Thursday, April 18, 2013

The Dawn Of Algorithmic Warfare

Cadet 1st Class Jordan Keefer, center, coordinates cadet efforts to defend their network during the National Security Agency's Cyber Defense Exercise April 17, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo/Raymond McCoy).

Stuxnet And The Dawn Of Algorithmic Warfare -- Jason healey, Huffington Post

Though autonomous, destructive robots are a long-time, hackneyed science fiction plot, for some time, this new kind of warfare has been shifting from yesterday's movie to today's reality. But unforeseen by the imaginations of both headline and science fiction writers, it was not a missile-laden drone or humanoid Terminator that introduced this new kind of combat, but a piece of software. Stuxnet, part of the "Olympic Games" covert assault by the United States and Israel on Iranian nuclear capability, appears to be the first autonomous weapon with an algorithm, not a human hand, pulling the trigger. While the technology behind Stuxnet or other autonomous weapons is impressive, there has been little or no ethical debate on how (or indeed whether) such weapons should be used.

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My Comment: I guess this is the price that we must pay to enjoy the digital lifestyle that we have become accustomed to.

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