"Zero Days"

 "Zero Days covers the phenomenon surrounding the Stuxnet computer virus and the development of the malware software known as "Olympic Games.""  wiki on the film

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I watched this yesterday and I urge you all to watch it.  The level of detail concerning the roles of NSA, Cyber Command, the CIA and Israeli Mossad Section 8200 is surprising.  Something that is not well understood by the public are the various roles of these groups in the covert operations world.  In this case the US military originated the idea of a cyber strike when under pressure from Israel and the Bush White House to find an alternative to air attacks on Iran.  Robert Gates when SECDEF decided that because Iran was not included in the AUMF, DoD had no legal authority to conduct an offensive cyber attack on Iran.  For that reason Gates felt that CIA with its legal authority to wage peace time war in covert actions should be the command element in attacks of the Iranian nuclear program.  As a result CIA people would stand behind the operators at NSA/Cyber Command to order each specific attack.

Fascinating.  pl 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Days

Comments

[Robb]

I watched it the other evening and highly recommend taking the time to watch it. The fascinating (frightening?) thing to me is that unlike physical weaponry cyber weapons are low cost and easy to assemble and the knowhow is relatively (as compared to nuclear) easy and cheap to obtain. The impact however can be just as devastating. Shutting down the grid for weeks would wreck havoc on so many levels. That alone has me double checking my earthquake supplies and extending the time frame needed for critical supplies.

[JohnsonR]

But never forget that any Iranian attack against US or Israeli interests anywhere is an entirely unprovoked outrage against a peaceful nation.

[Ghostship]

How effective was STUXnet? Nobody but the Iranians really knows and as far as I can see they have never publicly revealed what damage if any was caused to their centrifuges. But what physical damage it caused was probably irrelevant. It just confirmed to the Iranians that their civilian nuclear program was going in the right direction and that the "facts on the ground" or the bargaining chips they were creating to use in negotiations with the West to ensure their right to a civilian nuclear program under the NPT were effective.

[The Beaver]

Oh My

Carly Fiorina being considered for DNI !

[Babak Makkinejad]

If press reports are to be believed, the attack against Saudi Aramco computer servers, causing several hundred million dollars worth of damages, was an Iranian retaliation for STUXNET.

These are all one-shot things, if it does not kill the other side, it will leave him stronger.

It just makes the cost of eventual settlement higher.

[The Twisted Genius]

I look forward to watching this. I am surprised that so much information is available. Normally these things are buried deep within the bowels of secrecy. I was also shocked when General Cartwright spilled the beans on this. He's been around these operations for years and should have known better.

[The Twisted Genius]

Robb,

These weapons may appear to be low cost and easy to assemble, but they are actually very difficult to research, construct and employ properly. Stuxnet caused some significant collateral damage.

[Babak Makkinejad]

The capability has been revealed, no use in covering it up.

[Cee]

JohnsonR,

Do I detect sarcasm?

[FourthAndLong]

Very interesting movie. And people wonder why Obama had such a chilly relationship with Netanyahu.

[ex-PFC Chuck]

God help us. She did such a great job at HP.

[Outrage Beyond]

I saw the film a while back and thought there was an unfortunate amount of pro-Zionist tilt to the whole thing. There were a number of segments where various Mossad agents were allowed to give their point of view, and without any critique, rebuttal, or contrary point of view.

Additionally, whenever the film showed the Iranian side, it was always without any translation or subtitles. We see film of Ahmadinejad speaking before a throng in Persian. Unless you know Persian, you have no idea what he's saying. The heavy-handed implication is that he's saying something very bad and scary. The classic stereotyping of "The Other" and hardly balanced.

[Stumpy]

The capability of flying your enemy's drone might be interesting.

[Peter]

Beaver, I hope that is not true. Fiorina would be an unmitigated disaster.
She got caught using some private eye to do some cyber intrusion to her own board of directors who dared speak out against the way she almost destroyed the once mighty Hewlett Packard.

Fiorina will say and do anything for power, like most politicians, but she is really bad at it.

[Thirdeye]

Well, I guess her experience spying on Hewlett-Packard employees then driving the company into the ground might count....

[Ghostship]

The Iranians are annoyed with the United States for failing to uphold its side of the P5+1 bargain so they're creating new "facts on the ground". As for tearing up the P5+1 agreement, Trump should probably reconsider talking even about it.
"Iran to develop nuclear propulsion for maritime use, cites US 'violation' of deal'"
https://www.rt.com/news/370132-iran-nulclear-marine-propulsion/

[Anna]

Very peaceful: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-usa-jet-carter-idUSKBN1411ZH
"U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the planes [F-35 fighters] were critical to maintaining Israel's military edge in the region.

[Babak Makkinejad]

Israelis are supposed to embody the Manichean Good; thus Australia, New Zealand and a number of other Fortress West countries are supplying Israeli assassins with blank Australian, New Zealander, etc. passports.

Fortress West recognizes no shame nor boundary in its adherence to the Cult of Shoah.

[Babak Makkinejad]

I think the idea there is that one needs 90% enriched uranium for naval vessels.

[robt willmann]

This is an article from Wired magazine from 2011 on Stuxnet. Wired's articles are often kind of breezy, but they sometimes have some good detail--

https://www.wired.com/2011/07/how-digital-detectives-deciphered-stuxnet/

Here is a 17 minute talk given at Stanford University about Stuxnet--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDH4m6M-ZIU

[Robb]

Yes, employing them properly is the trick and we did this well with v1. Researching and constructing these take brain power and know how but overall investment required is less than say nuclear weapons.

[GulfCoastPirate]

Interesting documentary. Thanks for the heads up about it.

[charly]

You don't need 90% enrichment for naval vessels

[JohnsonR]

Indubitabubly.

[Cee]

All,

I watched that tonight. Powerful.
Afterward turned to what passes for news to hear Obama threatening Russia for hacking and digging a hole for Trump! Unreal.
Do these people want Civil War?

https://youtu.be/zcBZR4PGWxw