unseen) "cyberterrorists" a'la
    >http://www.msnbc.com/news/985295.asp?0si=- if there were extranational
    >agents tampering with identified components of the infrastructure to
    >the extent that they were risking human life?
    >
    >
    >
    First and foremost, how do you attack someone when they:

    A) Haven't done the deed and thus, are unidentified?

       -and-

    B) Haven't done the deed and, by any sane measure of justice, are not
    guilty of anything?

    These are the pretenses of the current pre-emptive strike philosophy.
    It's success is, as of yet, in question. Unless its goal was to create
    an escalating security situation in the middle east and to stir up a
    hornets nest, then it was a massive failure.

    That's why the only way that pre-emptive strike works is during the
    first stages of an "attack". The initial transgression has to be
    entered before a pre-emptive strike can be justified. Even then, I
    shudder at the thought of military intervention in cyber affairs. These
    are really criminal matters and thus should be handled by law
    enforcement authorities. The military is a broadsword, not a scalpel.
    Cyber affairs are, by definition, essentially domestic. If you were to
    bring the military into this, that would be like making MP's patrol the
    streets replacing police officers. That's a nice little inroad into
    martial law and martial law is the first step into ensuring the
    existance of a tyrrany. This has been true throughout history and with
    any exception that I'm aware of.

    Basically, no - bad idea, IMHO. :)

                 -Barry

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