US Launches Cyber-Attack Aimed At Iranian Rocket and Missile Systems (zdnet.com) 141
The US has responded to a recent rise in Iranian cyber-activity and the shooting of an unarmed drone last week by launching cyber-attacks against Iran's military IT systems. From a report: The cyber-attacks were carried out by US Cyber Command with the direct approval of US President Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported on Sunday, citing two inside sources, and confirming the report through a third Pentagon official. US Cyber Command targeted the Iran military's computer systems used to control some of the country's rocket and missile launchers. The systems are managed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran's Armed Forces, which the US Presidency designated as a terrorist organization last year. The AP reported that the US cyber-attacks were the second go-to measure after President Trump backed off from launching a military strike against Iranian military and radar bases last week, on Thursday.
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Killing people is also a criminal activity, but there are quite a few exceptions when you're the military.https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/06/24/1845214/us-launches-cyber-attack-aimed-at-iranian-rocket-and-missile-systems#
War is about hurting people and breaking things. (Score:3)
Hacking is a criminal activity
War is about hurting people and breaking things - until your opponent (or you) is willing to swallow his pride and come to terms, or hurt and broken so bad he's unable to continue.
War is about wholesale harm, dealt out by governments against their opponents. Crime is about retail harm dealt out voluntarily by individual or small groups of (mostly civilian) "bad guys" against whatever is handy, for their own gain and/or enjoyment.
Different rule sets apply.
Unless you agree with
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The question seems to be whether a cyber-attack is an act of war - therefore becoming justification for more direct physical attacks.
The concept of 'just cause' talks about the degree of harm caused by the act (of cyber-espionage). If those cyber-attacks are limited to military facilities, and don't directly cause l
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A dictator has no more right to lord over millions of de facto hostages than a bank robber does over a handful.
Freeing the hostages is not a criminal activity, nor is it for a free democracy. There are only practical considerations, not ethical ones in the big picture.
Re:Hacking is a criminal activity (Score:5, Insightful)
Done by the government, it is an act of war. They're doing everything they can to get Iran to fire the first bullet, to justify "obliteration like you've never seen before".
Re:Hacking is a criminal activity (Score:5, Funny)
Will it be Shock and Awe again? Because that one wasn't really worth the price of admission. I mean, the trailer and first act were cool, but the movie really dragged on in the second half and the tickets were insanely overpriced.
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Back in the days of Shock and Awe [youtube.com]
We came to liberate them all
History was the cruel judge of overconfidence
Back in the days of shock and awe
Back in the days of "mission accomplished"
Our chief was landing on the deck
The sun was setting on a golden photo op
Back in the days of "mission accomplished"
Thousands of bodies in the ground
Brought home in boxes to a trumpet's sound
No one sees them coming home that way
Thousands buried in the ground
Thousands of children scarred for life
Millions of tears for a soldier's wi
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Are you living in an alternate reality? Iran did fire the first bullet, blew up two ships shot down a US drone etc.
The US is not the bad guy here, in Iran they shout death to America and fund terrorists. They are possibly second only to North Korea in terms of bad guys.
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blew up two ships
Lies...
shot down a US drone
Airspace violations. These drone operations are a danger to civilian traffic.
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outside of Iranian airspace.
Yeah, ok.. Can't argue with the faithful...
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I am also going to connect the dots and suggest that the ships were taken out by U.S. drone, so when the Iranians then down a U.S. drone, but only the American people (some? most
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Please explain...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/13... [cnn.com]
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Maybe you should explain...
video footage that it claims shows an Iranian patrol boat removing an unexploded mine from one of the vessels' hulls....
Well, if they claim it, it must be true, right?
I can't believe you're serious...
Re:Hacking is a criminal activity (Score:5, Insightful)
We don't have evidence that they're responsible for the bombing of those ships, and they say our drone was in their airspace (which given the amount of surveillance we do in the region isn't hard to imagine). But, you want us to "believe" war-mongers like Bolton who have been trying to get us into a shooting war with Iran since GWB first took office. Those fucks never lie. How's that search for WMD's in Iraq going, btw?
And yes,they chant "death to America." Look at all the worthless sociopaths in this country pushing for war with them, and that's been going on for more than 20 years. If the US has a "right" to have a missile program, then EVERY other country in the world has the same right.
If we hadn't stuck our noses in their business 65 years ago, and installed a sociopathic murderer to rule their country, odds are none of this shit would be happening now..... but obviously stupid fucking idiots just can't seem to learn that.
Re: Hacking is a criminal activity (Score:1, Insightful)
You are aware that it used to be a peace treaty the US president cancelled. Now the US is enforcing a trade blockade that affects every part of Iran including medical. This blockade is enforced on European and Asian companies by threat of being prevented to trade with US companies.
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The treaty was never approved by congress, so it was just good wishes by any president to adhere to it, until they don't want to anymore.
And blame the US for problems those thugs bring onto themselves. Isn't using sanctions the route to go so there isn't 1. war and 2. turning a blind eye to it because oil?
No matter which way, kibitzers have something to bitch about.
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"The treaty was never approved by congress, so it was just good wishes by any president to adhere to it, until they don't want to anymore."
The US is only one of many parties in the treaty, and they're the minority, and their pathic bullying and save the children and democracy pleadings are just code words for dam the suffering as long as a few of us get our profits.
"And blame the US for problems those thugs bring onto themselves."
No, blame the US for the what the US brings onto them. It's like the bully tha
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Google Iranian hacking, and you'll find they've been at it for a long long time. But I'm sure you think the US should sit by and take it.
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Yes, I'm sure your "evidence" is irrefutable... Google? That's funny. Try to be real, just for a moment.
Wanna buy a watch?
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So, you're a lazy misguided troll. Got it.
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"Troll"? I'm afraid you are projecting there. You're the one spreading unverified propaganda, not me. Your "evidence" is bogus. I guess you learned nothing from the previous lies that got us into unwarranted warfare.
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Just saying.
I'm sure, you know people are saying, and you Slashdot readers know this better than anyone else, that it was probably a mistake.
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So is owning bombs...unless you happen to be the military. Just saying...duh!
Oops. (Score:1)
Our malware caused a bunch of missiles to be unintentionally launched. Sorry about that, Israel.
Re: Oops. (Score:1)
Being ok with that would make you a sociopath.
Thankfully Trump is president, avoids war (Score:1, Insightful)
Can you imagine what Hang 'em High Hillary would have done if she were president right now and a U.S. drone was attacked?
Hell she invaded Libya and overthrew it just as a favor to Europe.
Trump being a businessman instead of a career politician actually values human life, which is a change from decades of presidents who just let the military do whatever.
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No such thing in the United States. The president should be selected by popular vote, but that's not how it works. Millions of people stay home or vote third party because they live in a state like Alabama or New York and the outcome of their electoral vote is a foregone conclusion. Hillary's margin of "victory" comes from California and New York - two states that Trump didn't bother to campaign in because he knew he had no chance of winning. A popular vote would ch
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No, the apportionment of the electoral college votes was largely a compromise made to appease both free states and slave states. Slave states were mostly agrarian, and had less population, especially if you didn't count slaves, or only counted them at 3/5s of their population. But it was not meant for state size & population disparities like we have between Wyoming & North Dakota compared to California
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Not true. It was made by elitist pricks to give more power to slave owning states and further reduce the chance that the unwashed masses (which at the time was even limited to property owners) would have the final say in their own governance. That was then.
But this is now, and a person living in a remote hamlet is going to get his political news in the exact same way as someone living in Manhattan: online, broadc
Re:Thankfully Trump is president, avoids war (Score:4, Insightful)
Trump being a businessman instead of a career politician actually values human life
I have no idea what kind of drugs your on, or whether you're just a complete fucking idiot..... or both.
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If Hilary had been elected this situation would likely have not arisen to begin with as she wouldn't have withdrawn from the Iran nuclear peace deal. She might have stirred up even bigger shit storms but this one probably wouldn't have happened.
enough big talk; show the proof (Score:5, Insightful)
That's been the news for about two days now- where are the details? The US claims that Iran has been attacking oil tankers- not a shred of evidence is offered. Now the US claims to have made a 'cyber attack' and still no evidence.
We fell for the 'weapons of mass destruction' and a thousand other lies and now they expect us to just take their word for this?
Will this change how anyone votes? (Score:5, Interesting)
Heck, even Ben Shapiro's [youtube.com] audience told him to go get stuffed on the War Mongering.
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that's the real question. It might actually. I know people that voted for Trump because they didn't want war with Iran, and Hilary was running as a war hawk. The last batch of leaks indicate Trump backed off attacks because he didn't think he had public support. You do know that war is the Republican's Economic stimulous package, don't you?
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The last batch of leaks indicate Trump backed off attacks because he didn't think he had public support.
What leaks?
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The last batch of leaks indicate Trump backed off attacks because he didn't think he had public support.
What leaks?
I thing he meant that the boss had to take a leak.
Re: Will this change how anyone votes? (Score:1)
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Dictatorships do not have rights in any ethical sense, so quit facetiously arguing as if they do.
"Murderous kleptocrats have a right to defend themselves against free democracies if the democracies object to war acts."
Wtf dude.
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I know people that voted for Trump because they didn't want war with Iran, and Hilary was running as a war hawk.
Your dumb ass still believes that how you vote will change things. The same exact things would be going on if Hilary had been elected. Oh well, the system is rigged to keep useful idiots like yourself to keep playing the game so that there is something to talk about. Just like all the race baiting and abortion crap. Gotta keep things stirred up so you completely and utterly miss the important shit.
Think about this for a minute: Everything (TM) you know is an illusion and a lie.
It is funny watching you behav
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Fixed. Iran hasn't attacked another country for centuries.
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Fixed. Iran hasn't attacked another country for centuries.
Taking an embassy hostage is an act of war.
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An embassy used to coordinate the overthrow of the country's democracy? An embassy that was then used for decades to support the installed dictator, who was fond of torturing dissidents? That embassy?
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Yes.
It plays well with his constituents, even if it leads to worse results. (Actually, especially if it leads to worse results, since Iran will be given all the blame in the propaganda.)
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And kind Iran removed just what from the hull then?
God damn you are stupid. What's the Iranian equivalet of Russian shill Ivan?
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"not a shred of evidence is offered. "
Have you bothered to even look? No. Because if you had, you'd have seen it.
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Your "evidence" is a fabrication, and most other governments agree. Only those currying favor are siding with the Americans. You seem to want war. We'll have to assume you wanted the Iraq/Afghanistan war also, despite the lies presented. I wonder why that is.
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You've clearly polled "most other governments". Not. You claim they're lies w/o a shred of evidence which proves you're full of shit.
Re:enough big talk; show the proof (Score:5, Insightful)
Amazing that they did not find WMBs (Score:2)
How hard would it to be for someone to find a drum containing something (say an industrial solvant), call the press around, and make a great show of donning protective gear and blowing it up without letting anyone actually determine what it was.
I think that the military let the Bush administration down on that one. They knew what they were supposed to find, and the failed in their mission to find it.
It actually gave me a bit more faith in human nature. People may be stupid, but they are reasonably honest.
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Pissing away capabilities for nothing (Score:5, Insightful)
Use them now for petty reasons and they are denied to you when you actually need them. Not just specific vulnerabilities subsequent systems hardening against further remote compromise.
The assertion Trump was only made aware of casualty estimates at the last minute is a lie.
The notion Trumps only choices from the very beginning were either killing 150 people or blowing up nothing at all in response is a lie.
Trump not only lied about the account of what happened he lied about the constellation of choices available to him.
Using cyber attacks entirely for political cover so you can be seen as "doing something" when in fact you decided to do nothing is a dumb policy.
Exactly: This is horrible strategy (Score:2)
Then.... you no longer have that specific capability to cyberattack when you do need to do it.
Obviously those doors will get closed and locked.
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Totally agree. However my guess is that the story, or at least the facts of the story is total BS just put out there to make the war-monger crowd feel like something was done. But even still, if it makes our adversary start double-checking their systems for vulnerabilities, then that's a shame on us.
The strategy makes perfect sense (Score:2)
For people in the DoD that develop these things. They need to justify their budgets just like everyone else.
With a bit of luck the Iranians will retaliate now that we have legitimized the process. The USA is riddled with soft targets like barely secured dam gate controllers.
That would lead to a massive increase in the cyber warfare budget and plenty of promotion for all concerned.
I do not think think that many people are cynical enough to try to cause people to be killed just to increase their budgets. B
Mostly wrong, partly right (Score:2)
Use them now for petty reasons and they are denied to you when you actually need them.
I sort of agree but how do you know they'll be able to figure out how to stop what happened? That's quite an assumption to make, like saying once your grandma falls for a phishing scam it could never happen again.
You assume Iran actually has the capability to properly harden systems...
The notion Trumps only choices from the very beginning were either killing 150 people or blowing up nothing at all in response is a lie.
You
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Use them now for petty reasons and they are denied to you when you actually need them.
I sort of agree but how do you know they'll be able to figure out how to stop what happened? That's quite an assumption to make, like saying once your grandma falls for a phishing scam it could never happen again.
It's not necessary to succeed all that is necessary is for there to be a reasonable probability of success.
You assume Iran actually has the capability to properly harden systems...
Again not necessary to be right only for there to be a reasonable probability of the capability being eroded.
You can't predict the future with certainty. All you can do is make educated guesses and minimize risk with coherent policy.
You claim that but what pray-tell could he blow up without endangering anyone?
I don't believe the test should be whether anyone would be endangered. I believe the tail of possible outcomes should be proportionate to what actually occurred.
For examp
Re:They've got nothing anyways. (Score:2)
So its true, Iran is going to attack the US.... (Score:3)
... even if the US has to do it themselves.
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Pearl Harbor did not work out well for Japan.
It hurt both sides, but definitely hurt Japan more than it hurt the United States.
Lol, u think there was permission (Score:2)
U so silly. T not in loop. Told afterwards.
Weirdos (Score:1)
Re:It isnt (Score:2)
John Bolton approves this Slashdot message (Score:4, Insightful)
Rank propaganda from the media - portraying the United States as responding to Iranian provocations, when it's the other way around.