There are many people – individuals, along with public and private sector security agencies – worldwide endeavoring to determine who sources Wikileaks and Fancy Bear (and its hack team) against public and political figures, as well as select U.S. organizations. Crack minds, intelligent as can possibly be, will eventually cipher the actual route of the attacks (and unearth the root).
As people ferret who is responsible for disruption to some and dissemination of private data to others, it is beyond the time for most to question “who” and to move on to “why.” Why should and would those behind leaks by WikiLeaks and hacks by so-called “Fancy Bear” want to release massive amounts of data to people worldwide?
What’s the point or the purpose? It is less than likely that most people have (or will take) the time to pour through all the data to totally digest what everything released to the world means in totality.
While it is reasonable for those targeted by WikiLeaks and Fancy Bear, and most directly affected by the release of voluminous information, to wade through the seemingly endless plethora of digital data, it is not very pragmatic that most people will or want to do so. Most people are not the target of attacks and subsequent public release of stolen information. Most people have real lives and do not live in a world of port intrusions, spear phishing, or crowdstrikes.
Awareness of hack attacks affects mass reaction
Most people learn of reported data theft by WikiLeaks and Fancy Bear through media. The onslaught of reporting eventually catches attention – even if through media snippets and buzz words. Again: Why? Most people live in real-time and don’t have to chase down every byte of information.
When events hit mainstream, people become more aware.
The United States, it seems, has been the forefront of cyber intrusions or invasions, along with the exploitation of troves of information garnered illegally and placed under hyper-periscope to the world.
Why the United States is a prime target of digital attack is not a question
The purpose of attacking the U.S. by cracks, hacks and spies is to undermine public confidence, trust in the government, and to have people question the status, stability and ability of the United States to maintain security and safety. Undermining is underpinning status quo. When a majority of dissatisfied, disenfranchised and disgruntled people out-weigh the number of people who are not up-in-arms over disruptions that principally affect others, chaos can ensue.
WikiLeaks’ and Fancy Bear hacks are divisive. Divisiveness is the end-game. That is the goal. That is the purpose of taking the collective psyche hostage – to disrupt and to engage focus where it would not naturally reside.
Choosing effects of WikiLeaks and Fancy Bear
When the dust bytes settle, those who poked fun of (or ridiculed) John Podesta and his alleged use of the p@ssw0rd as an actual E-mail password or, for instance, Sarah Palin and her use of Yahoo E-mail, there is still the reality that, though mistakes may have been made, the United States was the collective victim of cyber terrorists by WikiLeaks and by Fancy Bear: People are now questioning whether the government is eavesdropping through TVs and other components.
As long as people question the efficacy of the U.S. government and its protection agencies, the failure is in recognizing the effects of hacking against the U.S. as cyber terror. Trying to impose or enforce transparency is not the goal of the cyber WikiLeaks “whistleblower” or Fancy Bear hacker(s). It is to terrorize – to control how people feel, how people think, and how people react.
Cyber terrorists WikiLeaks and Fancy Bear hit their mark when we miss their objective.
