Innovations
in technology are changing the tactics of modern-day conflict. There are new
tools in today's arsenal of weapons. Helped by advances in electro-magnetics
and modern information and communications technology, a new form of electronic
warfare has been created. It is called cyberwar and is increasingly recognised
by governments and the military as posing a potentially grave threat.
"If
you have a few smart people and a good computer, then you can do a lot. You
don't need an aircraft, you don't need tanks, you don't need an army. You can
penetrate another country, create huge damage without even leaving your
armchair."Alon
Ben David, military analyst for Israel's Channel 10
And
it is not just cyberwar that is a growing phenomenon. The internet has
empowered cyberactivism, allowing people to share information and mobilise
support to take direct action - both online and on the streets.
Social
networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have been at the
forefront of this new wave of cyberactivism, helping to galvanise the protests
that have recently spread across the Arab world.
The
so-called Arab Spring has been described as an electronic revolution.
Protesters were turned into citizen journalists - taking frontline images on
their mobile phones and uploading them via their computers for the world to
see. The regimes may have jammed the signals of satellite news channels and
banned international reporters from entering their country, but they were
unable to prevent citizens from becoming reporters in their own right.
From
cyberactivism to cyberwar
Using
the internet as a platform for political action is one thing. But infiltrating
and disrupting computer networks and databases takes cyberwar to another level.
American security experts have warned that a cyber-attack could cripple key
governmental and financial systems and it is a threat the US is taking
seriously.
"Cyberspace
is real. And so are the risks that come with it. From now on, our digital
infrastructure, the networks and computers we depend on every day, will be
treated as they should be, as a strategic national asset." Barack
Obama, the US president
In
recent years a cyberwar has been brewing between China and the US, with both
countries accusing each other of running an 'army of hackers'.
A
key battlefield in this war has been the case of Google.
The
US internet company partially withdrew from China in 2010 after a tussle with
the government over censorship and government-backed hacking.
China
accuses the US of using Google to spy on the country, while Google accuses
China of hacking into the email accounts of some of its members.
"We
must differentiate between independent hackers and those of the state. We must
understand that in some countries the authorities hire hackers with excellent
technical knowledge to serve their interests. Everything is possible and states
shouldn't accuse each other since all options are open in this war." Han,
a Chinese internet hacker
The
US also appears to be engaged in a cyberwar with another erstwhile enemy: Iran.
It
appeared to begin in 2009 following Iranian anti-government protests - sparked
by the disputed presidential elections which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win
another term in office.
Seeking
to deprive the opposition of its main means of mobilising the masses, the
Iranian authorities sought to choke off internet access.
But
the protestors continued to use sites such as YouTube and Twitter and when
Twitter planned some routine maintenance that would have taken it offline for a
few hours, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, asked the site to stay
up and running while the protests continued.
Electronic
eyes and ears
In
the Middle East, Israel has set up a cyber command to secure the country
against hacking attacks on its key networks.
Israel's
immediate neighbourhood is the place where it puts into use much of its
technical know-how. Along its northern border with Lebanon, Israel deploys a
large network of electronic eyes and ears.
And
in the ongoing intelligence war between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah,
increasingly sophisticated electronic equipment is being used.
In
February 2010, Lebanon arrested a man who reportedly confessed to being a
Mossad agent. It was claimed that he had used sophisticated surveillance
equipment that sent signals to his Israeli handlers via a mobile phone and
computer located in a hidden compartment inside his car.
It
may all sound like science fiction, but a global spying network does exist that
can eavesdrop on every single phone call and email on the planet.
Eavesdropping
on phone calls and text messages has become increasing easy for those with the right
equipment, especially with the development of GSM networks - the technology
used on the vast majority of mobile phone networks around the world.
"Give
me your mobile phone for 30 seconds, give me 30 seconds alone with your mobile
phone and I can install software that would make your mobile phone a travelling
microphone. From that moment on, even if it is shut down, your mobile phone
will broadcast everything that goes on around you, through a number that I
determine."Alon
Ben David, military analyst for Israel's Channel 10
A
brave new world?
Many
analysts are amazed at how internet users voluntarily hand over vast amounts of
personal data to social media sites.
And
planting software into a person's phone or computer to steal data has become a
new tactic of warfare in the fifth dimension.
"Our
entire life is now on the internet: personal information, emails, credit cards.
We give all this information on the internet to sites like Facebook, Google and
Amazon. Governments impose pressure on these sites as they know how much
information they have. These governments have asked for personal information
from these sites, and they gave them what they needed."
Marwan
Taher, IT specialist
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