Our February 2011 Issue: Cyber-Warfare
We have been reminded of the significant role that information technology can play in world events over the last few weeks.From Tunisia, to Egypt, to Jordan, to Yemen, dramatic protests against the status quo are being enabled by Facebook, twitter, and mobile devices. Live blogs, photos, and video feeds of the action by common citizens are pouring in, competing for air time with the professional reporters and crews of Al Jazeera and CNN to inform and to inflame. The growing role of communications to affect political movements is revolutionary in itself.
Cyber warfare is another aspect of information technology that plays a prominent role in a world where borders don’t extend to networks. Discussing this phenomenon requires its own lexicon of double-entendre words. Individuals today can use hacking, spyware, document theft, firewalls, email bombs, denial of service, viruses, worms, phishing, jamming of command and control, or other forms of high-tech nastiness to set off an international incident at the behest of a government or otherwise.
The February 2011 issue of Foreign Policy Digest aspires to shine a bright light on the shadowy workings of cyber warfare taking place in every region of the world.
Robert Friedman’s editorial kicks off our issue with an overview of cyber warfare and how we must bridge the gap between the seriousness of the threat and general lack of awareness of it. The column makes clear that cyber warfare is just now entering its infancy and will undoubtedly continue to grow.
The biggest cyber warfare story of the last few years was the Stuxnet worm, a mysterious program that was probably created by one or multiple government agencies specifically to disable critical infrastructure. The known consequences of Stuxnet include the infamous setbacks at the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran. For the Middle East section, Jason Fisher writes an excellent breakdown of exactly what Stuxnet is all about as well as its profound implications.The article will leave readers wondering “Stuxnet…what’s next?”
Daniel Pechtol writes in the Europe Russia section of the more overt nation-on-nation cyber warfare tactics that Russia has brought to bear, including the complete shutdown of Georgian government websites coinciding neatly with the advancement of Russian tanks into Georgia in 2008. The article includes an analysis of other scenarios that may play out if Russia bares its cyber warfare fangs again. The implications for the EU, NATO, the United States, and others are discussed.
Mihoko Matsubara explains in this month’s Asia Pacific section why the U.S. is losing the cyber war and what it must do to catch up. Since 9/11, the U.S. has been lagging behind in cyber security.China has risen to become an active leader in cyber attacks against the U.S. Additionally, the U.S. has been hesitant to lay blame directly on the Chinese government for fear that such claims will result in further attacks that overwhelm U.S. defensive measures.
In Latin America, the problem so far isn’t dramatic cyber attacks being carried out between nations. The larger issue, as our Americas Regional Editor Sean Bartlett reports, is vulnerability. Government systems throughout Latin America are ill-equipped to deal with the threat of cyber warfare, and haven’t developed adequate plans to address it. Brazil provides a good case study of the challenges involved, and Bartlett recognizes that the United States can play a lead role in this sphere.
Africa Regional Editor Mohammed Hamid Mohammed covers another aspect of cyber warfare: scam artists originating in Africa who offer get rich quick schemes or emails of distress in order to steal personal financial information from around the world. This problem can be traced to educated and motivated individuals in Nigeria and other countries facing dire poverty and unemployment; idle minds concoct these dangerous schemes. While the rise of electronic banking in Africa offers convenience and speed to customers, it exacerbates the potential for cyber theft.
South Asia Regional Editor Mahanth Joishy surveys the lively cyber warfare scene around the Asian subcontinent. He writes of elements unique to the region including revolutionary covert attacks by terrorists, an accidental worm originating from Pakistan that became a dubious trailblazer, heated cyber weapons races playing out between nations, and the frightening scenarios of cyber warfare entering the realm of nuclear warfare.
We hope our February issue hasn’t scared you too much already. If it has, may we recommend FPD’s exclusive book review of Parag Khanna’s How to Run the World, just released in January 2011. With this book Khanna confidently set out with no less ambitious a task than to map out the solutions to virtually all global problems we face in these “new middle ages.” The review includes discussion of the “mega-diplomacy” that Khanna calls for, along with other radical recommendations. We expect the book will be widely read and talked about- not least for its controversial positions- and you can read about it here first.
Mahanth Joishy is the South Asia Regional Editor of Foreign Policy Digest.
