By Gary Dickson
Ironically, almost everything that has ever been used as a weapon of warfare has also been used to benefit mankind. The earliest examples are stones, clubs, knives, spears and the bow and arrow. They were all used in the hunt for food, but, of course, they worked equally well for killing human beings. Firearms, atomic energy and computers have also served mankind positively, as well as for war.
Yes, computers can and are being used as weapons. Few inventions in human history have changed the world as much as the computer. But, as beneficial as it has been, it appears that the computer is rapidly evolving into the weapon of choice for warfare of the future.
I recently watched a televised speech by Richard Clarke, a counterterrorism adviser to two presidents; Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He was vocal during the months before Sept. 11 that an attack was ominous. “Cyber War, the Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It,” his most recent book, was published this spring. His speech focused on cyber warfare. I have to admit that I was na?ve about his topic and I found what Clarke had to say enlightening, but also frightening.
According to Clarke, “A cyber attack could disable trains all over the country, it could blow up pipelines. It could cause blackouts and damage electrical power grids so that the blackouts would go on for a long time. It could wipe out and confuse financial records, so that we would not know who owned what, and the financial system would be badly damaged. It could do things like disrupt traffic in urban areas by knocking out control computers. It could, in nefarious ways, do things like wipe out medical records.”
Sure, I was aware that people hack computers and I know how disruptive that can be, but I always linked that to misguided, intelligent loners who did it just to see if they could. The truth is many countries, including ours, have created a cyber warfare department that has recruited thousands of individuals with excellent computer skills and taught them how to prevent incoming cyber attacks and how to launch outgoing attacks. Richard Clarke said, “The Pentagon is all over this. The Pentagon has created a four-star general command called Cyber Command, which is a military organization with thousands of people in it to go to war using these [cyber] weapons.”
I suppose one obvious advantage of using cyber weapons is that it makes conducting warfare more safe and comfortable for the combatants. Cyber soldiers can be located anywhere, in a nice, temperature-controlled environment from where they wreak havoc on a variety of the enemy”s major systems, such as air traffic control and the stock market, all by just manipulating their keyboard while staring at a computer screen. A disadvantage is the targets are mostly civilians.
According to Tom Silver, in an article titled “The Cyber-Warrior Decade,” both government and private organizations are gearing up for cyber battle. Silver wrote, “? anyone with the word ?cyber” on his or her resume commands a 20-percent higher salary.” Although he mentioned that private industry is lagging behind in cyber security, he said that gains are being made. Walgreens, the huge pharmacy/department store chain, now has a corporate cyber-SWAT team in place.
Richard Clarke is also on record as having concerns about the vulnerability of private industry. He mentioned power grids, banking systems and medical records as likely targets. Perhaps that had something to do with the Obama administration changing federal policy on Oct. 21. Other than in times of natural disasters our military was not allowed to deploy on U.S. soil. Now, the military can provide support in the case of a cyber attack inside U.S. boundaries.
I no longer feel as na?ve as I did on this issue. But now, I”ve had to add cyber attack to my daily worries list.
Gary Dickson is the publisher of the Record-Bee. Call him at 263-5636, ext. 24. E-mail him at gdickson@record-bee.com.
