We are told to accept Globalization as
inevitable and beneficial. Just trust us, says Congress, as they pass
free trade act after free trade act, and pass exemptions to polluting
transport companies to lower costs for container ships. It may be
that most Americans are impoverished in the short run, says Congress,
perhaps for the first 50 or 100 years, and are thrown out in the street giving up all hope of having a home or family, but ultimately no doubt
Globalization will benefit all Americans and not just the rich, they promise. Really. One day.
But what if all those cheap devices
that flood our shores contain Trojan Horses that are secretly working
for our destruction? Sound far fetched? Maybe not.
We believe that Americans are in denial
about the extent of cybercrime and cyber-espionage that is going on in the world. Russia in particular seems to be the home of cybercrime
whereas China seems to be home of cyber-espionage, although all
countries dabble in all the black arts, perhaps.
Many Americans have come to rely upon their home appliances. What could be more trustworthy than a coffee maker that helps us wake up in the morning? Or a blow dryer that dries our hair? What about a blender or food processor? We rely on these instruments of modern convenience and it is inconceivable that these items could be turned against us. They are as American as Apple Pie even if they are no longer made in America in order to increase the profits of the wealthy.
Many Americans have come to rely upon their home appliances. What could be more trustworthy than a coffee maker that helps us wake up in the morning? Or a blow dryer that dries our hair? What about a blender or food processor? We rely on these instruments of modern convenience and it is inconceivable that these items could be turned against us. They are as American as Apple Pie even if they are no longer made in America in order to increase the profits of the wealthy.
Now something has happened that may yet wake
Americans out of their complacency, and it comes, ironically from the
Russians. They have been discovering for some time covert cyber
penetration devices in home appliances manufactured by that
supposedly "friend of cheap manufacturing", the People's
Republic of China, and they have gone public with this shocking news
just recently.
Home appliances of all types including
irons, blenders and even the beloved toaster oven have been found
kitted out with the most devious of devices, including and especially
WIFI hardware designed to penetrate any unsecured WIFI within 600
feet or so of the appliance. Once such a WIFI is found, the
innocent-looking home appliance transforms itself into a
network-based spy (or "Snowden" as they are known these days) and tries to penetrate any computer it can find
on the local network in order to insert viruses (virii?) into the
defenseless computers. Of course these home appliances phone home to
their masters in Beijing as well.
Are these innocent looking home appliances in fact criminal devices from the East?
The Russians believe that the primary
purpose of these devices is to find and make robot slaves for Spam
delivery, but we don't buy that. The Chinese are guilty of the
largest espionage program in history in their attacks against the United States and have totally raped this
country of both military and industrial intellectual property. The
theft is vast, persistent and hostile and we are just now starting to
calculate the costs, billions of dollars, of changing various
military-related apparatus (e.g. electronic warfare) based on the knowledge of this theft. I
propose that countries only do this level of espionage if they
believe that they are going to war.
Now on top of the previous attacks, we
learn of the Russians under attack by home electric appliances. Are
Americans also under attack in the same manner? How can we tell? I
call on the President and Congress to pass a Homeland Appliance
Defense Act and investigate this potential threat to our freedom at
once.
For one article on this emerging
crisis, see here.
In his October 24, 2013 show, Jon Stewart concludes a segment on worldwide diplomatic reactions to NSA spying revelations with a gag spy toaster, festooned with microphones and a camera.
ReplyDeleteThis appears to be a trending meme! The NSA is actually sponsoring a "Toaster Wars" hacking contest:
Carnegie Mellon, NSA seek high school hackers
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2013/Carnegie-Mellon--NSA-seek-high-school-hackers/id-34a45e2858ce4bb686c2491d34a0d34d
Is Your Toaster Spying On You?
http://epictimes.com/article/120519/is-your-toaster-spying-on-you
CIA Chief: We’ll Spy on You Through Your Dishwasher
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/petraeus-tv-remote/
Thank you, anonymous. Yes, Global Wahrman has been pretty good at this, we predicted the problems with sysadmins as well. I am so proud!
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