Most IT systems fail not because someone makes a mistake. They fail because no one understands the overall behavior.
This SOS deals with emergent system effects: situations in which correctly built components together produce something that no one planned, modeled, or controlled.
Using real-world examples from IT infrastructure, cloud dependencies, API designs, AI usage, update cascades, and financial and identity systems, we show how technical decisions can create lasting stress and conflict – often without a classic attacker, without an exploit, without a clear trigger.
In line with the 39C3 motto “Power Cycles – Rethink, Reboot, Restart,” the session asks the question:
What do we need to rethink before we restart? What can be rebooted – and what needs a fundamental rethink?
The term “sustainable war” is understood not in a military sense, but in a systemic sense:
- as a state of permanent repurposing,
- overstretching, and creeping destabilization of IT systems, which
- drives innovation,
- undermines resilience,
- and generates social side effects.
Especially in times of global upheaval – geopolitical, technological, social – autonomy, dependencies, and resilience must be reevaluated. Not as buzzwords, but as concrete system properties.
The session is aimed at:
- Administrators, security engineers, CISOs
- Architects, technical decision-makers
- People from think tanks, regulation, and technology impact assessment