SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
Recent attacks by anonymous hackers on Pakistani government and political sites demonstrate the new front of a PR war, so far been wrongly thought to be fought only on Facebook and Twitter. This is no longer an era of answering press release for press release. Those with grievances will bring the fight to your home page, and it appears many have been caught ill prepared for the assault. More than most, it is the Pakistan government’s official portals that have proven most embarrassing, yet predictable, in their collapse. You’re an easy target when your obsession with porn and blasphemy on the world wide web takes precedence over protecting essential information tools. Whichever industrious young man it was, who constructed the mile long list of pornography sites to ban, might have served his nation better had he set up some simple encryption for the Interior Ministry website instead.
The attacks not only target sensitive information, but also demonstrate (at times with memes, at times with photoshopped pictures), an utter and total contempt for the government’s pitiful understanding of what the real frontiers in cyber warfare are. It’s not Meera’s video, or Cheryl Cole’s rose tattoo that are perilous. In an attempt to cement our morality in virtue, we have sacrificed our sense. Banning YouTube, placing elaborate filters for possible pornography, banning search words from google; these are the signs of a society hopelessly disconnected and scared of a modern world.
Preservation of culture does not equate into turning that culture into a useless relic.
Protection of information saved on servers does not come from an armed guard at the door. With some of the IT talent the PMLN government boasts in its ranks, one feels pity for these experts, who are obviously speaking to a wall when advising on available and necessary protection mechanisms. Then again, can one really blame a government handicapped by a mob of a few thousand in each major city protesting a blasphemous video? Yes, one can. Governments are nonchalant enough in ignoring protests over various issues, when they feel it does not affect their reputation as god-fearing and religiously conservative. What holds them back from saying, “This is not the 80’s anymore. Sorry, but it’s not.” Only those with either some self-awareness, or some courage, can deliver such a reality check. Of late, whether it has been the PPP or the PMLN, it appears we are doomed to be ruled by parties with neither. This is not to say these attacks are anything but condemnable; but surely they should be expected. And the efficiency of hackers should strike much more fear into the hearts of folks than YouTube ever can.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
