The Guardian view on cyberwars: enter the trolls | Editorial
Digital wars are being fought in many theatres around the world - and in many forms. In the light of the Snowden revelations, citizens who guard their privacy may already feel that it has been occupied by a hostile force. But on Thursday, the Obama administration conceded that the US federal government had itself fallen victim to a hack on an unprecedented scale, with the security of the details of up to four million former and present employees apparently breached.
The Chinese, who were initially considered the most likely suspects, hotly deny any responsibility for this data smash and grab. Nor is it immediately obvious what the perpetrators' motives might be. It could be a fishing expedition to establish who has access to real secrets. It could be a more straightforward criminal enterprise, a prelude to identity theft. The initial hack probably happened months ago, for one of the distinguishing features of the digital age is its capacity to host the faceless along with the intimate. This is what lends a more sinister force to the familiar equation of information, truth and power. The ability to extract or insert information that may or may not be true is not new - but it is uniquely facilitated in a digital world.
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