A New World Of Hacking
TimeWatch Editorial
July 27, 2016
On Sunday the 24th of July, 2016 just before the opening of the Democratic Party Convention in Philadelphia, there was a bombshell announcement made revealing that Deborah "Debbie" Wasserman Schultz, Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, had sent e-mails that reveal that she was biased regarding those candidates who were competing in the Democratic Primary. As intriguing as that might be, since it actually led to her resignation, and an over the top negative reaction by the supporters of Sanders, what turns out to be even more engaging is how the information was attained and revealed. Owen Matthews wrote an article in Newsweek Magazine, May 7th, 2015 which describes a most powerful weapon use by one of America’s greatest competitors.
“In hacker jargon, it’s called a “cyber-to-physical effect.” It’s when a hacker reaches out from the virtual world into the real one—often with catastrophic consequences. The Americans and Israelis pioneered the technique back in 2009 when the Stuxnet program infiltrated Iranian computer systems and wrecked thousands of uranium-enriching centrifuges. But now other players—especially the Russians and Chinese—are getting into the game of remotely using computer networks to destroy infrastructure and threaten human lives. Last year, according to a report by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security, a blast furnace melted down in an unnamed industrial city in Germany after a digital attack on its control systems, causing “massive damage.” Owen Matthews, “Russia's Greatest Weapon May Be Its Hackers” Newsweek, May 7th 2015.
Notice that according to the paragraph above, who pioneered the technique. But things have been seriously upgraded since the early beginnings of hacking. In fact the United States of America has experienced some serious vulnerability in the recent past.
“It nearly happened in the United States too, when unknown hackers succeeded in penetrating U.S. electrical, water and fuel distribution systems early in 2014. While old-fashioned, relatively low-tech data hacks make headlines—for instance, high-profile break-ins over the last 12 months to the email systems and databases of the White House, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense and Sony Pictures Inc.—what has security officials seriously worried is the new and dangerous world of cyber-to-physical infrastructure attacks.” Owen Matthews, “Russia's Greatest Weapon May Be Its Hackers” Newsweek, May 7th 2015
While the recent revelation regarding the Democratic National Committee e-mails have captured the attention, the larger and by far the more important issue is the global hacking that has developed. Not only has personal privacy disappeared, but national privacy no longer exists.
“Last year hackers gained access to thousands of Sony company emails and threatened further damage unless a film lampooning North Korean leader Kim Jung Un was withdrawn from cinemas. “We spoke to [one of the hackers] via an intermediary,” says Carr. “Even after Sony lost 80 percent of its network capability, the hackers were still operating. That shows an incredibly high level of technical ability.” Owen Matthews, “Russia's Greatest Weapon May Be Its Hackers” Newsweek, May 7th 2015
All of this has already been used as the motivation for further invasion of privacy, globally. It is truly astounding, the amount of information that is collected and stored on every citizen in every country.
“Privacy today faces growing threats from a growing surveillance apparatus that is often justified in the name of national security. Numerous government agencies—including the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and state and local law enforcement agencies—intrude upon the private communications of innocent citizens, amass vast databases of who we call and when, and catalog “suspicious activities” based on the vaguest standards.” Privacy and Surveillance, American Civil Liberty Union
So where will all this lead? Revelation 13:17 - says: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
So in order that such a prophecy can be fulfilled, the surveillance of the world will have to be complete. Those elements of control that are already in place will ultimately be used as an enforcement mechanism. The Electronic Frontier Foundation website confirms the absolute completeness of the information gathering.
“The US government, with assistance from major telecommunications carriers including AT&T, has engaged in massive, illegal dragnet surveillance of the domestic communications and communications records of millions of ordinary Americans since at least 2001. Since this was first reported on by the press and discovered by the public in late 2005, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has been at the forefront of the effort to stop it and bring government surveillance programs back within the law and the Constitution.” NSA Spying on Americans
It is clear that the Electronic Frontier Foundation will fail in its attempt to “bring government surveillance programs back within the law and the Constitution.”
Cameron A. Bowen