“Our total dependence on the Internet
shows how the global network is the most important phenomenon in the world
today. There is nothing more powerful than connecting all people in the world
at once and forever. For good or ill, we have barely begun to feel the effects
of this new ‘big bang.’ Prepare yourself if you can.”
The biggest news is not the
content but the means used by WikiLeaks, the notorious and obscure organization
that leaked virtual tons of documents about American diplomacy on the worldwide
Net.
The episode will enter
history more as a landmark in the emerging, opaque and asymmetric global cyberwar, than as a rich collection of truisms and ultra-qualified
gossip that has been revealed so far.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
In this case, who is the enemy
of the United States? The strange Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks? His
supporters? Which supporters? Is he just a figurehead? But
for whom?
One thing we know: WikiLeaks’
attack against the U.S. shows how even the most powerful country on earth can
bleed before a puny - though uncontrollable - enemy.
Assange's incarceration in the United Kingdom on charges of
rape in Sweden, and the siege of sites publishing his tranches of information,
don't seem capable of stopping the leak. And there are promises/threats that there
is even more to come.
Rumors of the impending
release of incriminating documents from one of the world’s largest banks [Bank
of America] has caused their shares on the New York Stock Exchange to drop.
This is a war that’s anything
but virtual, and is fought between people, companies,
organizations, countries or any combination of these actors.
The sites of individuals and
organizations that have in some way helped attack WikiLeaks and put Assange in prison now suffer furious cyber attacks from hackers
who claim to be WikiLeaks supporters. And hackers can range from lonely Internet
knights to militants armed with super computers.
Furthermore, we’re all
hackers. Think about your ability to access, store and disseminate data about
third parties. It's immense. And it continues to grow. The real world is increasingly
converging with the digital.
Our total dependence on the Internet
shows how the global network is the most important phenomenon in the world
today. There is nothing more powerful than connecting all people in the world
at once and forever.
For good or ill, we have
barely begun to feel the effects of this new "big bang."
WikiLeaks is just a foretaste
of what is to come. Prepare yourself - if you can.
Sérgio Malbergier was the editor of the Money section of the Folha de S. Paulo (2004-2010) and the prior 4 years he was the editor of the World section. A correspondent in London (1994), he was sent as a special correspondent to countries like Iraq, Israel and Venezuela, among others. He has directed two short films, A Árvore [The Tree] (1986) and Carô no Inferno [Carô in Hell] (1987). He writes for Folha Online on Thursdays.
