Threatening the Cyber Attackers, Really?

I’m not surprised at all that something has happened to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) website. They had it coming when the Prime Minister threatened the cyber attackers. I wonder did the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) fail to properly educate the PMO, or the PMO failed to properly receive their education?

I’m giving the IDA, and perhaps the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the benefit of doubt that they do understand the nature of cyber terrorism and attacks by these activist groups. It would be extremely worrisome if otherwise.

But what the Prime Minister said is kind of worrying.

Really, you want to hunt down the Anonymous? What makes you think the FBI or the NSA don’t also want to get at the Anonymous? Do you think we can do better than the FBI or the NSA?

It’s not difficult to hide your identity when you’re online. Of course, some people don’t try to do that. Others may like to hide behind a pseudonym, but they don’t do so with the kind of conviction to escape the attempts of more convicted people to find their identity.

Now, if someone fails to preserve his anonymity against those most determined to expose him, then clearly he’s not Anonymous. Yes, pun intended.

The attacks so far have been quite harmless, and hardly left any impact. I think we should all be thankful for that. There is no need for our government to go into a challenge with our cyber attackers, and I sure hope this will not escalate into a match to see who’s more afraid of whom.

This cyber war is not like fighting a guerrilla war. You don’t know who you’re fighting or where the fight will be. You’ll only know there was a fight, because you woke up one morning to hear about the damage from that fight.