Cyberwarfare and cyber attacks

[thorbiorn]

Today, there was an article on RT commenting on a recent cyber attack by the US on Iran. US launched cyber-strike against Iran while backing away from military attack Reading this, I wondered if there ought to be a thread about cyberattacks, or possible cyberattacks, or suspected false flag cyberattack or even just "natural" mishaps og hacking events, as they occur. A search returned these threads on the subject of "cyber" something:
Israel backed by army of cyber-soldiers: COINTELPRO from 2006
US warns of al-Qaeda cyber threat 2006
Propaganda: Calling extremists: a cyber sting awaits from 2007
Web Attacks Expand in Iran’s Cyber Battle from 2009
Twitter, Iranian Reformer Sites Hacked by ‘Iranian Cyber Army’ from 2009
US To Stage Massive Cyber Attack War Game On February 16 from 2010
Iran accuses US of cyber warfare from 2010
U.S. Cyber Command prepped to launch from 2010
FBI cyber cop says 'very existence' of US under threat from 2010
NSA head confirmed as chief of US cyber command from 2010
Cyber Command: We Don’t Wanna Defend the Internet (We Just Might Have To) from 2010
Ship to Gaza website in ‘cyber attack’ from 2011
Cyber Attack -- Target US from 2014
Cyber espionage from 2015
THE False Flag? Global nuclear facilities 'at risk' of cyber attack from 2015
"Cyber Security" myth destroying every level of our individual security from 2017
Over 4.5 billion cyber attacks on Russian institutions by NATO from 2019

The article on RT that I mentioned at the beginning includes these paragraphs:

Offensive cyber-strikes against Iran reportedly disabled its computer systems that control rocket and missile launches on Thursday night, when the military attack was called off by President Donald Trump.

President Trump approved the cyber offensive against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Although the attack came after Iran had shot down an American surveillance drone, it had reportedly been months in the making. The strike was conducted by US Cyber Command in coordination with Central Command, which is in charge of US military activity in the Middle East.

A week before the attack, John Bolton, the hawkish presidential adviser and arguably the major cheerleader in the feud with Iran, revealed that the US is ramping up offensive cyber operations against its adversaries. The list included the usual suspects of Russia, Iran, China and North Korea.

It almost reads, as if the drone was send in to provoke an excuse for a reaction, because Trump says ‘major additional sanctions’ on Iran to come Monday

US President Donald Trump has said that “additional sanctions” against Iran are aimed at stopping the country from developing a nuclear bomb, but warned that military actions against Tehran remains on the table.

“We are putting major additional Sanctions on Iran on Monday,” Trump wrote on his Twitter on Saturday afternoon. He immediately added that he looks forward to the day when “sanctions come off Iran, and they become a productive and prosperous nation again.”

The action of the US appears as reminiscent of violent movie featuring a cruel medieval feudal lord or a caricature of a vicious slave owner.

The cyber attack on Iran is also interesting considering this June 17 event when, just a few days prior when something unusual occured in Argentine: Total blackout in Argentina and neighboring countries... a warning?
Dominance in cyberwarfare is possibly a new black mail tool, that could be employed, also against allies if certains situations occur. No need for inhumane and costly carpet bombing of civilian areas, just reduce the internet in selected areas of the globe and those areas are back to the stone age in a very short time.

From another recent article: ‘They will pay a price’: Bolton says US has expanded ‘offensive cyber operations’ against Russia

Under a new presidential directive, the administration has “fundamentally changed the way the United States government makes decisions about offensive cyber operations,” Bolton said, adding that the new approach has improved “capabilities across the board to engage in more offensive cyber activities.”

Though Bolton said the measures were intended to “avoid conflict,” the hawkish White House adviser couldn’t resist some public sabre rattling.

“The purpose … is to say to Russia, or anybody else that’s engaged in cyber operations against us, ‘you will pay a price,'” he said. “We will impose costs on you until you get the point.”

Perhaps Vladimir Putin is aware of this as he has said: Putin to Russian children on Knowledge Day: 'Whoever leads in AI will rule the world'

"Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

However, the president said he would not like to see anyone "monopolize" the field.

"If we become leaders in this area, we will share this know-how with the entire world, the same way we share our nuclear technologies today," he told students from across Russia via satellite link-up, speaking from the Yaroslavl region.

"monopolize" this field appears to be exactly what the US has in mind. The US might not be the only contestant, but it is very active, notice also the recent row over the Chinese Huawei company, a competitor of American IT companies.