Paper Summary:

The paper defines warfare and offers a distinction between cyberwar and cyberterrorism. The paper suggests that cyberwar is a strategic initiative that can only be waged by a government or structured political-military establishment while cyberterrorism is a low intensity action that can be waged by anyone that has knowledge of information technology. The paper discusses how it is more likely that cyberterrorism would be the weapon of war for the cyberbattlefield since it is cheaper to implement and single individuals could be deployed all over the world to initiate their individual cyberattacks or engage in a concerted effort.

From the Paper:

"It is the harsh and unfortunate reality that the history of mankind relates to the history of warfare and violence. Prehistoric men used sticks and stones to conquer neighboring tribes and in the same manner, these weapons were used to hunt and forage for food. With the discovery of fire, mankind was able to cook the food hunted and gathered while also keeping warm on cold nights. But still, fire was used as a weapon of warfare when sticks, stones and strings were brought together to form the spears and the bows and arrows. Fire was used with these implements to ensure maximum damage to the opponents thus ensuring victory to the more innovative combatant. Throughout the centuries, various weapons of warfare that maximizes destruction of adversaries were invented by man - gunpowder, the cannon, various types of guns and rifles and of course the nuclear bomb."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Lewis, James A. (2002, December). Assessing the risks of cyber terrorism, cyber war and other cyber threats. [Online] Retrieved May 9, 2008 from the Center for Strategic and International Studies database from the Website: http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/021101_risks_of_cyberterror.pdf.
• Marston, C.A. (2005). Counterinsurgency: What is it and why is it difficult? [Online] Retrieved May 9, 2008 from the Website: http://ccw.politics.ox.ac.uk/events/archives/mt04_marston.ppt.
• Schneier, Bruce. (2008, May 1). "America's dilemma: Close security holes, or exploit them ourselves." Wired. [Online] Retrieved May 9, 2008 from the CondeNet database on the Website: http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2008/05/blog_securitymatters_0501.
• Schneier, Bruce. (2007, June 4). Schneier on security. [Online] Retrieved May 9, 2008 from the BT Counterpane database on the Website: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/06/cyberwar.html.
• Traynor, Ian. (2007, May 17). "Russia accused of unleashing cyberwar to disable Estonia." The Guardian. [Online] Retrieved May 9, 2008 from the Guardian News and Media Limited database on the Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/17/topstories3.russia.

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