Cyberwar

The New War Frontier: CyberSpace

  As nations have struggled for power in the international realm, they have gone face to face in different battlefields. Durning the World Wars, countries mastered the playing fields of land, air, and water. In the the space race, the United States and the Soviet Union tried to prove superiority by conquering space. However, as technology has advanced, nations face a new frontier: cyberspace. A vast amount of information is available through the internet and computer networks; and almost everything of technologically advanced countries such as the United States is connected through cyberspace. Foreign invasion could mean crippling damage to the victim- potentially more so than traditional warfare. In cyberspace, the military, the economy, and private corporations are at risk. Cybersecurity and cyberoffense and defense have risen to the forefront of national security issues; and as society becomes more futuristic cyberwar will outdate traditional forms of warfare.
  Cyberspace holds information that is critical to the national security that, if acquired enemies to the state, can be destructive. Military units have information regarding logistics, operations, weapons, and intelligence in their networks. If these networks are hacked, as they have been in the past, foreign invaders can commit cyber espionage and cyber terrorism. Important military secrets can be stolen through cyber espionage. The nature of cyberspace allows adversaries to obtain intelligence from across the world. In this sense, it can be very dangerous to the victim, yet safer and easier for the culprit, than conventional espionage. Invaders can also cause destruction through cyber terrorism by infecting the military networks with viruses. On a larger scale, cyber terrorism could even be committed by hacking into power grids which are run through the internet and shutting off and controlling power. This would greatly affect a country and its citizens, having...