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WHO WILL DROP CYBER-BOMB?
By Frank Whalen
Is the federal
government laying the groundwork for total control of the Internet, the
greatest invention for advancing the free, unfiltered flow of
information since Gutenberg’s printing press?
Could acts of sabotage, such as an “Internet nuclear bomb,”
be deliberately implemented or allowed to happen in order to cripple
global computerized systems like the ones found on Wall Street and in
the military
in order to convince the world that the Internet must be more tightly
controlled?
In a Jan. 10 interview with Russia Today, noted forecaster of business,
socioeconomic and political trends Gerald Celente says cyber-warfare by
private criminal groups and governments could be used to “bring
down entire financial systems. You can blow apart, without ever having
to light a fuse, a whole stock exchange. . . . [E]very
computer-connected industry or service is a potential target.”
A futurist with an impressive track record, Celente, who founded the
Trends Research Institute (TRI) in 1980, has predicted that in response
the government has been working to limit Internet-based communications
and shut down computer networks.
Much of this started on Feb. 16, 2010, when a cyber-warfare doomsday
scenario was examined in an exercise known as “Cyber
Shockwave.” The simulated event was organized by top firms in the
military industrial complex and began with a corrupted cell phone
application being innocently downloaded during a college sports event.
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In real life, computer networks were never affected. But in the
demonstration, the phony “virus” spread like wildfire to
computers, collapsing the entire Internet and endangering energy grids
as well as the financial and commercial sectors.
Following that exercise, newspapers across the country blared headlines
that the government was unprepared to deal with the rampant
contamination of vital computer networks across the country.
As a result, Washington bureaucrats stepped into action and the Cyber
Security Act was introduced. According to the online technology news
outlet, CNET News, this legislation “allows the president to
declare a cyber-security emergency relating to non-governmental
computer networks and do what’s necessary to respond.”
Since then, there has been a glut of news stories describing the
“threat” posed by cyber-criminals and the methods by which
the U.S. government plans to keep all Americans “safe.”
Unfortunately, all such proactive and “protective” measures
involve limiting
or even eliminating legal access and communication by the masses.
Controversial websites maintained by this newspaper, THE BARNES
REVIEW—or any group that does not fall in line with
the government—could be taken over by federal authorities
and shut down.
But despite the government’s best efforts to clamp down on the
Internet, says Celente, there has been pushback by young, educated
people around the world who have refused to be silenced.
Sounding an upbeat note, Celente says, “Every time [government]
comes up with a new way to [censor the Internet], a new way to get
around it is born.”
Celente predicts a form of cyber-originated popular resistance. He says
today’s youth will start this worldwide populist cyber-revolution
using a Wiki-Leaks style of reporting, in what he called
“Journalism 2.0.”
But questions remain: Would more participants in a popular
cyber-rebellion equate to a greater perceived threat, thereby
fast-tracking the government’s Internet control mechanisms to the
detriment of constitutional freedoms? Could the government purposefully
allow cyber-criminals to attack banking institutions to scare the
populace into accepting more stringent Internet controls? And how can
we ensure cyber-truthseekers are not grouped in with cyber-criminals?
Frank Whalen has
been a radio talk show host for the past 17 years, and worked as a consultant for Maxim magazine.
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(Issue
# 5, January 31, 2011)
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