The " Hacker " Menace !

The computer - and it's by-product, the " Internet " have changed the world in a few decades.  It is so entrenched in our lives now that if it suddenly ceased to function our world would come crashing down. It runs the traffic lights that allow us to drive safely. It is the only means of pricing goods we buy at the supermarkets.  It runs the delivery systems that provide electricity and gas to our homes - and without computers our news services and all forms of communications would go silent.

It is also a vengeful weapon in the hands of those who bear us ill will.    We live in the age of the " Hacker " - and the recent actions of just one person led to the loss of $ 136 billion on the United States stock market.
This person hacked into the website of respected news source Associated Press and issued a bogus news item that claimed that two bombs had exploded at the White House , and that President Barak Obama had been injured.

The Dow Jones immediately plunged a hundred points on the expectation that such bad news would bring a stock market negative reaction.   Those same computers are geared to make massive transaction moves in mini seconds and they react automatically to pre-set instructions monitoring price movements.   The losses incurred will be keenly felt by investment houses that manage the superannuation of millions of ordinary people.

There is no doubt that the computer and the systems it controls has emerged as a weapon of war.  It can be used to cripple an opposing country's military defence systems and throw all forms of commerce into total disarray.    Government sponsored hackers work to improve their skills and practice by invading the communications and commercial networks of target nations.  The " spy game " has developed into a move and counter move to protect the functions of commerce and government.

Here in Australia, a 24 year old hacker was caught breaking into a government website and unlawfully modifying data.   That offence carries a maximum twelve years gaol term - and it will be interesting to see how seriously a court treats a hacking case if he is convicted at trial.

It is thought that this hacker is a member of an organization named Lulzsec, composed of freelance hackers who are part of the international " Anonymous " hacking syndicate that carries out audacious  hacking raids in support of it's agenda to implement social change.

It seems that our way of life is vulnerable to attacks on the very systems that deliver the benefits that computers and the communications age has bestowed on the world.   Each year our reliance on the computer reaches new bounds.    It is a worrying thought that if any nation's computer system was shut down by an attack by another country - or a very clever malignant individual - the victim country would be plunged back into the dark ages.

Unfortunately, that is a risk that we must take.    There is simply no alternative !