At the Wall Street Journal James Freeman touches on a very interesting point without developing it very much. We now know that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard conducted a major hacking exploit against U. S. universities, companies, and the U. S. government during much of President Obama’s administration and the first part of Donald Trump’s. What influence did the exploit have on U. S.-Iranian relations during the period?
Extra credit question. Are the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the CIA, and the U. S. military incompetent in computer security or just fat, dumb, and happy? In a sensible government some generals and heads of some of those departments would, at the very least, be imprisoned for life at hard labor or, more likely, have a much briefer life in front of a firing squad. Failing to protect us against the Iranians (the Iranians) is treason by inaction.
Couple of reasons, officially admitting Iran is a hostile power means tossing the idea Iranian powers that be really want to be our friends, Iranian compliance with the nuke deal maybe suspect, lastly that they really did damage us. While resignations (and a few quiet sackings) should be offered, lets remember the book definition of treason.
I’m aware of the constitutional definition. Perhaps a better characterization would be dereliction in the face of the enemy. The penalty is about the same.
Yes, believe its an invitation join the board of a mid level defense contractor, talking head status on a second tier cable news channel and maybe a teaching job at a junior college/state teachers school.
Y’know would be nice if the State Department would publish a period list of nations that are enemies.
I don’t know what you are so up in arms about. They have seen the light and will abide by the nuclear arms “treaty” meticulously. I heard it on CNN.
By the way. By rifles or anti-aircraft guns?
Interesting that so much doubt was cast upon the Russians hacking us, but this is accepted at face value w/o question. That aside, not really sure why this means that Iran won’t abide by the nuclear treaty. Russia abided by its treaty even when it was the USSR and was actively financing wars against us.
Next, the idea that anyone was pushing that Iran would be our friend is such a straw man that it ought to win the internet today. No one was pushing that idea, just like no one claimed that China or the USSR would be our friend by having a nuclear treaty. You don’t really need a nuclear treaty with the most invasive inspection plan in history if that country is your friend. You need it because that country is hostile.
Once we get past the stupid, Rosenstein said that the hackers hit universities in many other countries (20?). I think this mostly shows that people don’t take security all that seriously and prioritize convenience. People who actually have jobs working with IT and are honest about it, not just coming to the internet to score points, know that the tradeoffs between these two are difficult. Throw in a workforce with disparate ages and computer skills and it gets worse.
Steve
I don’t doubt that Russians have hacked targets in the U. S. As reported the scope of the Iranians’ hacking dwarfs anything reported about Russian hacking. What concerns me is how feckless and helpless U. S. agencies tasked with security are.
Per Tabarrok, the value of what was stolen with the hacks was worth nothing.
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/03/the-iranian-cyberattack.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+marginalrevolution%2Ffeed+%28Marginal+Revolution%29
Steve