Smart Bomb the Cyber Punk

I think General Chilton is right on this, and we better get a public education policy in gear now before a hell of a bunch of people die to cyber mischief. People just don't realize how vulnerable their individual lives are becoming due to the networked ways of the world. Should military force be an option for cyber attacks? Damn right it should, insert risk into this process or be prepared for the consequences of inaction.

Chilton said even as the Pentagon improves its network defenses against hackers, he needs more people, training and resources to hone offensive cyber war capacity. At the same time, he asserted that the US would consider using military force against an enemy who attacks and disrupts the nation’s critical networks.

“Our job would be to present options. I don’t think you take anything off the table when you provide options” to the president, in the wake of an attack, whether the weapon is a missile or a computer program, he said.

Chilton's worried about cyber attack against battlefield military systems. I'm not, I'm more concerned about what hackers can do when they get a hold of your electronic medical record, or the power grid, and any of hundreds of other systems that can be used to kill civilians directly.

But the real problem is that few people really get it. They don't understand how a hacker can kill someone by obtaining their EMR, or how the power grid can be used to kill people, or how vulnerable systems can be used to create chaos, spread fear, attack the fabrics of social expectations. What's worse, most people will think it is all hype, and won't believe a danger exists with cyber mischief until after we start seeing people die in large numbers.

The military may be a popular target, but it is less vulnerable than the average American citizen.