Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Voices Of The Patriots - Frank Fiore - Cyberkill How Far Will an Artificial Intelligence Go for Revenge?


Author
Frank F. Fiore



How Far Will an ArtificialIntelligence Go for Revenge?


I have gotten to know Frank Fiore well over the past year. I have found him to be a man of great integrity and imagination. He has a real love for his country and a profound and intense mind. He, like millions of us unsung heroes in America, is constantly doing his part to speak out about the obtuse changes now attacking this country. His love of country and insistence on exercising his Freedom of Speech in his writing as well shine clearly through his words and deeds, and truly demonstrated that he has the Voice of a Patriot.


Frank's writing experience also includes guest columns on social commentary and future trends published in the Arizona Republic and the Tribune papers in the metro Phoenix area.

Alvin Toffler


Through his writings, he has shown an ability to explain in a simplified manner, complex issues and trends. During his college years, he started, wrote and edited the New Times newspaper which is now a multi-state operation. Frank's interests in future patterns and trends range over many years and many projects. He co-wrote the Terran Project, a self-published book on community futures design processes, and worked as a researcher for Alvin Toffler on a series of high school texts on the future. He has designed and taught courses and seminars on the future of society, technology and business and was appointed by the Mayor of Phoenix to serve on the Phoenix Futures Forum as co-chairperson and served on several vital committees.


Frank has a B.A. in Liberal Arts and General Systems Theory from Stockton State College and a Master Degree in Education at the University of Phoenix. He and his wife of 30 years have one son. They live in Paradise Valley, AZ.

How Far Will an Artificial Intelligence Go for Revenge?


Fans of Tom Clancy, James Patterson and Clive Cussler, would enjoy this twist on the Frankenstein myth. A brilliant programmer, Travis Cole, inadvertently creates "Dorian," an artificial intelligence that lives on the Internet. After Cole attempts to terminate his creation, Dorian stalks his young daughter through cyberspace in an attempt to reach Cole to seek revenge. When cyber-terrorism events threaten the United States, they turn out to stem from the forsaken and bitter Dorian. In the final conflict, Dorian seeks to kill his creator - even if it has to destroy all of humanity to do it.


Almost every novel has a back story. It’s the author’s way of pushing his or her’s particular opinion on a subject. CyberKill is no exception.


The geographic locations, government and military installations and organizations, information warfare scenarios, artificial intelligence, robots, and the information and communications technology in this book all exist.

As for SIRUS, pieces of the technology are either in existence or in the research and development stage. According to the Department of Defense, it doesn’t exist.



On October 23rd 2007, The Fars News Agency of Iran, accused the US of manufacturing a genetic weapon. Head of the Foundation for the Protection of the Values of the Sacred Defense, General Mir Feysal Bagherzadeh said the US was seeking to manufacture a weapon which could kill specific peoples in a limited geographical area. The General further pointed out that the move should be considered as a case of genocide, “because they intend to massacre specific peoples and ethnicities” with the help of this weapon. The US Department of Defense denies the report.

Travis Cole is an artificial intelligence (AI) researcher hired by the US Army Information Warfare Laboratory (IWL) after 9-11 to program their top secret nano-dust used to monitor and report biological or chemical warfare agents in a given area. But the dust has a second even more secret use - one only known by the military and BioNan, the manufacturer of the nano-dust. It’s really a new type of viral weapon named SIRUS (short for ‘silicon virus’) that can be programmed using Cole’s code to read a victim’s ethnic DNA and kill only them.


Unknown to the government, the military had dispersed the dust all around the globe in readiness for any enemy to appear anywhere and at anytime, with the potential of creating genocide on a global scale. The military also conspired with the dominant wireless chip manufactures to include Cole’s code in their wireless chip programming so that the dust can communicate and be launched from wherever it is around the world through any wireless device containing the chips.


A few years before joining the IWL, Cole ran an AI research project at MIT. He created a series of intelligent software agents and released them onto the Internet to learn, grow and evolve. When he was called to the IWL, he sent out a series of commands to terminate the agents. All were terminated except one that had developed into a very smart artificial intelligence. That agent interpreted Cole’s program termination as an attempt on its life. In turn, it decided to seek revenge on Cole.


The harassment of Cole, the online stalking of his young daughter, the cyber-terrorism attacks of the People’s Brigade, and threats of information warfare by a cybercult called the Digitari Brotherhood, are all the result of the surviving agent bent on seeking revenge on Cole. The rogue agent takes the name of Dorian and sets himself up as the leader of the Brotherhood that he uses to vent his revenge on Cole.


What Are The Subplots That Converge

By The End Of The Novel?


The first is the killing of Michael Bates who is a VP at a large wireless chip manufacture. He stumbled upon the military and chipmakers conspiracy. He is ordered killed by Dorian who doesn’t want the conspiracy to be known because Dorian uses the new wireless chips to access the Internet anywhere and anyway he chooses.


The second subplot is the harassment and then attempts on Cole’s life by Dorian using the cyber-terrorists of the People’s Brigade – an arm of the Digitari Brotherhood. A year before, Dorian tried to kill Cole but missed, and killed his wife instead, making it look like an automobile accident.


The third subplot is that of the Digitari Brotherhood. They hack the web sites of the major news agencies around the world and post a manifesto threatening to take back the Internet from the multinational corporations and governments who control it and oppress it’s cyber-citizens. Their goal is the digital emancipation of cyberspace.


The fourth is the online stalking of Cole’s 4-year old computer savvy daughter by her imaginary playmate called Goppy –who is really Dorian. In its obsession to take revenge on Cole, Dorian uses any person he can to get close to Cole. He uses Cole’s daughter to transfer himself into her birthday gift – a Sony AIBO robot dog. Then using the threat of a dirty bomb explosion, it drives Cole and his daughter with Dorian in the robot dog, into the IWL where Dorian gains access to the Lab’s computer network and all the digital weapons stored there – including SIRUS.



The fifth subplot is the clandestine development and global dispersion of SIRUS.


After all of these events emerge, Cole finally realizes that what has transpired were not the results of cyber-terrorists but only attempts on his life. By the end of the book, Cole discovers the nature of SIRUS, that Dorian is the agent he did not terminate and seeks revenge on Cole, and in the final climatic battle at the IWL between Cole’s team, homicidal battlebots and an ASIMO called Isaac, all controlled by Dorian, he prevents Dorian from launching SIRUS in its last attempt at trying to kill Cole – even if it has to destroy most of the human population of earth to do it.

~~~~

What Do Readers Think About

Cyberkill


A Captivating, Fast-Paced Thriller, July 27, 2009

By

C S Weinblatt "Charles Weinblatt, Author of &...http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/carrot._V47081519_.gif (Ohio USA)

Cyberkill is the thrilling story of a mendacious artificial intelligence, created by a brilliant scientist and adapted into an evil conspiracy. Author Frank Fiore weaves an intricate plot of wickedness, as the iniquitous Dorian sweeps electronically into the fabric of American life. Replete with action, suspense and adventure, Cyberkill carries the reader through a chilling escapade of international conspiracy, science run amok and terrifying homicide.


Fiore's new work is a compelling piece of science fiction, with persuasive mystery, convincing characters, ubiquitous trepidation, and a thrilling conclusion. This tale is wrapped together into a taught package of excitement and intrigue. Fiore has created a powerful page-turner, with gripping tension; it contains a suspenseful timeline and the ultimate evil, a computer-generated malevolence eager to prey upon an innocent child and the child's father - its creator.


Fiore employs believable scenarios with existing scientific technology to weave a frightening tale fraught with continuous peril. A computer virus that has the potential to morph into a deadly human illness seems both plausible and devastatingly traumatic. The fact that such military weapons could be employed in the near future makes this tale that much more startling and conceivable.


A twisted, evil computer-generated entity was created inadvertently from the mind of brilliant scientist Travis Cole. Originally designed to "sniff out" biological and chemical weapons, the computer program becomes warped into the evil "Dorian," a terrifying cybernetic murderer. Dorian stalks Cole's young daughter and initiates cyber terrorism attacks throughout the world. When Cole discovers that his own creation was distorted into this terrifying beast, he tries to demolish it. The evil creature eventually turns upon its creator in an attempt to murder Cole.


Most of the science Fiore uses is valid or close to being current. Many people fear being tracked electronically by telephones, computers or vendors. In a viral way, Big Brother is upon us and this fear has been exacerbated effectively by the author. Nor is it difficult to hate an electronic villain. Such ubiquities litter our cultural landscape. The author plays with a latent unstable confidence in the security of our inventions. From the Andromeda Strain to 2001 to A Space Odyssey, our love/fear relationship with technology is strongly ingrained. The thought of a dark, calculating entity can grasp an audience tightly, particularly when sinister emotions prevail. Since Robbie the Robot in Forbidden Planet and Asimov's I Robot, to Hal in 2001, A Space Odyssey, and the cybernetic science officer in Alien, our culture has become obsessed with emotionally unstable and dangerous computers that think like humans and can kill.


Many international and US government entities explored through this book exist, as does the technology surrounding this mendacious cybernetic being. All of this helps to make Cyberkill genuine as well as intriguing.


Congratulations to Fiore for his captivating, fast-paced thriller. One can only anticipate the cinematic appearance of this frightening yarn.


Charles S. Weinblatt Author, Jacob's Courage Jacob's Courage: A Holocaust Love Story


~~~

Is Cyberkill A Plausible Scenario?

Read this Related Article and Become a Believer

Is The U.S. Headed For A Cyberwar?

http://reviews.cnet.com/1990-3513_7-5021272-1.html

Robert used to think the threat of cyber war was nonexistent--but he's changed his mind. Now he believes our country's information infrastructure may very well be the target of guerilla warfare over the Net. Here's why.


Earlier this year, I dismissed the idea that the United States would see an all-out cyber war anytime soon. I have since changed my mind. I still don't believe we'll see a large-scale, well-coordinated offensive. But I do think small, spontaneous, politically motivated attacks are possible in the near future.

What changed my mind about the possibility of cyber war was a series of articles by Giles Trendle, a former war correspondent who now writes about cyber terrorism. In the 1980s, Trendle covered the ground war in Lebanon and became an expert on guerrilla warfare, which is essentially what cyber warfare is. Although his articles focus largely on the cyber conflict between Arabs and Israelis, it's easy to see how the same type of attacks could occur elsewhere in the world, too.

Cyberwars are already here

Cyberattacks are already part of modern warfare. In the past two years, malicious users on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict have deployed viruses and worms, inundated government sites with huge amounts of e-mail, and launched distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on e-commerce sites. As part of the Kashmir conflict, an Indian-authored worm, Yaha, created a DDoS attack on the main Pakistani government Web site earlier this year.

One phenomenon Trendle talks about--the so-called swarm factor--helped change my mind about the nature of cyber war. The swarm factor describes the unpredictable ability of like-minded individuals to show up at an event, create mayhem, and then disperse. The spontaneous 1999 World Trade Organization riot in Seattle is an example of this. It's easy to see how, in accordance with the swarm factor, a handful of politically motivated Web sites could act as lightning rods, supplying the tools for malicious users to carry out cyber attacks.

The idea that the United States' current and future military actions could bring about aggression in cyberspace is not that far-fetched. In a recent article, Trendle cites the number of pro-Palestinian followers who see a unilateral U.S. attack on Iraq as cause to begin attacking U.S. interests online.

Cybersuicide attacks

Trendle also presents evidence that suicide attacks could be a key part of future cyber conflicts. He interviewed a pro-Palestinian hacker who made a pledge to carry out online suicide attacks. While most malicious users act with some caution because they don't want to be identified, a suicide cyber attack could inflict greater damage because the attacker wouldn't have to go to the trouble of hiding his or her identity.


Such a low-budget cyber war scenario is not implausible to the U.S. government. In his video interview with CNET Radio's Brian Cooley, President Bush's cyber security advisor Richard Clarke admitted that several of our enemies are capable of attacks via the Internet. Clarke said that in the 1980s, Iraq spent hundreds of millions of dollars and employed several thousand people to build an atomic bomb. Engaging in a cyber war would cost considerably less than that, Clarke continued, and would not require the resources of a nation state.

Advance preparation

How prepared are you--or your company--for such a cyber attack? You can find out at ZDNet's Digital Defense special report. The report includes a test to discover how well you're protected against malicious users. (If you're not prepared, you'll receive links to resources that can help secure your home or office.) In addition, the Digital Defense report shows the results of a comprehensive survey on enterprise security, presents three possible cyber attack scenarios, and offers advice from security experts in government and private industry.


I think we're still years away from seeing armies of well-funded cyber soldiers plundering through our data resources. But a single malicious user can cause a lot of damage--and a handful of politically motivated script kiddies, pooling their resources, could be even more dangerous. It's not hard to imagine how that type of individual and small-group action could escalate into a true cyber conflict.

Excerpt From

Cyberkill by Frank Fiore

Prologue

The airplane was leaving in a few hours, but Travis Cole still had some unfinished business. One of which was to get his in-law off his back.

“Please, John. We’ve been over this a hundred times,” Cole murmured, leaning forward on his desk to stare down at the computer monitor in front of him. He rested his fingers lightly on the keyboard, his hazel eyes focused on the command prompt on the screen:

DO YOU WANT TO EXECUTE? Y/N

Could he really do it?

Though Cole had made up his mind, it was now formal decision time. Pressing ‘N’ would continue his life as a well-known researcher in eco-biology at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Pressing ‘Y’ would end three years of cutting-edge work and move him and his daughter to a new home in Washington, DC and a lucrative research job with the U.S. Army.


Cole’s finger hovered over the keyboard--he felt sick.


John François was, as usual, sucking on the end of an ornately carved wood and leather pipe. It went along with his academic look elbow-patched sports coat, baggy brown pants, and loafers.


“It’s not right, Travis,” François implored. “It’s not right to take Shannon away from the environment she knows just weeks after her mother’s death. It’s just not right.”


Cole kept his focus on the task at hand. They had been over this a thousand times. Shannon, Cole’s young daughter, was already in the car, waiting. In fact, all of his luggage and many of his important worldly belongings waited there as well. He was going to return later for the rest of his stuff.


For now....


For now, he had to just get away.


Cole’s finger still hovered. He blinked hard. Could he really do this?


Yes, I can do this.


“And what about this?” François said as he opened the cover of a three-ring binder with the title TERRAN PROJECT written in blue across the front. François gently thumbed through the pages and pointed at the different artificial intelligent programs that Cole had cataloged and tracked while at MIT. “You’re just going to throw away years of work?”


Cole ignored François and turned back to the computer terminal with its blinking white cursor awaiting a reply.


He took in some air--and pressed the ‘Y’ key on the keyboard.


He turned to François while the computer executed his command. Cole couldn’t watch. Instead, he looked at his aging in-law with compassion for the man. François had lived alone since his wife died of leukemia ten years before. Cole and Shannon were the closest thing he had to family.


“John--” said Cole gently, but François cut him off.


Shannon’s only eight years old, Travis. Taking her away from the environment she knew isn’t the answer,” he pleaded. The older man had tears in his eyes.


Damn. Cole gently placed his hand on François’s arm. “John, I don’t know what I would have done without your help after Kathy’s death. But I know what’s best for Shannon. I have to give her a change of environment.” Cole squeezed François’s arm, then looked back to the computer terminal. He watched as file name after file name appeared on the screen, all tagged with the statement:


FILE FOUND. FILE TERMINATED

Cole looked at his watch. “Jeez. We have to go. You’ll see us off?”


François nodded in resignation.


“Thanks. Shannon will like that.” Cole glanced once more at the scrolling text on the computer screen, turned, and hurried out the office with François close behind.


In the darkness of the vacated room, the program reached the end of its routine, and then stopped on the last file. The text that glowed from the LCD screen turned from white to red and blinked repeatedly insisting on an answer.


FILE FOUND. FILE ACTIVE.

ABORT OR CONTINUE?

* One Year Later *

Taishi, China

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Supervisor, but we’ve found something--odd.”


Alexi Chenko put down the latest issue of Pravda and frowned at his head lab technician Ho Quan, a little man with dark-rimmed spherical glasses and a stubby bearded chin. His round head sat atop an even rounder body. Quan, normally stoic and reserved, looked agitated, and sweat lined his brow. As always, he spoke crisply in his Mandarin Chinese, the official spoken language of the People’s Republic of China.


Chenko was having a bad morning, and this latest interruption didn’t bode well. Already he’d received numerous infuriating calls from high-level Beijing bureaucrats, wanting to know when various communication devices would be cleared and ready for use. Followed by his wife calling to remind him of a dinner party tonight, a party Chenko had done his best to forget about. And now this. Whatever this is.


“What’s wrong?” Chenko asked in his near-perfect Chinese. He’d always had a penchant for picking up languages, a facility that had served him well as he rose quickly up the Kremlin ranks. But now, semi-exiled and banished from Mother Russia, he filled his days working in a tiny three-man facility outside a small village in southern China.


“May I show you?” asked Quan, and Chenko noted the man was visibly shaken.

Something’s wrong, thought Chenko. Seriously wrong…

Cyberkill Video Trailer


Frank Fiore’s Other Books:

The Chronicles of Jeremy Nash

Combining the best of Indiana Jones, National Treasure and the X-Files, the Chronicles of Jeremy Nash © is a new continuing series featuring the skeptic and debunker Jeremy Nash ©. Each of the Nash chronicles in the series is a thriller that sends Nash on an investigation of a conspiracy theory, unsolved mystery, urban myth, New Age belief or paranormal practice. Though he doesn't believe in any of them, he is forced into pursuing them by threats to the lives of his family members, himself or his reputation.

The thrilling formula of the chronicles forces Nash to pursue a series of clues and puzzles that he must solve; combined with an underlying real world threat of event, organization or persons that is somehow connected to what he is pursuing. All this makes for a good action/adventure read.


To Christopher: From A Father To His Son


Under the guise of a book to my adolescent son, I've written one for adults. It guides the reader on a journey through the values, hopes and promises of the last three generations. Through personal experiences, teaching stories, and the social and cultural history of the last 100 years, I discuss with Christopher the values we must hold for the future and why we are here. I hoped that the book may act as both sage words for the reader and a valuable guide to Christopher as he grows up.



Frank Fiore is a bestselling author of over 50,000 copies of his non-fiction books that include:

  • Launching Your Yahoo! Business - Que Publishing
  • Succeeding at Your Yahoo! Business - Que Publishing
  • Write a Business Plan in No Time - Que Publishing
  • The 2005 Online Shopping Directory for Dummies - Que Publishing
  • The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting an Online Business - Que Publishing
  • eMarketing Strategies (translated into other languages)- Que Publishing
  • Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants - Que Publishing
  • TechTV’s Starting an Online Business - Que Publishing
  • Dr. Livingston’s Online Shopping Safari Guidebook - Maximum Press

Join Author Steven Clark Bradley & Author Frank Fiore For
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Frank Fiore.com
Cyberkill - Frank Fiore

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patriot Acts by Steven Clark Bradley

Where is Patriot Acts available?

This new exciting novel is easy to find and available all over the net. Here are a few links to help you secure you own copy of Patriot Acts.

Patriot Acts (Print Version) at Amazon,com

Patriot Acts (Print Version) at Cambridge Books

Patriot Acts (Electronic Version) at Ebooks on the net

Patriot Acts (Electronic Version) at Amazon.com

Patriot Acts (Electronic Version) at Fictionwise.com

Patriot Acts (Electronic Version) at Mobipocket.com

I hope everyone who reads this will not just think
it is entertainment or the irrational rambling of a scared
American. I am not afraid; I am convinced that no one
will secure our future except us.
That is why I declare the main theme of Patriot Acts
in one key phrase:

No unconditional Talks – Just patriot Acts!


You can read more of
Steven Clark Bradley's
work
at any of these blogs
listed below:


Author Steven Clark Bradley
From The Mind of Steven Clark Bradley
Steven Clark Bradley @ Inspired Author
Steven Clark Bradley - Nikki Leigh Virtual Book Tours
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Steven Clark Bradley @ Facebook
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Steven Clark Bradley @ Word That Work
Steven Clark Bradley @ Goodreads.com
Steven Clark Bradley @ Myspace.com

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