I guess this is news to some people, but we've long known the
leading proliferator of malware in the world is the outfit headquartered in
Langley.
I cannot say for sure of course but with the recent kerfuffle
regarding what some consider to be a international (and possibly fake)
ransomware attack... one either perpetrated by amateurs or state-actors who had
no intention of cashing-in on Bitcoin... the first thing I thought of was
Langley or one of their many proxies. The NSA is of course another possibility.
I know the usual culprit is supposed to be Russia but it
seems unlikely they would attack Rosneft. And thus the media reverts to villain
#2- Pyongyang.
It very well could be the North Koreans.
But then again, which government has been uncovered as
seeking to hoover-up all the Earth's data? Which government is attempting to
track every computer on this planet? Which government has the capability to
manage such data?
These are things to consider.
Did not the Bush administration seek to implement Total
Information Awareness (TIA) under the leadership of Admiral Poindexter? While
the programme was officially shelved, just over a decade later we learned that
it was implemented in full force. The Snowden leaks which already seem to have been
almost forgotten told us that the government was actively engaged in malware,
hijacking computers, appropriating data and creating backdoors.
The only people who would be shocked or upset by the Wired
story are those that have been asleep for the past 4-5 years.
The laptop story is interesting but it points to something
much bigger. Maybe apart from the Deep State reassertion of power that took
place in 2001, perhaps the great story of the 21st century is that
ostensibly free and liberal Western society in a relatively short time due to 'advances'
in technology and the fear of terrorism has given up the bulk of not only its
civil rights but its social norms and values. Things like privacy once
treasured and respected are all but dead.*
The deep and profound changes that arrived with the advent of
digital society left the Establishment scrambling. Unable to re-boot the
Internet as some desired, they have effectively sought to re-write its
narrative and re-wire its inner-workings.
The nature of society itself is changing and in many ways
imploding. Is this just another chapter in the 'advancement' of technology?
Maybe so. Maybe I (and others) am completely mistaken. But I wonder... I wonder
what the next generation will bring. Only in early 'Middle Age' I already feel
like a fish out of water. The society of today is not the one I grew up in. I
know someone born in the 1920's could say the same about the 1970s. I guess the
question is... while the social changes in the mid-twentieth century were
dramatic, are the changes taking place today with regard to technology,
privacy, the state, individuality, morality and host of other issues actually
more profound? Have we taken a quantum leap so to speak?
In some ways we've forgotten or failed to understand just
what was happening in the period from say 1955-75. It makes one's head spin and
yet in my opinion a case could be made that say 1995-2015 may in the end have
laid the foundations for an ever greater cultural transition and shift in
values. Undoubtedly every generational transition wrestles with the changes but
I think we're on the cusp of something. I think we'll look back and see the
couple of decades after 2001 as being a watershed.
See also:
I don't agree with everything the author asserts but it
provides a good summary, raises pertinent issues and is worthy of
consideration.
* The term has become meaningless. During a recent interview
former tennis star John McEnroe was all but dragged by an NPR reporter into
making some controversial comments. Serena Williams was obviously offended and
quipped that he was invading her privacy. This is coming from a pregnant woman
who just appeared completely naked on the cover of a magazine, an immoral tart
who has brazenly conceived out of wedlock, broadcast it and now exposes her
shame with abandon?
Privacy? Is she insane?
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