Just because it hadn't been knowingly done before now, doesn't mean it wasn't already a threat from state sponsors (or others). This was just a step towards an end that we all could foresee, be it from China, Russia, the U.S., or others. If the U.S. (assumption) hadn't done this, I can't imagine this sort of weapon hadn't already been envisioned by other states. It was only a matter of time.
Now that its on the surface, people (including governments) can understand its real, and have no excuse to not give it the attention that it deserves by instituting procedures and designs to properly protect critical systems.
I disagree. Experts have understood the true risk of a cyber war for over a decade, at least. The infrastructure of the United States, both public and private, is woefully unprepared for such attacks to be brought against it.
I'm reminded of a recent quote describing how getting stuxnet into Iran may have been difficult, but getting something into a US power plant would be trivially simple by comparison.
Not only is the US infrastructure not ready, but it looks like no one is actively trying to change that.
I imagine that businesses won't see the need to waste all the money until something big happens and they're forced to.
Yeah, but come on, everyone knows how counterproductive this is.
Flame and Stuxnet have been rumored to have been US/Israeli sponsored for a while; the confirmation is no real surprise.
What surprises me is how stupid this shit is. I mean seriously? If I knew the US was using crypto warfare leveraging the spreading properties of a virus, I would hope that it would be nearly impossible to tie back to us. I mean that's just fucking common sense.
I mean really, at the end of the day, what did this achieve? I'd say it probably just gave every crypto nerd in China, Japan, India and Russia an infinite budget.
Now that its on the surface, people (including governments) can understand its real, and have no excuse to not give it the attention that it deserves by instituting procedures and designs to properly protect critical systems.