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Friday, September 1, 2006
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The Pentagon's Secret Agents in Cyber Space.
Defense Tech has news of an Air Force project to create autonomous, purpose-driven software agents that can be injected into a city's electronic infrastructure, where they'll act as a military strike team's eyes, ears and hands in cyberspace.
The "cyber craft" agent will hop from network to network as needed, opening electronic locks when a special forces soldier needs to pass, causing power outages when the troops need cover of darkness; gathering real-time reconnaissance on which insurgents are hiding in what rooms. Not sure how that last part works; I guess it'll tap into the surveillance camera feed, or scan the RFID tags insurgents will all wear in the future.
It's sort of like Cortana from Halo. Or Tron. The obvious problem: what happens when the enemy's cyber agent takes matters into its own hands, sucks all the soldiers into cyber space and makes them do battle with electronic Frisbees.
This is my favorite part -- a scenario from the Air Force research document:
Current intelligence is about 20-mins old and the squad leader requires updated information. The squad leader finds an electrical outlet and plugs in. This outlet allows access to the power grid of the town and subsequently access to the adversary's computer network. The squad leader injects a Cyber Craft into the system, whose mission is to locate a) any insurgents or b) locate any hidden military facilities.
I guess then the squad leader plugs his computer into a water tap and shuts down the city's reservoirs and sewer pipes.
The Air Force is paying three companies to research this. Enemies of freedom: prepare to be derezed. [27B Stroke 6]
9:02:56 PM 
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© Copyright 2006 Paul Hardwick.
Last update: 10/1/06; 6:17:21 AM.
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