New Cold War

[El Cid]

The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and the United States and their respective allies.

We now seem to be having severe tensions that started between the USA and China, with other countries joining in.

 

In the latest escalation the USA  has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, Texas. On top of these tensions we have a worldwide recession, cause by COVID19.

[ECCOnoob]

Well plenty of people seem to keep chirping about how things were so much better in the past and we are well and truly going back to the 80s so let's celebrate....   Tory government, recession, mass unemployment, tensions with Russia and the far East.....  Pass me the shoulder pads and big hair. 

 

On a much more serious note it is a very new kind of cold war.  This one will be cyber not nuclear.  After all why go to all the trouble and expense of nuclear weapons when you could do twice as much damage to the world and impact people's lives simply by say, knocking internet off for half a day.  Maybe something even more simple like corrupting all EPOS bank card transactions for a few hours. 

 

We westernised pampered population don't like days been disrupted even the slightest as we have seen with the outbreak of this virus.   We demand a network to be connected on tap, available and instantly accessible whenever we so choose.    Physical destruction is soooo last decade.  A click of a mouse can do so much more. 

[Guest]

It's rather more than just clicking a mouse. Takes a bit more than script-kiddies running freely available tools to do what you suggest. That said, sometimes it doesn't when someone hasn't bothered to secure a website/service/etc  

[El Cid]

2 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

On a much more serious note it is a very new kind of cold war.

How can we have any type of war when many countries are interdependent on each other?

Countries no longer grow most of their own food, people holiday in far off places and ordinary folk own property in more than their own country, billionaires jet all over and and have interests in various countries.

Edited July 22, 2020 by El Cid

[tinfoilhat]

34 minutes ago, El Cid said:

How can we have any type of war when many countries are interdependent on each other?

Countries no longer grow most of their own food, people holiday in far off places and ordinary folk own property in more than their own country, billionaires jet all over and and have interests in various countries.

It's been like that for years and it's not stopped any wars.

[ECCOnoob]

1 hour ago, probedb said:

It's rather more than just clicking a mouse. Takes a bit more than script-kiddies running freely available tools to do what you suggest. That said, sometimes it doesn't when someone hasn't bothered to secure a website/service/etc  

But you raise the key point there.  The fact is that kids in bedrooms with a modest amount of knowledge of programming could potentially cause damage if the big conglomerates are completely lax or incompetent with their with their security.   Translate that to some kid in a oppressed state or poverty stricken country with an axe to grind and monetary gain and to me it's not beyond the realms of possibility they would have sufficient skill to inflict damage.  

 

Looking to the future,  the next generation of kids in bedrooms are going to be even more IT savvy with many adults actually running the companies knowing less about IT stuff than the the kids do.  

 

I consider myself to be reasonably young.  I'm just about scraping within the brackets of what they call a millennial but I didn't have a mobile phone until I was 19.  I never touched the laptop until my late 20s and I'd never done such a thing as a video or webcall call until I was over 35.    Compare that with my 8-year old nephew with a smartphone, own computer in his bedroom and who has been on more Zoom and Skype calls with his friends then I have in my entire working year.   I work with college students who can touch type and input data faster than some of my experienced secretarial staff.  I see toddlers bearly out of nappies being entertained and operating iPads.  

 

As I say, not all cybercrime and cyber terrorism is from huge shady organisations.  Never underestimate the power of an individual with the right motive and incentive.  

59 minutes ago, El Cid said:

How can we have any type of war when many countries are interdependent on each other?

Countries no longer grow most of their own food, people holiday in far off places and ordinary folk own property in more than their own country, billionaires jet all over and and have interests in various countries.

People did all that during the original cold war period. 

 

I don't see what's changed.  As others said, there's been multiple wars and still conflict going on as we speak.

Edited July 22, 2020 by ECCOnoob