We could have used a Letter of Marque to deal with the Colonial pipeline hack attack. Of course, I am not a nation state, though I do have a certain undocumented leaning in that direction. What is such a letter? Essentially, it is authorization to hire a pirate to punish people who screw with you. Naturally, that would make life even more complicated in our own beloved nation. But maybe the past can provide some guidelines for future actions. Let me do the background on this one, which is a product of recent cyber unpleasantness.

We have passed through the turmoil that surrounded the cyber-shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline in the Eastern United States. It was pretty cool. In the 13 months of the pandemic madness, I left the property at Refuge Farm only for a modest litany of local stops- the fitness club, the tobacco store and doctor visits. When the hack attack occurred, I was attempting to ensure one of two farm vehicles was compliant with state regulations. To accommodate the needs of the foreign-manufactured SUV, I was in Arlington. Up North, as we call it down here, not intending to confuse readers in Michigan.

News of the impending disruption of fuel distribution had everyone a little uneasy. When I climbed into the car and turned the key, my first look was at the fuel gauge. It was an ambivalent reading, slightly above the half-way point of the digital display. The same thoughts occurred to me there as it did to everyone else in the National Capital Region. I had enough fuel to get to the farm. Arriving there with a quarter tank was a possibility, so no immediate crisis. There were dozens of potential fuel stops on the way, and with judicious allocation of throttle use, a re-fill along the way would leave me with a rational nearly full supply. So, off I went.

The shortage was evident prior to the rising hysteria on the media. My goal had been to refill at the crossroads near Opal, a familiar way-stop since the gun shop is located just north of the stop-light. I pulled off at the gas-and-Mickey D’s just sort of the light. My heart sank. The pumps were decorated with yellow plastic bags over the handles. Backing up in the growing queue for motorists attempting to gain position in the burger pick-up line caused some turmoil, but there was one high-test handle uncovered. I successfully topped off with 93-grade, and assured mission completion for the journey.

So, that was a minor part of the public panic in which I was able to be a participant. It had many more spectacular demonstrations. You have seen the images of the hardy country folk in lines and filling up truck-beds filled with red gas cans. There was no kinetic damage to blame for it, but the ensuing rush drained the storage tanks of most commercial sources. The Administration correctly pointed out that it was distribution of existing supplies, not a “shortage.” The Colonial folks said things would be back to normal as soon as a minor ransom was paid, $5 million, they said, converted to bitcoin. Whatever that is.

There is quite a story to all of it. Parts of our government declared no ransom should ever be paid, while others said, “Pay it and let’s get back to normal.” As usual, we are not quite sure what happened. There was a moment when most stations were out of fuel in states from New York to Florida. But there is gas at the pumps again and everything is fine. But there is, of course, much more.

The official story is that a Russian hacker group- DarkSide- managed to penetrate the Colonial management software. Since Colonial’s pipes carry 45% of the fuels used on the East Coast of the United States, the impact of disruption was profound. There are others watching, besides those of us here. The ransom payment is of interest to many who are active in the digital world. There are State actors who contemplate using disruption as acts of non-kinetic warfare. This may have been both. Truth is a hard commodity these days. But as a former targeting officer, it is an intriguing line of thought.

You are probably aware of some of the strange stuff going on. The commercial digital world is selling all sorts of information about what we do. My old home, the Defense Intelligence Agency, reportedly is purchasing unclassified information from the phone people. It is unclassified and not subject to the troubles of gaining court authorization to collect it. The Department of Homeland Security is reported to be doing the same thing, as is the Postal Service. The collection of such information used to be a challenge to people who work earnestly at the National Security Agency and Federal Law Enforcement. The digital age has brought new sources and methods to the business, and the constitutional basis for such collection, legal for commercial purposes, has not been brought to the courts as a matter subject to law.

In this digital wonderland, a pal noted that ancient means of action are enshrined in law. The Constitution recognized commercial collection could be useful. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 outlines Congressional authority to “To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;”

The phrase after “declaring war” is interesting. Letters of Marque have a long history, dating back to the 12th Century. The common legal understanding was that these letters be issued by a government to bring legal authority to what were essentially retaliatory acts. In the practice of the day, it was authorization for a private party to cross into the territory of another country to seize a ship deemed to be an enemy vessel or one engaged in trade with that enemy. This grant of authority was considered vital enough to include in the founding documents.

As with many things in this new digital world, there appears to be utility of old and recognized means to deal with entirely new ones. Which is to say, Congress could grant a Letter of Marque to those strange kids working in the basement of the nice home up the country road and let them work malign magic on the people who inconvenienced a lot of folks. There are reports something like that was done, but like other digital things, it was done without a formal Letter. I suspect that means we are going to have to learn all the old lessons the hard way. But this could be interesting indeed.

Oh, there are some direct implications of outsourcing things like War. I am not about to start in on the national electrical grid, but there are other people who are thinking about it. And thinking seriously.

More on that as we get to it. But it is already in progress. Where is that honorable pirate when you need one?

Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com