It’s inevitable that everything in the world changes. In the past, it was insane to be flying up in the sky. Just the thought of that idea was enough to consider a person crazy. In today’s reality, a lot of people hop on board airplanes to travel all over the world. The pace of CP tech is fast and everything that was impossible yesterday is possible today.
Due to technology spreading and advancing rapidly all over the world, the things we usually do are even changing. The way we wage wars before was on the battlefield. Today, we still wage wars, albeit on a different stage. Enter Cyberspace: where everything can happen, even waging war with another person, group, or even a country.
What is Cyberwar?
A Cyberwar is a war that’s done online. It can involve two or more parties and is very difficult to stop. Most operations done in a cyberwar are espionage, hacking, leaking of essential data, sabotage, etc. The effects of cyberwar may or may not be felt immediately, but it is undoubtedly devastating for the losing side.
Weapons of Choice
Just like any war, combatants also use weapons. These weapons can be in the form of viruses, worms, malware, phishing programs, etc. These weapons aren’t merely programs that are easily removed or erased. An example of such a devastating virus causing chaos around the world was The Lovebug.
The virus was considered by a lot of experts to be the worst virus to affect the online world. The virus then made its way globally, causing a lot of problems for private sectors. The Lovebug even deleted files and caused server breakdowns in the Pentagon and the British Parliament, to name a few.
The Bug was eventually stopped but not before incurring damages of up to $10 billion all over the world. In a world where we rely mostly on the internet in our lives, having such a horrific presence like that of the Lovebug is indeed terrifying.
Trolls
A Troll might be the stuff of myths and legends in the past, but today you can see trolls online on a daily basis. A troll is a person who causes disruption, arguments, fights, negative feedback online by posting libelous and often provocative messages.
When a person trolls another person, the act is called Trolling. Trolling can be fun and is often made up of light-hearted jokes between friends. However, serious consequences often happen when excessive trolling happens to both familiar and unfamiliar parties.
Trolling is a severe problem that often leaves catastrophic effects on a person or group. Trolling is so severe that some people commit suicide just because they were targets of trolls. The anonymity of a troll is often what makes it so terrifying; your friend, your relative, your classmate, your seatmate, virtually anyone can troll.
Cyberterrorism
Another term that’s often confused with cyberwar is cyberterrorism. Cyberterrorism by definition is an act that uses the internet to inflict harm, to threaten, or negatively affect a person, group, or country. Cyberterrorism is done to achieve some personal gain through the use of intimidation and other means online.
In a more public scene, extremists from all over the world use the internet to push through with their violent ideologies. Most of the time, these groups post videos of their violent activities online. Social Media is also a platform where these groups share these videos or images so they can terrify people on a global scale.
A Political Tool
Cyberwars are also a venue to influence the political scene of a country. In the book “Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President,” the author suggests that Russian hackers and trolls may have had a hand in electing Donald Trump as the U.S. President in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections.
Takeaway
Cyberspace is indeed a vast space where you can do everything, even wage wars. Even today, groups of hackers release viruses to their enemies and vice versa. With technological advancements looming in and out of every corner of the world, it’s not hard to imagine that future wars between the country will be made on massive scales online.
Adam Jones is a writer and blogger who enjoys writing about military tech and the like. He relies on a lot of effective equipments such as to do his job properly. When not writing, Adam enjoys going out with his buddies.
