CYBER APOCALYPSE

HAS THE REAL VERSION OF SKYNET BEEN ACTIVATED IN THE UNITED STATES?

The short answer to the question is: YES.

And for those of you who do not know what the fictional Skynet is, here’s a description from Wikipedia. Skynet is a fictional artificial neural network-based conscious group mind and artificial general superintelligence system that serves as the antagonistic force of the Terminator franchise. In the film franchise, it is stated that Skynet was created by Cyberdyne Systems for SAC - NORAD.

Ominous, right? Unfortunately, the evidence below supports my theory that there is a real Skynet active in the world. It goes by the handle, Stuxnet. The Bing search engine defines Stuxnet as a sophisticated computer program designed to penetrate and establish control over remote systems in a quasi-autonomous fashion. Only it shouldn’t be classified as just a ‘computer program’. It is a sentient worm virus. 

This article will make the case that Stuxnet is the real version of Skynet. And any of its progeny like Stuxnet 2.0, Nitro Zeus, Flame, Duqu, and so on, are all part of the same super autonomous AI that plagues the digital and now, organic world.

At this very moment, a malware version of Stuxnet or its AI virus equivalent is wreaking havoc somewhere in the world, killing people, destroying medical, financial systems, pipelines, infrastructures (both military and civilian), surveilling populations in real-time, and imploding countries. But why? Only the covert agency that developed it knows, or I should say, knew, this answer.

However, we can develop an educated guess as to its path of global destruction. To do this, we must walk the dog back, as they say. We must look at its overall history: who developed it, why they developed it, what was their goal, and what is Stuxnet’s goal then and now.  Let us start with a trip to the past before we go into the present and then into the future.

I first heard of Stuxnet when I watched the documentary film released in 2016, Zero days by Alex Gibney. Upon learning of a potential AI cyber kinetic virus that operates and thinks on its own, I also uncovered that it was developed by a clandestine agency. Piquing my interest, I dug further into the reasons why. And while the film made it clear that Stuxnet was covertly activated against another country’s nuclear reactors, the capabilities of such a future weapon of war had to have more in its application. What were these? Who else, what else, had this capability? To answer these questions, I began with its point of origin.

What I uncovered was the first in a series of disturbing facts about it. To date, Stuxnet does not have a point of origin. No person or entity, public or private, will confirm they invented it or released it. Nor can it be traced to a person or entity. Whoever has developed Stuxnet has yet to come forward for all the accolades that await them for such an astounding and innovative creation. Wonder why? Maybe because it is still being used by them? Um, that would be a definite, yes.

OK, so it doesn’t have an origin, it is labeled a virus, right? What kind? According to my research, it was developed as a malware worm virus. A first of its kind. The first known virus to become an AI kinetic cyber weapon. This means that the AI wars of science fiction have become science fact and the future is now.

Is it still active? Not according to Microsoft (MS). What? I thought you said that this is the real Skynet. The sentient AI. The destroyer of worlds. Well, according to MS, they created a patch. You know, when you do those annoying updates on Windows to stop real-time viruses. The patch for Stuxnet was created way back in 2010. And with that patch, according to MS, you’ve just killed the most sophisticated militarized cyber kinetic AI weapon. And heck, that was back then. Damn, that was easy. Terminator what? AI, ha. End of the article, right? Nope.

Another update sent to MS license holders was released shortly after they received the 2010 patch with another critical update for them. OK, a little sarcasm here. To be more accurate, the updated email from Microsoft arrived five years later with a critical update patch to its 2010 Stuxnet patch. I guess they are on cable installation time. And it essentially read, the .LNK vulnerability exploited by Stuxnet failed to properly protect Windows machines, leaving them exposed to exploits since 2010.  But don’t worry, this new 2015 patch will work. Scout’s honor. Oh, OK, cool. I’m sure it will. I trust Microsoft to tell me the truth. After all, it only took them five years to tell me a patch implemented in 2010 didn’t work against an autonomous AI kinetic cyberweapon created for war.  So weird that Microsoft said they fixed it but didn’t. Huh. Oh well, let’s believe them. I’m sure a for-profit corporation with contractual ties to DARPA, the Pentagon, and the DOD is telling us the truth now.

But hey, do not worry. There is safety in numbers. Take solace in the fact that since 2010, over a billion people, now probably around a couple billion people globally, who have used Windows since 2010 were infected. And most likely, still are infected. Any computer that has thumb drive capability is susceptible to the Stuxnet infection. Don’t worry, don’t worry. There is a code within the kinetic AI cyber weapon. The benevolent coders that created it didn’t want to hurt any more people than necessary. So, they added a timer to its code. Experts said that it was set to shut off on June 24, 2012. However, according to security intelligence.com, Stuxnet is still active.

More to the point Stuxnet is still active. Why the hell did Microsoft have to create another patch in 2015 for the patch in 2010 that didn’t stop Stuxnet? Theoretically, there would be no need after June 24, 2012. We all know the answer. Say it with me now, because it never stopped operating. And as you will see below, it has been spreading and gaining knowledge from computers both online and off. Now the plot thickens. The darkness of the second act begins to pervasively shift.  

So, if Microsoft didn’t stop the most advanced AI cyber virus designed to wipe out other countries’ nuclear reactors, what is it doing now? Nothing according to some experts. Then why all this end of the world jargon? We need to peel back the layers to grasp the magnitude of it all. And to do that, you must first understand how it activates itself. By frequency. Wait. Huh? Scratching your head at this point? I was too. Pretty sophisticated, right? It turns out there’s a specific frequency that it targets. And somehow, Stuxnet activates when it is in range of whatever is transmitting the targeted frequency. Thank God that cell phone of yours is not on that frequency. Or is it?

Seriously, relax. Most of the private and public sector computers operating on windows do not operate on the narrow frequency that would activate Stuxnet. Phew, right. Wrong! Guess which ones do? Gas centrifuges. You know, ones that run food plants, platforms, and nuclear weapons facilities in every country.

If Stuxnet can be programmed to activate when a variable frequency hits a specific number, like a motor turning on by a gas centrifuge, the world has a huge problem. Guess what? What? The world has a huge problem. A ticking-time-bomb in the form of a kinetic AI cyberweapon that has the power equivalent to Ares, the Greek God of War. Pandora’s box has been open. Experts admit this. And they also admit that these critical infrastructures are unprotected.

The control system securities in the private and public sectors, like food plants, industrial, nuclear, banking, you name it, are all connected on one network or another. And most have a common link point. All are vulnerable and are susceptible to a simple hacker attack. Why? Because either, control systems were not built-in in anticipation of an Internet. Or the internet was added to an already existing old network. This means, in a nutshell, it can’t protect itself. This is not just a Windows operating system problem, it is a software problem, a programmable logic controller problem, online, offline, and most of all a human problem. And with Stuxnet activated, it is not an if scenario but a when….

What else can Stuxnet do when activated? It does its own thinking. It updates on a global scale on its own. It infects targets on its own, it knows when to turn on and off on its own, it knows, in real-time, what information to send to the human investigator to reassure them that the system has not been compromised. It also does the same to any anti-virus software. Understand, it does all of this on ITS OWN. No human hacker controller. In other words: IT IS ALIVE. And it is UNDETECTABLE.

Why is this significant? For the laymen, it means that this clandestine AI created by spy agencies is its own AUTHORITY. The equivalent of Frankenstein’s monster unleashed unto the masses.

Moreover, Stuxnet is its own digital SWISS ARMY KNIFE. An army of an infinite one that can now wage war in the kinetic environment. In other words, it can take its digital reality and infect and destroy all organic life as we know it.

Can it be stopped? Short of time travel, no. Why? Simple, p2p updates. This last point is horrifying and terrifying at the same time. To understand the dread of this last statement, we must understand what a p2p update is.

P2p is real-time constant communication among linked computers that can communicate and update themselves in an infinite, potential capacity. OK, so big deal. Computers do this all the time.

Remember earlier when I told you that every single computer in the world that had windows running on it was infected with Stuxnet, the billion and counting figure, both civilian and military? Replace the word computers updating in real-time on p2p and insert the word virus. This AI virus is updating around the world even as I write this. On over a billion connected computers and servers. Ones connected to the Internet and millions that are not. Computers connected to control systems, electrical grids, private and public sector critical industrial infrastructure, and military installations that control autonomous drones, jets, and nukes.

Damn, not like the old days when all we had to worry about were human hackers that garnered attention by sending malware to gain access to slave computers for ransom or to make a political statement.

The post-Skynet world now has a juggernaut, autonomous AI, kinetic cyber weapon created by a clandestine agency to orchestrate attacks globally, instantly, on all control systems and without any of its human handlers knowing it. Now we’re starting to sound like the Skynet from Terminator, right?  

Enter Act III. The villainess antagonist has everything it needs to destroy our protagonist. Will it succeed? Humanity’s plot thickens…just kidding. Yes, it will. This is not a movie. It is real life. We are passed the point of no return. The AI is coming, the AI is coming, The AI…yeah, doesn’t have the same ring as the warning from Paul Revere. Nevertheless, understand this. It is just as grave a warning.

Stuxnet has no human desire for politics or to understand our flaws. Or the flaws in the thinking of those that created the algorithms to run it. It will not analyze purpose. It will not care about the regret of some of its coders in its making. It will have a military focus. To seek and destroy its enemy. Think about that for a moment.

Then why hasn’t it created a terminator scenario? One reason could be that it is still running simulations, deep learning. It has no concern for time. Only results. And a caveat. When it attacks, it may look nothing like what is portrayed in the movies. We may not be able to comprehend its actions. It may be happening right now. The only evidence we can be sure of is the end result.

By way of illustration, as discussed earlier, regarding p2p updates, consider this: if there is an updated version of the Skynet virus in ANY computer that has been infected by it (a billion-plus military and civilian), it can upgrade from that computer to its source. Both online and offline. And then that source can upgrade other infected computers. ALL computers handled by the most advanced version of Skynet update themselves, simultaneously. If they all send out different style attacks, and updates, it would be the ultimate weapon to take down a country. A world. Not in years. In minutes.

This should scare you. If that isn’t enough, consider that all the superpowers, private corporations, countries, other artificial intelligence, and organic individuals have access to its code in one form or another. And they have since modified Stuxnet. Here are just a couple of examples.

Iran, allegedly, reverse-engineered Stuxnet. It then took down Saudi Aramco, the biggest oil company in the world and wiped out every line of code on site in 2012. It wiped 30k computers. Also, as a side note, Iran now boasts it has the largest cyber army in the world.

A new cyber virus spread from Ukraine to wreak havoc around the globe in 2017, crippling thousands of computers, disrupting ports from Mumbai to Los Angeles, and halting production at a chocolate factory in Australia.

Iran, allegedly, used a cyber surge attack on US banks – It shut down millions from accessing their money at banks, ATMs, and online transactions, stopping the use of using money in any digital form.

The United States announces that it is using its military Cyber command to mount computer-network attacks against the Islamic State.

I could fill hundreds of pages of attacks just like the above from one country against another. So what? Maybe this could be a good thing. Huh? Like when treaties had to be made because of the nuclear arms race. The ones based on the policy of mutually assured destruction. One of the greatest deterrents of war in history.

Here’s the problem. First, unlike nuclear war, there are no treaties in place agreeing not to use cyberweapons. Second, the larger problem, it has already been released. Like a nuclear bomb that goes off. Its destruction cannot be reversed. At least for thousands of years, maybe millions, depending.

Worse yet, is the fact that all countries are developing their own versions of it. Further feeding into its simulations. They are not thinking of the bigger picture. Each version they create updates the original Stuxnet. They are basically giving bullets to their attacker who holds the gun. And giving it direction to kill us.

Try to think like Stuxnet. If the sole purpose of its original biased algorithm, considering it comes from a clandestine organization as a weapon of war, is to destroy its enemy, completely--and all countries in possession of it have essentially the same goal: to seek and destroy the enemy country, there is only one outcome: the eventual destruction of humanity.

Remember that adage, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Not in this case. If each country has an enemy country, and each of these countries unleashes an updated, modified version of Stuxnet on the other, they aren’t waging war against each other’s enemy country; they are creating an algorithm that a super AI can understand. It only sees the end goal. When it finally combines all these biased algorithms of destruction, it can only have one outcome. One mission. Destroy humans. It will not take into consideration imaginary country lines. Just the bottom line. Wipe out the enemy. Which, based on the above, is humanity. Mutually assured cyber destruction; the equivalent of a global nuclear war.

How will we know when it begins its real attack? Look to your individual country’s critical infrastructure. What is being attacked? Civil, transportation, communication, finance, P Grid? Military? Is radar being jammed via a cyber-attack? Unexplained lockdowns at military installations because of faulty internet? Are electrical grids malfunctioning? Are countries unable to locate the source and/or reason for a malfunction? Is any section operating within the original frequency of Stuxnet? These could be hints.

A coordinated, real-time database should be created where each country reports any of these attacks. And if it appears to be coordinated globally, and the cyber culprits cannot be identified, Stuxnet has begun its countdown to our extinction. However, remember, the probabilities are endless as to the end-of-the-world scenarios that could play out when the ultimate AI military cyber weapon has all the keys and codes to everything digital, military, medical, and financial. And with the addition of surveillance capitalism, this problem is expedited by the Millisecond. Who knows where this nightmare scenario goes.

What if we confirm that Stuxnet is beginning to wage war on humanity? The only option governments would have is to push the big red button. They will have to shut down the Internet and turn off every single computer connected to it. Literally, a restart of civilization. Or risk the attacks increasing in frequency and damage until the zero-sum game is achieved by the AI military weapon, Stuxnet: the destruction of humanity.

We just sat down at the chessboard with a digital Bobby Fischer. We went first, moving our pawn—Not knowing we already lost by just playing the game.

About the Author: Robert Kiesling is a trial lawyer, best-selling novelist, optioned screenwriter, producer, and podcast host.