Real World Implications of the Twitter DDoS Attack.

About a year ago, on an older, uglier blog, I wrote about the disruptive potential of nationalised botnets, in relation to the Russian / Georgian conflict.

And now, outlets are reporting that yesterday’s Twitter and Facebook outages are related to the same conflict, in an attempt to silence an outspoken Georgian blogger.

The question has to be asked, at which point is this an act of war? In a very real way, this is foreign political interests attacking North American corporations. Whether or not the damage to Twitter and Facebook is collateral, it’s still damage. And most likely, it’s damage inflicted due to assembling a massive collection of compromised computer systems.

Who is the injured party? Aligning Twitter with a country seems insufficient, but treating the internet as a commons without a nation makes it difficult to defend.

More importantly, how much longer until this tactic is ranked along with other military and political actions and sanctions as a motivator? Imagine U.S. copyright interests taking down AllOfMP3.com via DDoS attacks, instead of threatening lawsuits. An international version of the proposed French ‘three strikes’ copyright infringement law - if your country is a pirate haven, we will demolish your ability to do business online.

There are many dangerous precedents waiting to be set. And yet, this all comes back to the disruptive effect social media has had on journalism and the reporting of news. A media blackout via DDoS makes a lot more sense than sending armed combatants into radio stations, tv studios and newspapers.