Cyberwar

BILOXI — The new blockbuster movie “Avatar” seems total fantasy, yet Keesler Air Force Base already is using avatar technology in a pilot cyberspace program.

Simply defined, an avatar is “you in cyberspace.” In the movie, a handicapped former Marine temporarily occupies another body, which is in cyberspace. It’s full immersion, like an out-of-body experience.

“You actually are that avatar in that environment. You’re inside that body,” said Lt. Col. Scott Solomon, commander of the 333rd Training Squadron at Keesler.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/science/13c...

The United States has begun talks with Russia and a United Nations arms control committee about strengthening Internet security and limiting military use of cyberspace.

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Cyberwar: The Times's series on the growing use of computer power as a weapon.
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http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cs_...

IT'S NOT JUST A DEFENSIVE GAME; CYBER-SECURITY INCLUDES ATTACK PLANS TOO, AND THE U.S. HAS ALREADY USED SOME OF THEM SUCCESSFULLY.

In May 2007, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency, based at Fort Meade, Md., to launch a sophisticated attack on an enemy thousands of miles away without firing a bullet or dropping a bomb.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG877/

The protection of cyberspace, the information medium, has become a vital national interest because of its importance both to the economy and to military power. An attacker may tamper with networks to steal information for the money or to disrupt operations. Future wars are likely to be carried out, in part or perhaps entirely, in cyberspace. It might therefore seem obvious that maneuvering in cyberspace is like maneuvering in other media, but nothing would be more misleading. Cyberspace has its own laws; for instance, it is easy to hide identities and difficult to predict or even understand battle damage, and attacks deplete themselves quickly. Cyberwar is nothing so much as the manipulation of ambiguity. The author explores these in detail and uses the results to address such issues as the pros and cons of counterattack, the value of deterrence and vigilance, and other actions the United States and the U.S. Air Force can take to protect itself in the face of deliberate cyberattack.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/article...

It may have seemed like just another improbable scene from a Hollywood sci-fi flick � Tom Cruise battling against an army of robotic spiders intent on hunting him down.

But the storyline from Minority Report may not be quite as far fetched as it sounds.

British defence giant BAE Systems is creating a series of tiny electronic spiders, insects and snakes that could become the eyes and ears of soldiers on the battlefield, helping to save thousands of lives.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/07/china.hack...

ZHOUSHAN, China (CNN) -- They operate from a bare apartment on a Chinese island. They are intelligent 20-somethings who seem harmless. But they are hard-core hackers who claim to have gained access to the world's most sensitive sites, including the Pentagon.

In fact, they say they are sometimes paid secretly by the Chinese government -- a claim the Beijing government denies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...

If there were any doubts that the United States is preparing for war in space and cyberspace, testimony before the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee last week would have wiped them away.

According to Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, head of U.S. Strategic Command, "our adversaries understand our dependence upon space-based capabilities, and we must be ready to detect, track, characterize, attribute, predict and respond to any threat to our space infrastructure."

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189...

There has been a sea change over the past year in the amount of government-sanctioned cyber-espionage, according to some security experts. They warn that�a "cyber cold war" is developing, in which governments are using technology not only for the immediate benefit of gaining intelligence from stolen data but also to probe critical national infrastructures for possible weak points�that could be exploited in the event of conflict.

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazi...

An excellent analysis of the ironically effective deployment of the net centric battlefield of the future, and it's total lack of effectiveness in fighting combatants utilizing an asymmetric strategy.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/nov07/5668

Terrorists are leveraging information technology to organize, recruit, and learn—and the West is struggling to keep up.