Whether you’ve never heard of the term cyberwarfare, which has been increasing in popularity in recent years or you’re simply interested in learning about the dangerous ramifications of cyberwarfare, it’s well worth continuing reading to discover a simple guide from James Scott ICIT to cyberwarfare.
What is cyberwarfare?
Simply put, cyberwarfare is the increasingly common act of nations using digital technology in order to effectively attack a rival national. While in some cases the government of a nation may employ cyberwarfare techniques, in order to either damage the interests of a rival country
or to influence the government of another country, in other cases terrorist groups or organizations may seek to employ cyberwarfare techniques.
What are some of the common aims of groups who use cyberwarfare as a dangerous tool?
In recent years, there has been widespread talk that certain nations around the world have successfully used cyberwarfare in order to rig the results of important political elections. As an example, in some cases a nation may rig a foreign election in order to place a leader in power in another country, who they are able to influence or who may be able to offer them lucrative incentives for their assistance.
In other cases a nation may simply rig an election in order to place a politician who they deem as being an unfit candidate into power, in order to destabilize a rival nation.
Countries and organizations who use cyberwarfare may also employ common cyberwarfare techniques in order to steal highly sensitive, classified information from their enemies as well as their allies. As an example, nations may be interested in hacking military information from countries which they could foresee going to war against in the near future. In order to give themselves an advantage, should the need for physical warfare arise.
Currentlythe theft of sensitive data, is by far the most common type of cyberwarfare which is employed by nations and terrorist organizations.
What are some further forms of cyberwarfare that are well worth reading about?
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Denial of service hacks
Denial of service, also known as DoS attacks refer to hacks which prevent approved individuals access software programs.
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Viruses and malware
Many nations and terrorist organizations also develop or utilize serious viruses and malware in ordr to infect their targeted enemies highly classified software programs.
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Ransomware
Other proponents of cyberwarfare hack into software in order to alter or lock individuals out of a particular system, until they agree to pay a hefty ransom, in order to be given back control of their systems. Usually groups who choose to use ransomware, target crucial government departments, which may need urgent access to their systems and who may be willing to pay an exorbitant ransom fee.
So whether you’ve never heard of the term cyberwarfare before and wanted to understand
exactly what is meant by the term cyberwarfare or you were interested in learning about why cyberwarfare attacks are rapidly increasing from year to year, hopefully you now have a sound understanding of the rising issue of cyberwarfare.