Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal-Picasso (allegedly)

Just 1 hour ago, someone wrote this

Just some time back, I wrote this

https://decisionstats.com/2013/08/02/how-to-be-a-better-writer/

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But as they say–

Karma is a bitch

The world’s largest internet companies are either in China or USA (except for a few in Japan)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_Internet_companies

China’s strategy has helped it in the following-

1. protect it’s citizen’s data from foreign data collection
2. helped safeguard the industrial secrets of it’s own corporations
3. create a domestic ecosystem that benefits it’s own entrepreneurs and investors
4. created basic infrastructure for resisting cyber warfare (et Stuxnet virus)

Rest of the non Chinese World has now the following ignominy-

1. Most of profits from IPOs, Ads flow to US companies
2. US Govt arm spy in active collaboration with US companies including gathering industrial secrets for trade negotiations
3. Almost zero non Chinese non American Internet Infrastructure
4. built a monopoly of California led companies across rest of world
5. led to brain drain of top technical talent to USA
6. Great ecosystem of investors and tech in USA- to the detriment of all other countries

Internet is the new opium, and after getting the rest of the world addicted- USA law makers are abandoning core principles like net neutrality and opting for unrestricted warrant less spying , as well as preparing inroads for cyber attacks

China is correctly safeguarding the future interests of it’s citizens- while the rest of the world is now a cyber colony mostly occupied by USA

Quo Vadis?

Countries have no friends, only interests

Viral-

Definition-(of an image, video, piece of information, etc.) circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another.

1. Channels– Some content goes viral on some particular channels (like 4chan, or Tumblr) while gets ignored on other social media channels
2. Content  – the type of content should match the audience type (technical or non technical) and channel used for dissemination (like Pinterest or Tumble for images)
3. Celebrity– Getting a celebrity (say with high enough influence score) endorsement greatly helps viral content to reach beyond initial network
4. Credibility   or Network Effects- People find it easier to like or share content which is already proved to be a viral content or beyond a certain threshold.  Some people would like the content if it already is very successful.
5.   Customers  -Content consumers can be influencers, sharers, innovators, or passive. It is critical to meet a certain threshold of certain customer types to hit viral counts.
6. Context– One man’s viral content is another man’s spam.
7.  Circulation – How easy is it to circulate the content? to share it or show appreciation? to add customized comments? This affects viral nature- though it is mostly a function of hosting website than the content itself

\bonus the 8th C – Cuteness and Catiness – On the internet cute babies and cats rule in a duo-poly

We are trying to hypothesize realistic scenarios based on existing or near by technologies between the two extreme and popular notions of cyber warfare- that promoted by Die Hard 4 and those who think it is only about bringing down databases.

A Cyberwar is like any war – it will have stages

Reconnaissance and Spying- Not just port sniffing or spear phishing, it will identify the primary and secondary targets in the first and second wave of attacks. It will include both civilian and military strategic targets as well as tactical ones.

For example- communication systems of military infantry and other ground forces are comparatively hardened , but completely disabling the military hospital infrastructure of a country is likely to have more psychological and impact effects. This could range from industrial machines to critical hardware all linked up nicely

The communication system of emergency services is more easily disrupted digitally and can cause more damage than military communication. A simple attack on phone systems for emergency calls (i.e 9-1-1 or 3-1-1 for West or 100 , 101, 102 for India)

This could also include databases on individuals to be targeted including their civilian family members. If you hack the Senator’s daughter Facebook account, trust me it is easier and just as much distracting than hacking the Senator’s website. A list of possible databases to be hacked have been written about here and here

Add oil producing grids, dams, electricity grids and water supplies for civilians to this list and you can see how even messing with the digital diagnostics of the infrastructure can impact the efficiency of enemy response.

So the next time you wear that Pirate Bay T Shirt and participate in the masked rally, know that you are not just protesting war you are unwillingly and unwittingly participating in one.