If the oil pipeline hack had not been a group of mercenary thieves ...

[Kablooie]

but had been an attack from an antagonistic country that wanted to damage the US, what would have been the result?

America could retaliate with force but also would remain without oil with no guarantee of getting the system back online.

It doesn't take massive resources to implement an attack like this so it doesn't have to come from a major power either.
An Al-Quaeda type group might be able attack the US this way with devastating effect.

I hope a large portion of the defense budget has been shifted from weapons of violence to beefing up digital security in all infrastructure systems. I'm sure it will be expensive because top notch computer security specialists command large Silicon Valley salaries but if the country is to be protected that's what it will cost.

[TheRealNorth]

1. I agree

Maybe its time for some money to missing from all the banks in Cyprus that the Russians hide their money in.

While we in there, we can also check if the former guy has an account.

[TomCADem]

2. How is this different from Bin Ladin and Afghanistan?

Afghanistan did not officially launch the 9/11 attacks. Instead, they just allowed Bin Ladin to operate with impunity. Worse, this could very well be tied to a foreign actor using an intermediary to attack the U.S. given the sophistication in attacking infrastructure.

[CrackityJones75]

3. I really don't want another war. Do you?

[RockRaven]

4. Antagonistic countries often use proxies, such as mercenaries, too. It's not always clear who

is ultimately behind an action or what their motive was. Not in the moment anyway.

If an antagonistic country is confident in their obfuscation, they can use parties who appear to be thieves to cause real damage with a decreased expectation of retaliation.

[Captain Zero]

5. Russia, not a doubt in my mind, using proxies to get back at the sanctions Biden imposed.

I think I have read elsewhere this is a Russian operation.
It's their first hack at the 2024 election as well.
Trying to ramp up the smears against Biden.
Fine the extortion is paid.
I say we use cyber capabilities to WIPE OUT any cyber capabilities this emanated from.

[brush]

6. Cyber security should be a big part of the proposed infrastructure bill...

that Joe Biden is trying to get passed. Manchin, Sinema and the republicans should be pressured and hounded mercilessly until they get on board to pass it.

There's no better example of our vulnerability and need for immediately movement on passing this bill. And it was just reported that a 5m ransom was paid to the cyber thieves so of course other bad actors will now follow on other vulnerable cyber targets like banking, the stock market, the power grid, and who knows where else.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Well, even though the cost is more'n likely being less than the cost of one F-35, Congress will...

in it's inimitable way, trash it because it costs too much.

More to the point may be that the work will not be spread around through that many congressional districts. And that congress doesn't know nearly as much about cyber security as it thinks it knows about things that go *boom*.

[Chainfire]

9. This hack was a warning of what could be done.

I believe it has Putin's footprints all over it.

[Moostache]

10. We have wasted TRILLIONS on large weapons for decades...

Really, there is not a single congressional district without some form of military spending and weapons research or manufacturing or parts manufacturing, etc.

The "defense" budget has for years been the only successful "jobs" program from Washington D.C. The re-allocation of that money and the re-purposing of the spending should have been a priority for a very long time already.

The real threats are never the ones we are prepared to face or spend money on to prevent...

Prior to 9/11, we KNEW of terrorist cells and plots and bombs and Tom freaking Clancy even wrote fantasy books about crashing jets into Washington D.C. (Debt of Honor circa 1994). When it happened, what did we hear?

"No one could have expected THIS!"

Prior to the dotcom bust, when ANYTHING with a ".com" attached to it was receiving funding and was creating bizarre offices with games and sofas instead of desks and working...no one was prepared for the bottom to inevitably fall out when people began to realize how fanciful and fake much of it actually was...

"No one could have expected THIS!"

Prior to the real estate bubble and Great Recession, people with $2,000 a month income were being approved for interest only loans at $500 no principle monthly payments on 5-year ARM loans, and of course:

"No one could have expected THIS!"

Prior to leaving office, the Obama team TOLD Trump's team of the playbook for handling a global pandemic, delivered it to them, spent time trying to get them to act...then the jackass in charge started casting doubt on science and played himself up as some kind of uber-genius expert with ideas like ingesting disinfectants and shoving light "in there, from the inside"...

"No one could have expected THIS!"

Our mass media are largely ratings whores. Once profits became essential to news divisions, journalism was sacrificed to sensationalism and content was squeezed to smaller, shorter attention spans until people actually just gave up and started getting NEWS from Facebook posts and fucking 'tweets'.
Our government, despite some good intentioned members, is largely a graft and swamp of liars and thieves - if it works at all, the 'rules' and procedures and sheer gall of one side to bend or break the same rules makes it a joke, an incompetent, seized up from inside joke.
Our military is bloated and ineffectual against the real threats to the nation - fighter jets, bombs and air craft carriers are USELESS against a gang of thieves protected by Russia and operating out of seedy hotels? or terrorists plotting bombings and attacks from mountain caves?
Our economy remains extractive and doomed to eventual collapse on fiat money and a paradigm of infinite growth within a finite system and supply of resources.

Even today, with evidence in front of our eyes, studies piled up to the ceilings and insects, birds and fish dying off by the TRILLIONS...no one is acting on global climate change with anything close to enough urgency.

Its all as the owners want it to be. And sadly, those owners have done the math, consulted the actuarial tables and decided that the course of action for all of these things is clear - MORE FOR ME, AND LESS OR NONE FOR THEE.

Trying to restructure this global con game MIGHT have been possible if it was started in earnest in the 60's. Knocking off JFK, MLK, Malcolm, Medgar and RFK made sure that those things stayed off the front burner...
Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Trump - all had ways to make sure no one watched the real issues too closely.

Bill was reckless in his personal life and it was pounced on it to basically make Hillary an issue on healthcare and then his own personal failings as a way to kneecap his final 3 years.
Barrack was disciplined and upright in his personal life, a model citizen and statesman; a truly aspirational president and the GOP found its racist core was still potent and managed to steal a SCOTUS seat, shut down any legislation and seized power over census and redistricting as well as turning the Senate into its current state of complete useless loggerhead.

I am having a real hard time dealing with the current nonsense with Sinema and Manchin as GQP-lite insurance policies for McConnell and his assholes.

This car is speeding towards the cliff, with half the people in it making sure the accelerator is nailed to the floorboards and the steering wheel is locked in place. We're in a lot more than a little trouble now...

[Pas-de-Calais]

11. Hacks occur on any systems weakest point

Internet exposed access points.
Password for passwords on access points

Software NOT being updated in timely fashion
Etc

Retired Fed IT here.
While working we could ‘see’ ip’s associated with certain countries sitting/waiting just outside our firewalls.
Waiting
Hoping
They were ALWAYS there,,,,,,