John Robb rightfully says Snowden changed everything because the lack of response by the U.S. to Snowden’s walking off with the crown jewels has given a green light to cyber attackers worldwide. There are no consequences. The U.S. is a paper tiger.
It’s even worse than Robb thinks. It’s not that the U.S. doesn’t want to or is conflicted about bringing down the hammer. It doesn’t even know where the hammer is. The U.S. has not fought back in cyber because it doesn’t know how to, and a primary reason for this is too many of those at the top are computer illiterates. Silicon Valley types who have looked at NSA’s computers and security say it’s 5-10 years behind the curve. The director of OPM when the massive break-in happened was a political hack with zero background in computer security. She was hired because she was loyal to Obama. Â The head of the CIA just had his AOL account hacked by a 16-year-old stoner. Anyone in intelligence services who is even vaguely technologically aware would have shut down their AOL account long ago. And he had important documents with social security numbers of others saved in the account. Clearly, the head of the CIA is a fucking moron when it comes to tech.
Yet these are the people supposedly heading the effort to stop computer intrusions.
The US has lost its ability to deter cyber attacks.
Why?
Snowden, or more specifically, the US response to Snowden’s theft.
What did the US do to Snowden after he fled the US with the equivalent of the crown jewels of national security data?Nothing. Crickets.
This response told the world, in no uncertain terms, that the US will do NOTHING when its government and companies are hacked.
The U.S. is doing nothing because it has no idea what to do.