Was Capitol riot also an organized cyber attack against the United States?
As an observation in the light of the recent information about stolen computers and information from the unfortunate and shameful attack to Capitol January 6th last week, one must say that the not-organized attack, as described in the media, was probably extremely well-organized.
There is likely some foreign power acting as background organizer of the attack, hoping and wanting to have access to the data, and now it surely has it. By spreading misinformation, trolling and inciting such an attack, the success must have come as a complete surprise and the results must be much more than planned. This cyber attack is behind a smokescreen of high magnitude violence and penetration to the physical premises of Capitol. Nobody knows exactly who were inside Capitol, and how many of them were actually foreign operatives. Those who now have access to government computers and whatever information they contain.
One may rightfully question the participants’ patriotism, as they were more or less enabling the treasonous exploit by enabling the theft of IT equipment and thereby the cyber attack against the US, its government, citizens and the democratic society. Even if the invaders think not being traitors themselves but acting in good will and righteous cause, that is not the case. They and their gullibility have been heavily used. If any of these intruders should be furious about anything, it is not the alleged theft of votes that actually didn't happen, but the using of people – himself or herself – as a tool to attack against the very country they wanted to protect. Taking their loyalty for the country and eventually using it against them.
Only future will tell us how many similar cases we will have. Many, I guess. The freedom of speech is no longer standing on the podium in Hyde Park Corner and speaking to hundreds of listeners, but instead much more: releasing messages in social media platforms for billions to read instantly. No more publisher responsibility, and everyone is a publisher. Is that kind of freedom really necessary? With freedom there should be responsibility, but where is that? Where is the responsibility of individuals when they take initative and action based on just innuendo? How can we ensure that the agitators will be identified and face the consequences?
Clearly, not only the platform providers from technical perspective, but society itself has a long list of questions to solve, now that the world is as much digital as it is physical, and digital being open to all and without any self-criticism in advance.
Personal disclaimer: anything I write, release, comment or publish in LinkedIn, is my personal choice, solely based on my personal view and opinions, and aimed at raising discussion about important, usually privacy or security related topics. My views may or may not represent my employer's or any former employers' views. My employer has neither persuated nor discouraged me to publish whatever I choose to publish.
Cyber Security | Managing Director | Certified Board Member
4 年Intersting perspective on what the worst case could be in the Capitol hill riot.