
Weaponising Information: Enter an Age of Unbridled Hyperconnectivity - Ice_cream_suit
https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/index.cfm/articles/Speed-Kills/2017/06/09
======
letdatboicook
I've been coining a term in my local circles called "Data Terrorism"

Before I dropped out of Georgia Tech, I was going to publish a research paper
explaining my reasoning for "Data Terrorism".

This article didn't touch on my points, I'm focused on weaponizing personal
information. Atlanta is split between two counties, and one of them (DeKalb)
used to have a website which published booking information. This allowed
private websites to crawl the data and setup "ransom"-esque business models
(pay us to delete your entry form our site).

I guess if you're ignorant, you would say "oh, well that's only for
criminals"...but no. They're doing the same thing for all public records.

I recently found out that my 1st grade teacher filed for bankruptcy and
foreclosed on her home around 2010....and her mortgage was around 250k. This
came off a simple Google search of her name.

There is no reason that I should have ever known that.

~~~
seren
> There is no reason that I should have ever known that.

Take into account this is largely a cultural opinion. It is well know that in
Norway, your salary and taxes are public. So you mosty know how much everyone
is making.

It is possible that something unthinkable today is tomorrow cultural norm.

~~~
cafard
In the US for most persons paid by the public sector or by assorted non-
profits, the salary is public information. That's accepted as a given. So I
wouldn't be surprised to be able learn the 1st-grade teacher's salary, if she
is still working. But the details of her mortgage troubles?

~~~
jandrese
Even if that wasn't up on the site, it would appear at the top of any basic
credit report.

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hectorr1
The main implication of hyperconnectivity is the breakdown of physical borders
as the most meaningful cultural boundaries. It has actually been happening for
a while when you consider the rise of air power, ICBMs, broadcast
communications, the internet, etc.

The Army is fundamentally a real estate focused organization - their role is
to take and hold territory.

The Navy is about slow influence - control of the seas allows you can deploy
and retract the threat of physical violence depending on the political
situation.

The Air Force is about the ability to deliver devastating violence on space-
age timelines. But they still require targets.

My cautiously optimistic view is that these forms of violence become far less
relevant when geography is no longer the key dividing line in tribal
affiliation. You will see a rise in low level violence, and that will be
associated with a decline in the primacy of the nation state. But it will
reduce the risk of globally devastating conflict.

~~~
jk2323
"The Navy is about slow influence -" ROTFL. The Navy is only of use to
intimidate some 3rd tear nations and for "mine is longer than
yours"-comparisons.

[http://www.johntreed.net/sittingducks.html](http://www.johntreed.net/sittingducks.html)

BTW, have you heard about the Russian Zircon missiles?

~~~
sien
The Navy has the US's most fearsome nuclear weapons.

Ballistic missile submarines are incredible. Each Ohio class has 24 Trident
missiles with up to 8 warheads each. That makes each one a bigger nuclear
power than everyone except the US, UK, Russia, France, China and Israel.

The Navy's nuclear attack submarines are also fearsome. Much quieter than old
nuclear boats, fast and able to be anywhere and fire cruise missiles.

As you point out carriers are now vulnerable. But they can be held out of
range and aircraft refueled. They can then deploy aircraft a long way away
from them.

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Ice_cream_suit
"At Our Own Peril: DoD Risk and Risk Assessment in a Post-Primacy World
argues....that the most transformative characteristic of the contemporary
environment is the sudden onslaught of threats emerging from the dark
underside of hyperconnectivity.2 It is difficult to exaggerate the degree to
which hyperconnectivity enables—according to the study’s authors, researchers,
and the defense-focused communities of interest and practice it consulted
with—the following:

Hostile or disruptive virtual mobilization worldwide;

The collapse of privacy, secrecy, and operational security;

Penetration, disruption, exploitation, and destruction of data storage and
transmission, as well as the use of data and data-enabled systems;

and finally, The unfettered manipulation of perceptions, material outcomes,
and consequential strategic decisions through the strategic employment of
various forms of information."

~~~
FLUX-YOU
>The collapse of privacy, secrecy, and operational security;

Says the same government still asking for crypto/device backdoors!
Auuuuuuuugh!

~~~
jtbayly
Not sure why this is being downvotes. It was my thought, too.

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JulianMorrison
Some of this is good.

Governments (and their agents) _should not_ have impunity for misbehaviour in
private.

Governments _should not_ have the level of strategic advantage over their
populations that they've been used to. They _should_ feel imperiled by popular
wrath if they earn it.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
> Governments should not have the level of strategic advantage over their
> populations that they've been used to.

But, see, governments _always_ have that. They always have a bigger gun than
you do.

You want to shine light on government activities. That's good, and you are
right to want it. But the cost is that the government will also be able to
shine _even more_ light on your activities.

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hosh
Sounds like the ideas and insights of John Boyd and his disciples (whose ideas
on 3rd generation warfare became the core doctrine of the USMC, and the
disciples wrote a paper on 4th Generation Warfare were largely ignored) is
finally being taken seriously in the US.

~~~
jriot
An article from the Atlantic in 2001 explaining the idea behind 4th Generation
Warfare.

[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/12/fourth-...](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/12/fourth-
generation-warfare/302368/)

------
shahryc
Richard Stallman was prescient

