The steady influx of technology in this day and age has transformed the face of war. From conventional weapons ranging from sticks to guns, from swords to missiles, now computers are used in this information age to destroy and annihilate. This era indeed is the dawn of cyberwar.
Methods of attack in cyberwarfare includes espionage, national security breaches, sabotage, and electric power grids. These are all done thru the means of state-of-the-art digital technology or even ICT. Warriors used to take the form of big-muscled, hefty, no-nonsense combatants; now, hackers and computer wizards dominate with their monopoly of knowledge (which translates to cyber conflict power). But the purpose is as old as time: to defeat, nay destroy, the enemy. No need for a new computer-savvy Sun-Tzu.
An example of this combative phenomenon is the DDOS attack on Wikileaks, the online whistleblower. More recently, US experts are quoted in saying that there is "too much hysteria" nowadays that aggravate the problem of a possible full-blown cyberwar between nations (read: international cyber armed conflict). This only goes to show that democratic states-and even their private sector-are wary of the potential destructive impact that "rogue" nations (that is, in the cyber sense) may wield in a bid for hegemony.
I suppose that our corpus of laws must respond to these recent advances (or should I say a leap backward?) in human activity. International humanitarian law, or the law of armed conflict, needs to address this new kind of conflict with a destructive effect possibly more than conventional warfare's. It is also essential for ICT regulation to ensure that its use will only be dedicated for peaceful and productive ends. This way, the constant fear of man's extinction and apocalypse may be assuaged by our hope for lasting peace for generations present and future.
Richmund C. Sta. Lucia, Post #14
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