Comments on: A good news / bad news worm

By: Daniel Abella

Daniel Abella — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 05:16:01 +0000

Scary topic to discuss indeed! One question that sparked my interest however is the backups or second line defenses that we have in place or are developing for situations such as this. No doubt counter software has already been developed, but even less talked about is the discussion of what is our back up plan if eventually one day or cyber defenses are breached.

By: Jim Willis

Jim Willis — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 05:32:56 +0000

Thanks for the post, Emily. There is good reason to be concerned over viruses these days.

By: Jim Willis

Jim Willis — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 05:32:12 +0000

Thanks for the post, Danika. I think we are all a little nervous about computer viruses these days.

By: Jim Willis

Jim Willis — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 05:21:39 +0000

Thanks for the post, David.

By: David A

David A — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:16:55 +0000

I’ve always considered what might happen in the event of cyber attacks. With the increasing dependence that we have on digital technology, crashing a few crucial systems can result in chaos. This idea has been referenced many times especially in different media one being Live Free or Die Hard. I’m sure there are others that utilize this as well. I wouldn’t want a cyber attack to happen, and it is very concerning. However, I just go on living life not thinking about it. There is no point in letting fear control one’s life

By: Yi-Fan (Arthur) Shih

Yi-Fan (Arthur) Shih — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:45:30 +0000

I have been very interesting to this article because I have never think about it. I never connected the cyber technology and terrorism together. Before, the computers are not that popular, so people will never think about cyber attacks. However, the computers and laptops are so popular now, so it makes big different then before because people will not be expect about it. I am glad government is already think about it and tries to prepare about it. For right now the technology is too important to everyone. Therefore, if terrorism really attacks by the cyber attacks. There will be a huge damage for the nation because people are not expecting about the others using cyber attacks, so the people have no defense at all. It is really scare thing to be worried about.

By: Brittany F

Brittany F — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:34:07 +0000

Well this article was both intriguing and disturbing at the same time. It is so interesting to see how far technology has advanced and the possibilities that are now coming forth. This kind of technology is really incredible and the genius it takes to create something of this sort is remarkable. However, it is really disturbing to think that with a million dollars or so and access to the Internet viruses like the one used against Iran could become a part of any terrorist group or country’s arsenal of defense. After reading this article I was struck by the idea that it seems like we are moving into a new phases of warfare in which standing military’s become nearly obsolete. With this kind of technology does it really matter what size your military is or what kind of military equipment you have? It seems as though none of these things can or will protect or defer a country or organization from launching a cyber attack.

By: Levi Peterson

Levi Peterson — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 05:15:28 +0000

I found this blog post to be the most interesting yet because I, like the article said, had never even thought or heard about the idea of a physical attack. I think this is because it doesn’t present any “physical” damage to me like most “attacks” that we think of would. It is also interesting to me looking at this from a psychological aspect that people aren’t the least bit concerned or even knowledgable about this because it doesn’t directly effect them (not yet anyways). It is scary to think that someone had the capabilities to plant a worm in a factory that was producing Uranium for Nuclear weapons. I feel like out of all facilities, that is the one type that would make sure to have their security up to par since the material they are working with can be catastrophical when used or put in the wrong hands. I though Danika made a good point by mentioning that those of us with macbooks for some reason think we are invincible and that a virus would surely never be able to take over out laptop.

It is no surprise that no is fessing up because let’s be honest, why would you? Literally nothing good will come from that and who ever the genius was that developed this worm knows that better then anyone else. The scariest part about all of this to me is that if one country can develop it, it will only be a matter of time before another country can develop it. Being that the U.S. is disliked by a few pretty angry countries, this is NOT GOOD NEWS for the American peoples.

By: Danika Norman

Danika Norman — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 23:47:20 +0000

This is extremely frightening to me. I have a Mac laptop and have convinced myself that there is no possible way I will get a virus, however I know this is not true. It should not be surprising that a virus like this exists. With all of the technology that we have these days, something like this is bound to happen. It is actually quite smart and I only wish that the US could be the one to use it. Although a cyberattack would seem not as bad because no one would physically die, people would die on the inside. We so heavily rely on our computers, and technology in general. To have it threatened, or even destroyed seems tragic. Hopefully this virus can be destroyed before it attacks the US or any other country. It was great reading about it and being informed because I never imagined something like this actually existed.

By: Emily Brown

Emily Brown — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:36:15 +0000

The idea of viruses attacking personal computers and corporations is familiar to me, but before reading this post I was not aware of how bad viruses can actually be. It’s so scary to think that someone can take down an entire nation from thousands of miles away simply through computers. When people talk about terrorists attacks, I picture bombs and explosions, not computer viruses, but with the way technology is advancing that may be the direction terrorism is heading. What is even scarier is it is much more difficult to prevent. Attacks like September 11th can be are less likely to happen again due to increased security measures, but no matter how many firewalls are made there will always be people working on a way to get past them.