Guardian: US appoints first cyber warfare general

US appoints first cyber warfare general

Pentagon creates specialist online unit to counter cyber attack amid growing fears of militarisation of the internet

The Pentagon is channelling a growing volume of troops and resources into countering cyber warfare. Photograph: Mike Nelson/AFP/Getty Images

The US military has appointed its first senior general to direct cyber warfare – despite fears that the move marks another stage in the militarisation of cyberspace.
The newly promoted four-star general, Keith Alexander, takes charge of the Pentagon’s ambitious and controversial new Cyber Command, designed to conduct virtual combat across the world’s computer networks. He was appointed on Friday afternoon in a low-key ceremony at Fort Meade, in Maryland.
The creation of America’s most senior cyber warrior comes just days after the US air force disclosed that some 30,000 of its troops had been re-assigned from technical support “to the frontlines of cyber warfare”.
The creation of Cyber Command is in response to increasing anxiety over the vulnerability of the US’s military and other networks to a cyber attack.
James Miller, the deputy under-secretary of defence for policy, has hinted that the US might consider a conventional military response to certain kinds of online attack.
Although Alexander pledged during his confirmation hearings before the Senate committee on armed services last month that Cyber Command would not contribute to the militarisation of cyberspace, the committee’s chairman, Senator Carl Levin expressed concern that both Pentagon doctrine, and the legal framework for online operations, had failed to keep pace with rapid advances in cyber warfare.
In particular Levin voiced concern that US cyber operations to combat online threats to the US, routed through neutral third countries, “could have broad and damaging consequences” to wider American interests.
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Was the Ban Helpful?

After reviewing feeds from Twitter, Blogs and other sources, I have come across two points of view that I believe are worth referring to here one by Kadnan and another by Teeth Maestro . (The opinions could be read on the respective provided in the link). This is what I get from the whole ban episode:

1. The ban was imposed that is what was the main reason of contention.

2. The ban, although controversial, managed to reinforce the message “This is the Limit”. Debates are not optimal solution when fanatics decide to do something. You cannot just reason with them. Given the history, I would have been surprised Facebook would have taken a Pro-Muslim step. Zuckberg is still confused as to what “Policies” to adopt.

Case in Point: Hilter Page and Facebook revealing Private Data and Deleting Profiles criticizing Zukberg

Also, I say it helped because Jews are now themselves divided as to how to counter the content offending Jews. See JIDF’s proposed protest against Comedy Central.

3. We have to remember what is in our power and what our strength is. Removing the page was not one.

4. I would be a little crude here, but the ban in isolation seemed like we played ostrich. We just shut ourselves from the negative stimulus. A more civilized and ideal approach would have been to approach through a diplomatic channel, but I would have been surprised if the present government was serious enough to be trusted with that.

Despite the fact we disagree with the method of our protest, the ban accomplished what it was aimed to do, although at an expense. It publicized the issue, helped get hackers deface tens of Draw Day pages (GEO), made Molly Morris plead and scared the moderator to such an extent that he deleted the page.

One way or the other it worked.

So much for courage… Facebook Draw Page Founder on the Run

Aww, did it hurt?!?!

PC WORLD

The Facebook page that led the Pakistan government to ban the entire site was back online Saturday, at least for some users, after it was inaccessible for about two days.

The page was removed Thursday after one of the moderators had his e-mail and Skype account hacked into, and his personal data revealed, according to a post on the page on Saturday. The moderator then got scared and deleted the page, a blog, and e-mails, according to the post.

“This is another scare tactic from the Islamic extremists,” the post said. “We won’t fall,” it added. The moderator who removed the page has however backed out, according to the post.

The page had over 108,000 fans and over 11,700 photos posted on Saturday. Though the Facebook users who created the page put it back up Saturday, some users in India were able to access it for only a brief time before their access was once again blocked. Meanwhile access to Facebook as a whole continues to be blocked in Pakistan.

The page “Everybody draw Mohammed Day!” invites users to post caricatures of Prophet Mohammed, which led a court in Pakistan to order the site to be blocked.

There were also a large number of protests on the streets of Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday, objecting to the page.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Wednesday ordered operators to block Facebook on Wednesday until further orders. It also ordered YouTube to be blocked on Thursday for displaying “sacrilegious” content. It said it had also blocked over 450 links on the Internet that contained derogatory material.

“Facebook has not taken any action on this page,” a spokeswoman for the company said earlier on Saturday. The company had said on Thursday that it would not rule out making the content that Pakistan objected to inaccessible to users in Pakistan.

When dealing with user-generated content on global Web sites, there are occasions where content that is illegal in one country is not, or may even be protected, in another, Facebook said on Thursday. Most companies, including Facebook, approach this issue by preventing certain content from being shown to users in the countries where it is illegal, it added.

The PTA has said it would welcome contact from Facebook and YouTube to resolve the issue.

Dear World… an Open Letter by a Rabbi

War Drums: WSJ all out agaist Pakistan

The Wall Street Journal recently had an article assessing Why terrorists originate from Pakistan, here is an interesting highlight (Guess What, the author is an Indian):

Pakistan’s history of pan-Islamism does not mean that all Pakistanis, much less everyone of Pakistani origin, hold extremist views. But it does explain why a larger percentage of Pakistanis than, say, Indonesians or Tunisians, are likely to see the world through the narrow prism of their faith. The ISI’s reluctance to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism—training camps, a web of ultra-orthodox madrassas that preach violence, and terrorist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba—ensure that Pakistan remains a magnet for any Muslim with a grudge against the world and the urge to do something violent about it.

If Pakistan is to be reformed, then the goal must be to replace its political and cultural DNA. Pan-Islamism has to give way to old-fashioned nationalism. An expansionist foreign policy needs to be canned in favor of development for the impoverished masses. The grip of the army, and by extension the ISI, over national life will have to be weakened. The encouragement of local languages and cultures such as Punjabi and Sindhi can help create a broader identity, one not in conflict with the West. School curricula ought to be overhauled to inculcate a respect for non-Muslims.

Needless to say, this will be a long haul. But it’s the only way to ensure that the next time someone is accused of trying to blow up a car in a crowded place far away from home, the odds aren’t that he’ll somehow have a Pakistan connection.

Wall Street Journal

Wasn’t the Time Square Bomber BALD!!!!!

Raw Talent: Robotic arm controlled by human hand

Talent: Who says we can’t do it – Electric Prosthetic made in Pakistan

Raw Talent: First PC Virus – by Amjad Alvi

Necessity is the mother of Invention

The virus is considered to be the first virus for the PC. At the time the brothers were developing medical software and intended for virus to protect their work from piracy by supposedly targeting copyright infringers only. They were reportedly helped by Muhammad Khaleeq from Sahiwal, Irfan Shahid & Rizwan Chand from Lahore. The brothers lived in Chah Miran, Lahore, Pakistan, and are still in business as internet service providers with their company, Brain Limited.

The first PC virus in the wild was a boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain[9], created in 1986 by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter piracy of the software they had written[10]

Wikipedia