Substance-Free Cyber-Strikes Spook NATO

Last month's denial-of-service strike against Estonian websites hurt no one, and did no damage. It showed no sophistication. And the connection to any government is murky, at best. Pimply teenagers are among the most likely culprits.

But never mind all that. Let's wet our pants and scream in panic, shall we?

That seems to be the attitude at NATO, where "defense ministers are considering extending the alliance's protection into cyberspace in the wake of a devastating digital attack that nearly crippled member nation
Estonia," according to USA Today.

The issue is tricky for NATO... The attacks, which began in April and peaked last month, were launched from computers in about 50
countries, NATO spokesman Robert Pszczel said.

The alliance, a product of the
Cold War, is based largely on the notion that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all...

NATO dispatched a team of specialists to Estonia after the attacks, but it has limited capacity to support broader cyberspace defense efforts.

NATO's capabilities are directed toward protecting the alliance's own network, said Sheena Carrigan, a
NATO spokeswoman. Expanding that mission would be up to the alliance's political leadership, she said.

Hopefully, this NATO story has been blown out of proportion. Or maybe it's just a way to mollify Estonia, one of the alliance's newest members. Because the security services of the West already have their hands full, going after real terrorists. Why chase kids with sippy cups, nitwits who can't tell the difference between JFK-the-airport and JFK-the-man, and Russian script-kiddies flailing at Estonian websites? It'd be like using G-men to shut down keg parties, instead of hunt for Jeffrey Dahmer or John Wayne Gacy. Is it any wonder that the "cyberarmageddon" crowd is also pushing nonsense like "psychic information warfare," too? Focus, people. Focus.