Cyber warfare and how it will affect future warfare and politics
Cyber warfare entails using computer technology in order to cause disruption in a state or within an organization. This may involve attacking particular information or the systems that are used to manage the activities in the state or organization including the military purposes. The kind of information may put the organization or state at risk in case it is leaked to the wrong hands. Cyber warfare can be just as dangerous and lethal weapon warfare. Information security is a very sensitive issue for any organization or government. As a result, cyber warfare might not only have an effect on current affairs but also on future warfare and politics.
Cyber warfare in politics can involve hacking the systems used during the elections. This can lead to hacking of elections and rigging in the process. This is promotion of corruption in itself. When individuals in a certain party do not want to accept a loss, they can hack into the voting systems and ensure that the member of their party wins (Dipert, 2014 35). This is however illegal as it is not promotion of democracy in a voting nation. It is imposing a certain leader on the people even affect they clearly do not want him. Such an illegal activity promotes political hostility and might even stir up violence among members of the public.
The hostility that starts up after rigging can lead to post election violence as each party’s members believe that they deserved to win. Cyber warfare can therefore be said to have the potential to trigger civil wars and cause great harm within a county. It is not just a form of promoting corruption but it also has the capability of resulting in lack of trust in the governance of a nation or an organization. Hacking could take place during elections, after elections or while the systems that will be used for the elections are being developed by the company given that responsibility (Gompert, & Libicki, 2014 21).
Cyber warfare may end up putting sensitive military information at risk. People who intend to attack a particular government might end up hacking into their system to get particular information. The military is a very delicate part of any nation and requires to be handled with great care. Gaining information about the individuals in the military and the different people sent to different countries can put many missions in jeopardy (Taylor, Fritsch, and Liederbach, 2014 13). For instance, if the government of Iraq managed to hack into the American government systems and access information about the soldiers deployed in their area, it would end up putting the lives of these soldiers at risk. A worse situation is information about CIA official leaking to the wrong people. The people undercover in various illegal operations would end up losing their lives of facing torture as a result of such cyber warfare. This kind of warfare can also end up leaving a nation more vulnerable than ever. Sensitive information about their various militia strategies and weaponry can end up being leaked to the wrong people (Stone, 2013 106). The safety of a nation should always come first and the work of the military system is to ensure this is achieved. However, if their strategies are leaked, then they are not going to be able to effectively protect the citizens a nation and terrorist will have an easier time launching attacks on a vulnerable nation (Dombrowski, and Demchak, 2014 70).
Cyber warfare can end up breeding enmity on various levels. The first level would be among the civilians. They might end up hating each other and fighting after rigged elections. The citizens can also start attacking the government and find it incompetent in matters of ensuring security of the nation. With a lot of information belonging to the citizens and about their personal details being stored in the government systems, a breach of these systems could cause chaos and panic throughout the country (Thomas, 2014 118).
Cyber warfare can also breed enmity between countries which may lead to weaponry warfare. When a country feels threatened by another country, there is a high chance that they will start preparing themselves for physical war (Schmidt, 2014 83). Once sensitive information has been hacked and leaked from one country, then the other country might also plan to reiterate. In the process, the enmity between both international countries increases. This will leak out to the way the countries relate and any businesses they undertook together. In the end, it is the citizens within the country who are going to suffer from international enmity. The states might impose buns on members of certain countries immigrating to their country reducing job opportunities in the process (Gartzke 2013 43).
There is speculation that in future, cyber warfare is going to overshadow war on the ground. The world has shifted to a more technological and software dependent industry. Information is what makes one powerful. A nation that has great information and can hold dirt on another country will be seen as the stronger nation. In the past, owner came from physically conquering other nations through bloodshed. Today, information is power. Only the nation that has more information is in a better position of governing the other nations in the word and setting technological trends (Kreps & Das 2017 14).
Coming up with a method of ensuring a secure future for the next generations is important. The world has shifted online and to the use of the internet and software for basically all aspects of life. Governments are storing their information in large database that are always being upgraded and worked on to ensure the best possible cyber security. On the other hand, hackers are working day and night to crack the protective layers developed for these systems (Andres & Winterfeld 2013 18). Others are creating all kinds of viruses with the intention of making profits as people try to get ant viruses. At this rate, information is at risk all the time and it is challenging to not only keep updating systems but to also develop software that cannot be penetrated by outsiders.
In conclusion, cyber warfare could be a very dangerous thing for generation to come. Companies dealing in software have the task of always upgrading their material to ensure that their software is always protected from hackers. People with ill intentions will always try and hack into government systems containing sensitive information for their own personal gain. Enmity among the nations across the world is going to lead to dysfunctional systems and lack of trust from other nations as well as from citizens within the nations. Perhaps the best way to ensure the future is protected from cyber warfare is to promote awareness on the risk of cyber warfare and how to avoid it. Therefore
References
Taylor, R.W., Fritsch, E.J. and Liederbach, J., 2014. Digital crime and digital terrorism. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 13
Dipert, R.R., 2014. The Future Impact of a Long Period of Limited Cyberwarfare on the Ethics of Warfare. In The Ethics of Information Warfare (pp. 25-37). Springer International Publishing.
Gartzke, E., 2013. The myth of cyberwar: bringing war in cyberspace back down to earth. International Security, 38(2), pp.41-73.
Stone, J., 2013. Cyber war will take place!. Journal of Strategic Studies, 36(1), pp.101-108.
Kreps, S.E. and Das, D., 2017. Warring from the Virtual to the Real: Assessing the Public’s Threshold for War on Cyber Security. Pp. 14
Andress, J. and Winterfeld, S., 2013. Cyber warfare: techniques, tactics and tools for security practitioners. Elsevier. Pp. 18
Thomas, T., 2014. Russia’s Information Warfare Strategy: Can the Nation Cope in Future Conflicts?. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 27(1), pp.101-130.
Dombrowski, P. and Demchak, C.C., 2014. Cyber war, cybered conflict, and the maritime domain. Naval War College Review, 67(2), p.70.
Gompert, D.C. and Libicki, M., 2014. Cyber warfare and Sino-American crisis instability. Survival, 56(4), pp.7-22.
Schmidt, N., 2014. Neither Conventional War, nor a Cyber War, but a Long-Lasting and Silent Hybrid War. Obrana a strategie, (2), pp.73-86.
