Simon Luria

The NSA HACK AND ITS IMPLICATIONS Simon Luria

In my previous book, "the Panama Papers: The Largest Financial Scandal of Modern Times", the very first book on the topic, I made it clear that we are in an era of Transparency. An Era that has been ushered in by the advent of the internet. Some would say that it is a good thing; we need governments and fat cat billionaires to be more open about their dealings. On the other hand this transparency can be extremely detrimental to a nation. To have a nations secrets dumped on to the information black-market could pose risks that are far beyond any we have been exposed to before. The spying that took place between the USSR and the United States during the cold war era pales in comparison to the spying and covert operations that are taking place now. Of course, the USSR is no more, but the ideology has lingered in the minds of those who were once members of it; old cognitive habits die hard. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia is a cold warrior; he has made it quite clear that the cold war is, in fact, not over, it just looks very different now. In many ways, the ideologies that once clashed during the cold war are very much in place. We only need to read the headlines and we will see that the cold war between Russia and the United States has moved from outward displays of power to ones hidden behind a veil of ones and zeros. A perfect example of this is the most recent hack of the NSA. This was by far the boldest hack in recent memory, one that has broader implications not just for the United States, but for the entire world. What we are seeing is just the very tip of the iceberg, more and more of these hacks will occur. With these hacks, we have been ushered into a new world, a world in which the risks to our very existence will come from people living in the shadows.