W.A.R.

W.A.R., the commonly used acronym for ‘We Are Right’ looks on the cards again. In this case Donald Trump is right and Kim Jong-un is right, China’s kinda right and Japan doesn’t want to be wrong. Possibly, after the fabulous documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pWTBJ9r3ns on Stuxnet’s success in unaccountably blowing up Iranian centrifuges, Donald has the power to make Jong-un’s missiles go off like prematurely released balloons, provided someone’s taken the trouble to tell him. It’s impossible to overstate the game changing consequences of Stuxnet, malware so sophisticated it can find its target software, manipulate it make a desired malfunction whilst making everything appear normal and, before the Israelis let the cat out of the bag, be completely un-attributable. That error converted Stuxnet from US covert brilliance into a worldwide case study in how to weaponise software. We might still think we’re right but now we’ll never know what pressing the button might do. And as everything other than the Donald is now under computer control it’s possible to weaponise anything against its user. That’s sixty years from an enthusiast’s box they couldn’t find a use for to a ubiquitous weapon. You’ve got to hand it to us: we’re pretty smart. But flawed.