Use of cyber warfare can help reduce casualties

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June 4, 2012

Use of cyber warfare can help reduce casualties

Anonymous Daily Star The Daily Star Mon Jun 04, 2012, 03:25 AM EDT

War throughout history has been fought on many fronts and cost countless lives. From the battlefield to the homefront, war has created havoc and taken a toll on our existence, both physically and psychologically. Empires have been won and lost on the strength of the most advanced weapons and skilled people who pursued victory in the face of death and destruction.

In our war on terror -- intensified by the attacks on New York City and the Pentagon on 9/11 -- our nation and its allies have battled an enemy with no fixed borders, or barriers or restrictions to its schemes.

In this new age of war, we must look for new ways to battle terrorism on new fronts. This includes cyber warfare, which the U.S. has been using in its fight against al-Qaida in Yemen.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, housed at the State Department, has challenged extremists in open forums on the Internet, swapping al-Qaida ads on Yemeni websites detailing their deadly aims against Americans with items showing the impact of terrorism on the Yemeni people.

In response, "Extremists are publicly venting their frustration and asking supporters not to believe everything they read on the Internet," Clinton said.

Beyond these skirmishes in cyberspace, an attack via the Internet could cripple the infrastructure of a nation, as evinced by the recent infection of Iranian computers with the "Flame" virus. According to Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab ZAO, the virus could turn infected computers into "all-purpose spying machines," even able to "suck information out of nearby cellphones." It can activate a computer's audio systems to eavesdrop on conversations while taking screenshots, logging keystrokes and even stealing data from Bluetooth-enabled cellphones.

These sorts of attacks have the potential to reduce the risk of military and civilian casualties while affecting our enemies' capability to use computers and mobile devices. They focus on defeating the enemy through psychological and technological rather than physical means. In this digital age, when so much information and public opinion can be swayed by what is seen and heard on social networking and other websites, using these techniques could present a much more effective way to fight the war on terror.

And with the addition of other technologically advanced tools in our arsenal -- such as unmanned drones being used in Afghanistan and elsewhere -- the U.S. has the ability to maintain a leaner, more savvy fighting force. Its focus on stealth, rather than placing thousands of boots on the ground, makes the military more agile, with a heightened ability to follow and defeat our enemies wherever they may flee or hide.