Five Doomsday Scenarios for an IT Apocalypse

Cyber Terrorism

Technology drives just about everything we do, and not just at our jobs. From banks to hospitals to the systems that keep the juice flowing to our homes, we are almost entirely dependent on tech. More and more of these systems are interconnected, and many of them are vulnerable. We see it almost every day.

But what if instead of simply a denial-of-service attack against select Websites, the entire Internet suddenly stopped working — or for that matter, Google could not be reached. What if instead of a mere data breach, our financial institutions were attacked by a weapon that could instantly neutralize all electronic transactions? Or if hackers wormed their way into the systems that control the power grid?

If you think these things can’t happen, think again. Some already have occurred on a smaller scale. But we thought it might be fun to turn up the volume and see what might happen — how likely a “tech doomsday” scenario might be, how long it would take us to recover, and how we might prevent it from coming to be.

Tech doomsday scenario No. 1: America goes dark

Tech doomsday scenario No. 2: Wall Street gets e-bombed

Tech doomsday scenario No. 3: Google is gone

Read the full article to find out how likely the events are to occur, what would happen and the chances for recovery.

Five Doomsday Scenarios for IT: Tech Apocalypse – PCWorld Business Center.

Report: Britain to Use Google Against Terrorists

The British government may be deploying a new weapon against terrorists: Google.

According to the tech-related news site The Register, the Home Office’s Office for Security and Counter Terrorism plans to work with “approved” Islamist Web sites to “flood the Internet” with pro-Western viewpoints.

It will train the operators of the pro-Western sites in search-engine optimization, an arcane strategy that basically makes sure your site is near the top of Google, Yahoo and Microsoft LiveSearch results pages.

That way, young British Muslims searching online for say, “jihad,” will get pro-Western Web sites instead of Al Qaeda mouthpieces, or so the theory goes.

“In order to support mainstream voices, we work with local partners to help develop their communication, representational and leadership skills,” an unnamed Home Office spokesman told The Register. “This support could include media training, which can help make their voices heard more widely, and support the development of skills which allow communities to be more effective in debate.”

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