Digital warfare; my opinion
Posted Nov 2, 2019 06:27 PM
This is an opinion piece in regards to the recently released news that claims that North-Korean state hackers hacked an Indian nuclear power plant facility. In case you haven't heard about that, you can find more information here:I don't know if you've heard about it, but there's this thing called the doomsday clock. It's a depiction of how close we are to self-destruction thanks to the technologies we developed. Granted, this is a very controversial topic, but I just want to address the fears and feelings I have towards state hackers. More on the doomsday clock later.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not for or against state hackers. The reason is quite simple. State hackers have existed before the computer we know today was even invented. Back in World War 2 for example, state hackers were used to decrypt secret or hidden messages in order to gain intelligence that could be potentially useful.
However, there's always a limit to how far you can and should take things and hacking a nuclear power plant, no matter what government you're from, is something that is quite simply unethical in every single way. If successful and if it causes a nuclear meltdown, you might as well have dropped a nuclear bomb. This is exactly why the doomsday clock is important. If state hackers start messing with nuclear installations, I think we should really add another minute to the clock. Maybe that will help to wake people up from what in the world they're even doing/thinking. That is, in my opinion, the purpose of the doomsday clock. To wake people up, to tell them that if they keep this up, they'll destroy themselves. We're well on our way now, if you ask me.
My opinion and message is quite simple. Stay away from anything nuclear. Don't hack nuclear power plants, don't cause or attempt to cause nuclear meltdowns because before you know it you'll start another war that just might be the end of us all. I know how silly this sounds, but I don't want to hold a gun and kill my fellow man because a state hacker/state official somewhere decided to cause a nuclear meltdown. What's the point of any of this? It's not always because you find a vulnerability that you should take advantage of it. If you have any humanity inside of you, you'd report the vulnerability as soon as possible, especially when nuclear power plants are involved. We already know how dangerous nuclear meltdowns are, we already know the destruction it can cause and having politics involved might just be enough to be the end of us all.
I don't care if you're a North-Korean hacker, a US hacker or not even a state hacker at all: Be human. Don't just follow orders.
