Juan Juan Almeida, 15 March 2017 — The Cuban government is preparing an insightful cyber-offensive and to do so plans to increase the army of cyber-combatants where, in addition to the well-known guerrillas of cyberspace — that is the students at the University of Information Sciences and the pro-government bloggers — they will add to this new attack all the professionals and staff of the health services. Doctors, specialists, graduates, nurses, health technicians, radiologists, physiotherapists and the rest of the staff that deals with all types of health services and management inside and outside of Cuba.
To this end, they have issued a resolution dated January 31 and signed by Alfredo Rodriguez Dias, Director of Information Technology and Communications of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP).
In this document you can read, and I quote:
“At present, the use and presence of social networks has become a fundamental factor in the process of socialization, exchange and dissemination of our achievements, our results. Also it has become a symbol of belonging and sites where people and businesses share interests in common such as the news, images, and music among others.
“It is a new space of combat, where the spreading of news happens at great speed with the reach and impact that other means do not have.
“A global university where information is a decisive recourse in the political struggle, and becomes a matter of national security and it is necessary that to achieve a competitive advantage in these spaces to give visibility and credibility to our points of view and our values.
“They constitute privileged channels for the information offensive, counterattack campaigns and to construct alternatives for political expansion and to offer a unprecedented opportunity to activate and multiply the power of the Revolution.
“It is the mission of the activists and cyber combatants to be alert to the spread of news that could affect the Revolution and others that lie about it and denigrate it, so it is NOT prohibited to visit these counterrevolutionary sites, niches where the opportunists are entrenched to wage battle in the Social Networks.
“It is good to know what they are saying, how they think and how the enemy acts in order to be able to combat it. We know that lies are posted there; but there are also truths and we have to know their weaknesses to be able to fight them and where we still have failures. We do not have to fear knowing where we have cancer to be able to fight and eliminate it.”
The document in question includes a list of objectives that are listed under the honorable title of cyber-enemies, and there we find 14ymedio, Cubaenmiami, El Nuevo Herald, Caféfuerte.com, yusnaby.com, Cubanet, Martinoticias y Diariodecuba; and an extensive list of electronic addresses. Almost all well-known.
All this framework, this sniffing around the networks, is a common practice, so it should come as no surprise. The subversive if the maneuver.
