Ask HN: Are Hackers the New Bogeyman?

2 pointsrubyfan2 comments

With all the hype and spectacle surrounding recent high profile attacks is anyone else noticing the drumbeat of talking heads trying to make the case for government intervention in cyber-security?

Is there more at stake here than premature responses to supposed state sponsored cyber-vandalism?

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In a way yes. It's been for more than a few years though. Many mainstream TV series or movies portray hackers as shady, know-it-all characters that have dark motives. This is just a larger scale depiction of the same stereotype, which is not unjustifiable after the recent attacks. Hacking the PS network and XBOX live, Sony about a movie and celebrities for their naked photos is reasonable to create negative public response. Anonymous were not perceived as a threat by the public because they would never try such cheap publicity attracting stunts.

The best thing about this new bogeyman is almost always unidentifiable or next to impossible to conclusively identify. It's like a virtual enemy that can never be completely stopped which means a new arms race of sorts. The theme I think I'm seeing more of though is government floating ideas like a need for intervention and Internet kill switches, etc.

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