Why the Next World War Will be Fought on Computers

   The age of the internet is a dangerous one indeed.  Every month that goes by, we see more companies and governments effected by breaches.  Millions of Americans have been hit hard with fraud on their credit cards, or had their identities stolen to claim IRS returns.  As technology becomes better and smarter, we are relying on it more and more.  Modern business operations can't run without computers or the data that their company relies on.

   Traditional warfare is expensive.  Countries have to ship men and women to the battlegrounds, ensure proper supply lines, run a proper work force back home to ensure enough supplies are being produced.  Cyper warfare is cheap.  You just need a team of hackers and you can bring even the largest of countries to their knees if the right infrastructure is crippled.  Not to mention, it's much easier to get away with cyber war than traditional war.  With the proper precautions taken, it's extremely difficult to track the source of a breach.

   In an article on ZDNet, David Gewirtz discusses a lot of the reasons why cyber warfare makes much more sense than traditional warfare in the digital age.  "Cyberwar can be brutal, anonymous -- and profitable." - David Gewirtz.  If you think about what was involved for all countries involved in each of the two World Wars, as well as the Cold War.  It required huge investments in infrastructure, people, supplies, etc.  Cyberwar just needs some decently powered computers, a decent Internet connection and some brainy computer experts.  Stuxnet was an eye opener to everyone in computer security.  It was the first weaponized computer code, one that was developed by the US.  

   As an IT pro, I have to focus more and more on keeping my company's network safe, especially since I work in a finance.  I have to close as many holes as I can, an ensure that the employees are being vigilant.  As cyber crime increases, IT pros everywhere have to get our company's to understand the risks they are taking and doing the proper steps to keep themselves safe.  If not, it's only a matter of time before we're involved in a data breach.

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About Jimmy R. Tassin

Jimmy Tassin is the IT Manager of Midwest Regional Bank and has been involved with the Technology field for over thirteen years. His two hobbies are overseeing the daily operations of OmniKraft, a Minecraft server community, and writing at Goblinbyte.com.