Mastodawn

I did a bunch of interviews today and something really stuck with me - being told that a lot of politicians are trying to decide if climate change or infrastructure cybersecurity is more pressing.

Climate change deeply impacts geopolitics and military policy. Therefore it is a cybersecurity issue. The DoD has always understood this. You can’t look at the “APTs” and terrorist orgs we deal with and not consider how climate impacts will continue to motivate them.

Let me give you an example of this, in case you’re trying to make the connection. Climate change causes refugee crises. It also has deep economic impacts, as well as geographic impacts that alter things like shipping lanes. All of those things can predicate conflict. Cyberattacks, both psychological and sabotage - as well as financial cybercrime are a natural outcome.

I’d post this to LinkedIn because it’s important, but I just don’t feel like dealing with the angry deniers today.

rtificial Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes linkedin reply guyz are undefeated. “Hymmmm HAW lemme explain this tee yew “

Altytwo Altryness, BS

@hacks4pancakes hell, on top of all that you also have the fact that all of our infrastructure is built around environmental assumptions and the operation becomes less reliable outside of that environment.
So power, heat, and water can all be impacted more severely when they’re having to operate weirdly to handle higher or lower temps.

Claudius Link Aug 8, 2024

@whereisthespai @hacks4pancakes
Additionally lack of (drought) or abundance of water (flooding) cause major problems with infrastructure. Not to forget the extreme weather events amplified by climate change

Sindarina, Edge Case Detective Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes It's all about resilience, or rather the lack thereof.

Chris Routh (He/Him)Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes well said. Really can't blame you there.

Oliver D. Reithmaier Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes also the fact that climate change will drive wars, and therefore also cyber war....

When I’m Trying to Hide Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes very few people seem to be making these connections.

Achyuth Madabhushi Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes this chart breaking down critical functions and the risk scores visualizes your point. From this article: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA1600/RRA1645-8/RAND_RRA1645-8.pdf

Eleanor Saitta Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes
It's not just the crossover impacts, though — the approaches we take to solving both of them are similar. Changing how we build large infra, figuring out how to adequately fund commons, getting rid of asset stripping, fighting money in politics, strengthening and resourcing civil society, eliminating useless compute and other resources spends, fixing infrastructure inequality both domestically and internationally, driving international cooperation, developing and transitioning to safer technologies, making companies responsible for the impact of their products and activities on the world, and driving infrastructural resilience — it's literally the same playbook.

Menno Deij - van Rijswijk Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes if you’re interested in some speculative fiction on this, I can recommend “NewYork 2140” by Kim Stanley Robinson. It has forever changed my outlook on the climate crisis and how it will affect communities around the world.

Alex Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes especially in countries like russia with how the warmer climates allow those countries to get better access to their resources.

Parsingphase Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes That’s like a fire chief trying to decide whether to deal with the fire or the smoke.

Phyxis Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes @parsingphase Maybe the Class D in the driveway first?

I Thought I Saw A 2

@hacks4pancakes Why do politicians always have to frame decisions like this as 100% one or the other? We can do both.

@ithoughtisawa2 humans

patcanfield Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes Everything affects everything. BUT, Climate Change decisions stand alone-the Planet is Paramount in importance. Pull the plug on cyber and nobody cares if then world is burning, flooding, blowing away-Life before computers was OK--Life after a fried planet won't be.

@patcanfield I do agree, but my point is you can’t talk about most major societal issues and ignore climate.

patcanfield Aug 11, 2024

@hacks4pancakes Climate Change IS the MOST Important Issue of our lives. I agree!--I don't know why 'Mentions' isn't letting me see what is being responded to--but this one is obvious(to me)

pfriedma Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes
So much this. Climate resiliency is a "yes and" kind of thing.

Greg Bell Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes it seems like folly to rank inextricably interconnected things by which one is most "pressing" (allegedly, tho imo they juke the list to rank by how tractable the problem seems) and then focus on the top one exclusively

derptron Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes I'm also going with cybersecurity because those who are going to be in power when the effects of climate change really take hold are going to be all about silencing descent. My bet is that they'll try to write history in a way that makes it look like capitalism saved the day and helped the few who survived survive. Those who say, "Well, actually they basically caused it to begin with," will meet violent ends. We will need to share information securely and privately.

Nicole Parsons Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes

The fossil fuel industry is funding anti-democracy movements around the globe.

The far right is heavily funded by OPEC, Russia, #AtlasNetwork and #KochNetwork

The fossil fuel industry is prepared to wage wars & end democracy to keep the world hooked on its planet-frying toxic products.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/09/fossil-fuel-allies-pressuring-supreme-court

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/06/alito-thomas-leonard-leo-federalist-society-supreme-court-fossil-fuels-koch-industries/

https://oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/06/18/the-betrayal-why-the-far-right-abandoned-action-on-climate-change/

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2024/06/21/what-do-far-right-parties-do-for-the-climate-when-they-are-in-power_6675406_114.html

https://thewalrus.ca/far-right-environment/

https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/products/2520-white-skin-black-fuel

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/these-fossil-fuel-industry-tactics-are-fueling-democratic-backsliding/

Far-right fossil fuel company allies pressure US supreme court to shield firms in unprecedented campaign

Groups linked to billionaire Leonard Leo, who seems to have ties to Chevron, are pressing the court to intervene in lawsuits that could cost billions

The Guardian

Momo Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes
This is why I can't understand why far right actors are denying climate change. It will make parts of this planet unhabitable which will cause migration movements of the people living there into habitable zones. Migrations that the far right does not want.

On the other hand, the far right needs those issues as topics to stand against. Solving these problems means they make themselves obsolete... okay I take it back, I got it now. They take the planets climate hostage to keep themselves relevant!
@tinker

David Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes For a lot of powerful people, the most pressing questions of the day are variations of ‘should we stop doing the bad thing or can we insulate ourselves from the consequences of the bad thing?’

Karl Heinz Häsliprinz Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes Electric drones are outperforming diesel tanks in the Ukraine battlefields. Oil is losing the war against electronics. All security is cyber security now.

Habrok Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes I would also say that "Cyber" in "infrastructure cybersecurity" is unnecessarily narrowing the scope of the problem. As an example: the result for a network is the same, wether someone steals the copper wires along the way, an attacker hacks critical parts or the same critical parts are disabled due to flooding. But nearly noone would call cable theft or flooding of the racks a cyber attack.

Bobsee Aug 8, 2024

@hacks4pancakes It was 106F here yesterday. A few degrees more and automobiles will start to malfunction. Air conditioning will be come less efficient. And homeless folks, or folks who get caught out in the heat, will die in increasing numbers.

ChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Aug 9, 2024

@hacks4pancakes Too many governments are treating climate change as only one of a range of issues. They give a bit of attention to #ClimateChange, then it's back to business as usual.

How do we get through their thick skulls that climate change is THE issue?! It's all embracing, it's EVERYTHING!?