Cyberwarfare is a type of warfare that occurs in cyberspace, involving aggressive or malicious actions against individuals, companies, or governments. It includes espionage, sabotage, and vandalism to gain access to critical computer systems. The obtained information can be used for further cyber warfare efforts, such as cyber sabotage. Many countries are taking cyber attacks seriously and are moving towards a cyber arms race to defend themselves and launch cyber attacks.
Cyberwarfare is a form of warfare that occurs in “cyberspace,” which is the abstract place where internet websites and databases exist. This is not physical space in the sense that servers and other hardware running websites exist in real space, but instead refers to the collective digital information that makes up the internet. Cyberwarfare typically consists of Internet activity that represents new forms of attack, while resembling old military or combat practices. This may include vandalism, espionage and sabotage to obtain information and gain access to critical computer systems.
Also sometimes referred to as cyber warfare, cyber espionage, and cyber terrorism, cyber warfare can consist of any type of aggressive or malicious action taken against a corporation, individual, or government agency that occurs in cyberspace. There are different forms of cyber attacks that can be perpetrated against a person, a company or a government and these different attacks usually build on each other towards a single target. Espionage is a common form of cyberwarfare, often referred to as cyberespionage, and typically involves an attempt to learn secret or private information about a person, company, or government.
This can be done as part of further cyber warfare efforts to obtain intelligence that can be used against that person or agency. For example, there have been attacks where a group targets a person to gain access to their email and other private documents, which are then used to prosecute the person for dissident behavior against a presiding government. Between nations, this type of attack could be used, and probably has been used, to gain access to sensitive or classified information regarding military operations or strategies.
Information obtained in this way can be used in cyber sabotage in a cyber warfare campaign. For example, a cyber terrorist or cyber soldier could have access to data related to the pressure control of a gas pipeline. This information could be further used to assume pressure controls and even override safety systems and cause the pipeline to explode or shut down. Attacks such as these, in a large enough coordinated effort, could cause serious harm, injury, or otherwise adversely affect the operations of a business or country.
While cyber warfare is a fairly new form of warfare, it is taken very seriously by many companies and countries around the world. Security concerns for governments and businesses increasingly revolve around cyber attacks, and many nations are moving towards something of a cyber arms race to amass cyber experts to defend themselves and launch cyber attacks. Many military officials view cyberattacks as of great importance, and future military campaigns are likely to include cyberspace as well as land, sea, air and space operations.
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