Before we dive deeper into this subject, lets explain what cyberwar actually means: “the use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization, especially the deliberate attacking of information systems for strategic or military purposes.”
Twenty years ago people wouldn’t believe that something like a cyberwar could exist. Nowadays it still sounds a bit science fiction like. But last week, the dutch minister of defense stated that the Netherlands is in “cyberwar” with Russia. This statement was made after the arrest of Russian hackers in the Netherlands. These hackers were trying to gain intelligence from the OPCW, a chemical weapon watchdog. The OPCW is currently investigating sensitive affairs for the Russians like the use of chemical weapons by Syria and the alleged poisoning by Russia of some its defected spies. According to the Dutch minister, this hack attempt shows that the nature of warfare has changed a lot.
Another great example was the stuxnet worm attack on Iran in 2010. The USA attacked the nuclear infrastructure of Iran with a computer virus. The virus was send to computers connected to uranium centrifuges and would let these centrifuges spun to quickly, resulting in a broken uranium centrifuge. This attack did great harm to the nuclear activities of Iran.
So what can we expect from the future? The things that are known to the public, like the Russian hack attempt on the OPCW and the stuxnet worm attack are probably only the tip of the iceberg. A lot is already going on when it comes to cyber warfare. Taking the technological developments into consideration it is logical to expect bigger and more breaking attempts to disrupts activities through the use of computer technology in the future.
References:
Hoe de Russische hackers in beeld kwamen bij de MIVD | NU – Het laatste nieuws het eerst op NU.nl. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.nu.nl/weekend/5498621/russische-hackers-in-beeld-kwamen-bij-mivd.html
Minister van Defensie: cyberoorlog met Rusland. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2018/10/14/minister-van-defensie-cyberoorlog-met-rusland-a2510671
Stuxnet Worm Attack on Iranian Nuclear Facilities. (2018). Retrieved from http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/holloway1/
Hi Eric, good read – interesting to read your point of view when you’re talking about the future of cyberwar. A lot is already going in world of cyber warfare, I agree. You mentioned that taking the technological developments into consideration it is logical to expect bigger and more breaking attempts to disrupts activities through the use of computer technology in the future. So I’m wondering, where does the responsibility of private firms begin and end in cyberwar?
That is a really good question. The best thing to do is to make legislation that guides the companies in which actions they are allowed to take. Cyberwarfare has an offensive side you can compare this with how we percieve violence in our society. The German sociologist Max Weber defined the mononopoly on violence as essential for a sovereign state. The power of a state to maintain this monopoly is important for the legitimacy and stability of a state. Given the fact that actions related to cyber warfare can disrupt the legitimacy and stability of a state, I think it is necessary for a state to have a monopoly on cyber warfare.