> Of course the Chinese government knows this and was likely not responsible for the attack.
This is an example of the logical fallacy of "argumentum ad stultum", or "appeal to stupidty".
It goes like this:
- X would be stupid.
- No one would ever do anything stupid.
: Therefore no one would ever do X.
There are so many counter-examples to this argument that they hardly bear mentioning. People do stupid things every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Organizations multiply stupidity as often as they moderate it.
It may be that this wasn't the Chinese government, but pointing out that it would be stupid for them to do so is not an argument against it at all.
> People do stupid things every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
While you are correct in pointing out the logical fallacy, there have been several examples of highly likely false-flag cyber attacks lately. The Sony hack is another example, the result of which was the exact opposite of what the state actor alleged to have done the attack wanted.
"Cyber attacks" are a great platform for false flag attacks because it's easy to obtain servers or DDOS drones in any country.
I'd say a good indicator of strategy like this going on is when a defacing attack is accompanied by targeted data breach. Chances are the data breach was the goal, and the defacing the smoke screen.
Many HN readers could stage a cyber attack that would be initially linked to North Korea or China with a few hours of reading/research.
This is an example of the logical fallacy of "argumentum ad stultum", or "appeal to stupidty".
It goes like this:
- X would be stupid. - No one would ever do anything stupid. : Therefore no one would ever do X.
There are so many counter-examples to this argument that they hardly bear mentioning. People do stupid things every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Organizations multiply stupidity as often as they moderate it.
It may be that this wasn't the Chinese government, but pointing out that it would be stupid for them to do so is not an argument against it at all.