Viruses of Mass Destruction

[Kyp [LDEV]]

Excuse me, say that again?

That's right, that's what I thought too... dangerous stuff. I encountered this at work, indirectly of course, our systems weren't affected, thankfully. In any case, an interesting concept if indeed a very very dangerous one. This takes the concept of the "firesale" mentioned in a few movies (most recently I think, the last die hard movie).

I'm not one to provoke such thoughts on people, but this is one thing that we really need to be wary of, since it could cause devastation for any country's respective militaries and could lead to destruction and chaos. Really not things most people want to think about, especially with many in America constantly talking about terrorism a lot of people are tired of hearing it. I'm usually one of them, because I'm not scared of that. However, I am scared of the concept of bringing computer networks down around our ears since it could inhibit so many other things, such as many of the things we all take for granted (especially here in America).

anyway, I just thought i'd "share with the class" and see if anyone else had heard or read anything about this.

And as much as I loathe to use a blog as a source, this is a computer security blog that also discusses the concept, it predates this confirmed virus though. CSO Online - Firesale

[C Del[IS]]

The only answer is good old fashioned physical security. No computers at a power plant should be connected to the internet; no hardware should go in or out. They'll just have to prohibit workers from bringing in their own machines, phones, cameras, mp3 players, flash drives, etc. Of course I couldn't care less when this happens to Iran, but we should be prepared for when it comes around and kicks some western ass.

[Heirkusan]

Just another weapon of destruction, but is more instant. Tbh, I haven't cared because there is enough nukes in the world to destroy life for the most part on the earth. This is more of a sucks for you if you get this, but least the world isn't destroyed/unlivable on. I rather have this then nukes/nuclear power plants. You 'can' live without internet, but you can't live without 'clean' air. :/ This is more or less another toy to watch out for, and what this does is mainly takes advantage of these other toys to cause destruction. Sooo, its basically a kid that tries to take toys from a other kid so he can use it to attack Ken and Barbie and hurt/kill them. If you want to make a comparison. I wouldn't worry about it to much, not much you can do right? I've heard of Gamma Rays, Solar Flares etc destroying us, pretty much to sum it up, something will happen in one life time or another probably in which things with blow be it 2 years to infinity years etc.

[Kyp [LDEV]]

Just another weapon of destruction, but is more instant. Tbh, I haven't cared because there is enough nukes in the world to destroy life for the most part on the earth. This is more of a sucks for you if you get this, but least the world isn't destroyed/unlivable on. I rather have this then nukes/nuclear power plants. You 'can' live without internet, but you can't live without 'clean' air. :/ This is more or less another toy to watch out for, and what this does is mainly takes advantage of these other toys to cause destruction. Sooo, its basically a kid that tries to take toys from a other kid so he can use it to attack Ken and Barbie and hurt/kill them. If you want to make a comparison. I wouldn't worry about it to much, not much you can do right? I've heard of Gamma Rays, Solar Flares etc destroying us, pretty much to sum it up, something will happen in one life time or another probably in which things with blow be it 2 years to infinity years etc.

Aha, but if you're not used to living off the land, total computer network failure for the government (aka a firesale) would result in life as everyone knows it, ceasing.. since nothing in the outside world would function normally, at least temporarily)

Everything in this day and age just about is powered by a computer somewhere along the line. Granted this isn't likely, but this virus is nasty enough to really make it a significant threat.. especially if someone manages to get all the code and change it to make it self-replicate. Then we could be looking at a Skynet

[Osiristet]

There's too many people in the world anyway. There needs to be some chlorine added to our gene pool somewhere to thin out the herd. So, gamma ray bursts, epidemic plagues, total failure of power grids... bring 'em on. It will suck and I might even fall victim to the chlorine but there it is.

As for these sensitive sites... they need to take a queue from Admiral Adama. No inter-connected networks to mission critical systems. Cylons couldn't install a virus to the Galactica so it was able to FTL away. DOD already has restrictions on flash drives on their internal networks to prevent internal installations.

I'm by no means advocating for a kill-switch on the internet. I'm mainly saying that if you want to bake a cake then you need to have an oven mitt handy to pull out it out of the oven when done. Or be ready to enjoy your cake while your hands are bandaged.

[Whitelighter]

As someone who has worked in the oilfield/gas pipeline industry for a little over 10 years, it is not as simple to blow one up as you see in the movies. There are safety measures in place to contain it in the event of an eruption/leak. So blowing a power plant up that way is possible, its also unlikely to be capable of doing it from a remote area. You could of course shut one down, most of the turbines and internal valves are electronicly controlled. But there would be more effective and time effecient ways to do that.