What
is cyber warfare?
Cyber warfare
is Internet-based conflict involving politically motivated attacks on
information and information systems. Cyber warfare attacks can disable official
websites and networks, disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified
data, and cripple financial systems -- among many other possibilities.
According
to Jeffrey Carr, author of "Inside Cyber Warfare," any country can
wage cyber war on any other country, irrespective of resources, because most
military forces are network-centric and connected to the Internet, which is not
secure. For the same reason, non-governmental groups and individuals could also
launch cyberwarfare attacks. Carr likens the Internet's enabling potential to
that of the handgun, which became known as "the great equalizer."
The video shown below answers the question whether cyber war exist or not.
Examples
of cyber warfare:
In
1998, the United States hacked into Serbia's air defense system to compromise
air traffic control and facilitate the bombing of Serbian targets.
In
2007, in Estonia, a botnet of over a million computers brought down government,
business and media websites across the country. The attack was suspected to
have originated in Russia, motivated by political tension between the two
countries.
Also
in 2007, an unknown foreign party hacked into high tech and military agencies
in the United States and downloaded terabytes of information.
In
2009, a cyber spy network called "GhostNet" accessed confidential
information belonging to both governmental and private organizations in over
100 countries around the world. GhostNet was reported to originate in China,
although that country denied responsibility.
The
most effective protection against cyber warfare attacks is securing information
and networks. Security updates should be applied to all systems -- including
those that are not considered critical -- because any vulnerable system can be
co-opted and used to carry out attacks. Measures to mitigate the potential
damage of an attack include comprehensive disaster recovery planning that
includes provisions for extended outages.
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