JOURNAL: Vigilante Hackers

To fight wars on the Internet, a growing number of nation-states are using vigilante/criminal hackers as proxies (earlier example: Russia vs. Estonia). A new conflict (numerous sources) raging on the Internet between Chinese vigilantes and the supporters of Tibet is yet another example. It evokes the scenario I described in an article I wrote for Wired (here's the graphic). Essentially, this approach enables a government to enlist tens of thousands, some of whom are making Wall Street level incomes from cybercrime, to attack foes. In contrast, the US approach is limited to a government centric approach (using the typical bureaucratic formula => warm body + a little training = highly paid government contractor). Which approach is more likely to generate results? To me, it's not even a contest.

For those that are interested, this type of conflict is a form of open source war (I'm currently working on the draft of a doctrine for fighting this type of war).