Big Brother is Watching

Sadly, the world is a dangerous place. Most citizens don't know what their own government is up to. The big news this week was of a Chinese hacker spy ring that has infiltrated computers in over 100 countries.

Although it is reported as Chinese, and probably is, you don't necessarily know. Here is the key bit from a NY Times article by John Markoff:

Although the Canadian researchers said that most of the computers behind the spying were in China, they cautioned against concluding that China’s government was involved. The spying could be a nonstate, for-profit operation, for example, or one run by private citizens in China known as “patriotic hackers.”

“We’re a bit more careful about it, knowing the nuance of what happens in the subterranean realms,” said Ronald J. Deibert, a member of the research group and an associate professor of political science at Munk. “This could well be the C.I.A. or the Russians. It’s a murky realm that we’re lifting the lid on.”

I found this quote in the article side-splittingly funny:

“These are old stories and they are nonsense,” the spokesman, Wenqi Gao, said. “The Chinese government is opposed to and strictly forbids any cybercrime.”

All governments refuse to admit to their crimes. It is pro forma. Unfortunately, citizens without an alert and determined press are left in the dark. People mourn the "death of newspapers" but part of the reason why they are dying is that most people have figured out that the news was seens as "filler" because the real purpose of the newspaper was to carry advertising. The NY Times is not immune. I can pretty well guarantee you there will be no analysis of what this spy ring means and there will certainly be no follow-up to allow citizens to draw any lessons from this event. Newspapers have devolved to entertainment and fishwrap. That's why they are dying.

The NY Times article doesn't go into much depth. Here is a CBC podcast that interviews the University of Toronto researchers who reported this widespread infection of computers.

The scary bit of analysis in the CBC podcast is the researcher talking about the hidden "cyberwar" that is going on behind the scenes. The Canadian researcher asks the critical question: "What this incident represents for international politics. ... Do we want this environement militarized? ... I think there needs to be a peace movement inside cyberspace because this is a vital public domain."