# So, uh, has digital WWIII just started? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 8, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-has-digital-wwiii-just-started/724596 "2015-07-08T17:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-has-digital-wwiii-just-started/724596/21 "2015-07-09T20:06:03Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Locally we also had 10,000 people without power. This happens in Chicago every time there’s a storm with any wind at all, though it’s a hardware problem, not a software problem. All software may be terrible, but the electrical grid in the US is also held together with spit and baling wire. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-has-digital-wwiii-just-started/724596/22 "2015-07-09T20:28:36Z")
I hear the FAA is looking for[this guy](http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me7xbfFiyS1rhk593o1_400.gif) for the UAL blackout Stolen from Redit ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-has-digital-wwiii-just-started/724596/23 "2015-07-09T22:59:17Z")
> [@Bert\_Nobbins](#): > > "The Patriot missiles, stationed on the Turkish side of the border under the Nato pact, were briefly taken over by an unidentified hacker, according to German civil service magazine Behörden Spiegel. " > > This seems to imply that the missiles were connected to the Internet, so any hacker could have a go at them. Surely that can’t be true? > > Likewise, I am always puzzled when people warn that nuclear power stations, water supply, etc etc. Could be sabotaged by internet. Unless I’m missing something, surely the answer is > > _ **Don’t Connect Them to The Internet!!** _ You’ve never worked for the government, have you? If the Unilateral Nonparallel Societal Transformative Radiation and Toxicity Containment Deliberations Act of 1987 says in section 3, subsection 6(a), paragraph 5, subparagraph 2(b)(iii) that nuclear power plants will be connected to the internet, then they will be. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-has-digital-wwiii-just-started/724596/24 "2015-07-10T03:03:16Z")
> [@XT](#): > > The US government hack a few weeks ago was almost certainly China from what I’ve read. The US government isn’t saying it was China, but somehow everybody is sure it was a country with a billion people that borders Russia, if you get my drift. The Chinese government is a bit on the sensitive side when it comes to accusations of malfeasance. If the US government did accuse them, the guys in Beijing would throw a hissy fit, and probably ban the sale of iPhones or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-has-digital-wwiii-just-started/724596/25 "2015-07-10T03:21:39Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > The US government isn’t saying it was China, but somehow everybody is sure it was a country with a billion people that borders Russia, if you get my drift. > > The Chinese government is a bit on the sensitive side when it comes to accusations of malfeasance. If the US government did accuse them, the guys in Beijing would throw a hissy fit, and probably ban the sale of iPhones or something like that. If they don’t want folks to think it’s them then they shouldn’t be so blatant about it. 😛 Heck, looking at firewalls lately, just about every government agency gets hit by Chinese URLs or IP addresses nearly every day. They aren’t even trying to hide it (not that it would be that easy, unless they wanted to do their hacks from outside of China. that Great Firewall of China™ thingy sort of makes it easy to track their outbound traffic after all). Of course, it COULD be private groups operating from within China and hacking the US government servers (as well as just about everyone else). [QUOTE=gotpasswords] What I’ve seen was that after NYSE was down, WSJ was simply overwhelmed with people looking to see what’s happening. Just an innocent capacity issue resembling a DDOS. [/QUOTE] Yeah, when I wrote that the preliminary WAG was DDOS attack, but that was while it was happening. From what I read today they are saying what you are…it was sort of a naturally occurring DDOS ‘attack’ brought on by events. ---
**Author:** ![SeniorCitizen007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@SeniorCitizen007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeniorCitizen007)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-has-digital-wwiii-just-started/724596/26 "2015-07-11T20:09:20Z")
I attempted to access [http://www.jasmine-thompson-fanpage.net](http://www.jasmine-thompson-fanpage.net) on a computer in my local library here in the UK-- it was blocked ‘WEAPONS!’ Reason? Think of Thompson sub-machine gun! I’m engaged in a cyber war with a computer program that is studying my surfing activities! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-has-digital-wwiii-just-started/724596.md?page=1)