The 2016 USA Election Cyberwar Has Begun
While listening to National Public Radio the other morning, a US government official was saying how it was getting difficult to attract the necessary cyber warriors that the nation needed to protect itself.
There was also discussion about raising the maximum age for folks wanting to join the military, so mid-career cyber professionals could enter the service.
So who is hiring all the cyber experts? Political groups are hiring computer savvy information technology companies to build voter profiles of millions of Americans.
Recently, there is even discussion on the need to draft the necessary individuals if the need should arise. Only men are currently registered for the Selective Service. Selection could get interesting. The cyber personnel could be identified by their political leanings and drafted out of the opposition’s companies. As secondary effects, programmers and mathematicians supporting stock traders working the markets would be fair game.
Cyber cleaners searching the Internet for information harmful to their clients’ candidates could be drafted. Yes, we are certainly engaged in fighting cyber wars these days, but priorities appear to be more on waging a war for the hearts and minds of American voters than national security. Every search, message, post and purchase can be data mined to make sure your voting decisions can be influenced when required. The 2016 US Election Cyber War is well underway.
