RE: The difference between a monkey and a gorilla

["Paul Melson" <pmelson () gmail com>]

I would tend to think that the wider sense of "culture" is a major factor if
not the single most important predictor, in the outcome of a 'cyber war.'[1]
However, I'm not talking in terms of offensive capacity as much as defensive
responsibility.

That is to say, I am of the opinion that Western countries stand to lose the
most in such a conflict, not because they are unarmed, but because there's a
lot more surface area and control is relatively decentralized.  To put it
simply, big fat countries with big fat technology budgets and big fat
commerce channels have big fat rumps that make for big fat targets.

Similarly, I tend to think that the decentralized nature of networks (be
they physical, logical, or both) and also markets lends itself to the
'e-blast radius'[2] being larger than any single country, region, or
culture.  That is, if A attacks X, Y is likely to be affected by the attack,
so in actuality A is attacking X and Y, though perhaps to different degrees.
Therefore - and perhaps this is stating the obvious - the efforts for
securing against or surviving network attacks on that scale have to cross
those lines.  Something that generally doesn't happen even at where static
directives like laws, standards, and recommendations are concerned let alone
disclosure, cooperation, coordination, or technology sharing.  There is a
somewhat prophetic paper from UN University on market forces and security
that draws a similar conclusion.  Quick read, but worth it. :)
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/marketforces.html


PaulM  (listening to Sisters of Mercy, "Vision Thing")


1 - I dislike this term because there will be neither cyborg nor human
casualties in a 'cyber war.'  It only persists because it sounds better than
"government-sponsored international DDoS attack."

2 - I made this up on the spot.  I think it approximates the absurdity of
[1].


-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: [Dailydave] The difference between a monkey and a gorilla

Another factor is the culture of the country.  Does it favor exploration?
Is there a history of invention and research? Is there an ethic of rebellion
that allows progress in spite of laws like the DMCA which outlaw certain
areas of research?  Perhaps a country with lawless cyberspace is beneficial.

I am undoubtably Americentric in my experience.  But it would seem to me
that people in the US and similar countries have an advantage in the
cyberwarfare of the future.

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