Cyberwarfare can be defined as a series of cyber attacks that are done by an individual or an organization against a particular country. The attacks carry the ability to destroy the government of a country or harm the overall infrastructure. It might also cause disruptions and severe damage to the stability of the society or the community. The attacks may also lead to loss of lives or sincere destruction of the state. This is why several debates are being held about nations’ cyber security. Different countries have set up departments to deal with cyber attacks occasionally. Although several actions are being taken to avoid cyber attacks, a proper definition of cyber warfare still needs to be established.
While some countries interpret cyber warfare as a series of cyber attacks, others see it as attacks that are engineered towards the loss of life in another country. Cyber warfare is the attack on cyber systems by one country on another. These are also categorized as terrorist attacks by a hostile nation in an attempt to destroy a particular nation. Several examples of cyber warfare exist to help clearly understand the concept. As millions of people and businesses rely on the stability and security of internet connectivity, cyber attacks tend to cause much more damage than military activities.
As discussed in the previous sections, several cyber warfare attacks exist today. An attempt will be made to comprehend the meaning of these attacks in a brief overview as follows:
1. Espionage
Includes the monitoring of the activities of other nations to steal secrets. It typically involves spear phishing attacks that collect important state secrets and information that can be used against the nation’s security. It also compromises the computer systems so the operators cannot use them for any actions.
2. Sabotage
All government organizations have a series of sensitive information about the country that they tend to protect.
If this information gets leaked, it might cause a major risk to the country. Individuals who indulge in this type of cyber warfare destroy this information, steal it, or even leverage it to get more information from the employees to attack a country.
3. DoS Attacks
DoS attacks are Denial of Service attacks where the actual users cannot use a particular website because the attacker tends to flood the website with fake requests. The attacks cause a major disruption in the system, and access to critical operations is shut down. It can cause a major problem for military personnel or civilians as well.
4. Electric Power Grid
If a power grid is attacked in a particular country, it can lead to a complete disruption and turn off the critical systems based on which everything else would work. The electric downtime can even lead to loss of life or other types of harm. Power grids can cause disruptions in security systems, communication systems, water supply, internet connectivity, and much more. As the services go down, they can cause a major problem in the overall functioning of a country.
5. Propaganda Attacks
Several attacks are engineered by terrorists and cyber attackers that are directed toward controlling the minds of the people and fighting against a target country.
Propaganda is about revealing truths or spreading lies about a nation to the rest of the world. It also includes applying information about a country siding with the worst enemies in the world.
