We are on the precipice of a cyber-war. The recent revelations around Prism provide an extreme example of how nation states are taking a more proactive approach to security in the online world, using it to defend themselves from future attacks.

As well as gathering intelligence on potential threats, the elimination of possible attackers through targeted strikes will also increasingly be carried out over the internet. Government cyber security strategies from both East and West are no longer based solely on monitoring and defending, but are increasingly focused on hitting potential attackers before they strike themselves. 

This change in government mind-set was illustrated perfectly by last year’s discovery of the Flame virus, found carrying out targeted cyber espionage in Middle Eastern countries, whilst the US government recently became the ‘biggest buyer’ of infected computer viruses in the world. In Australia, the government has set out plans to develop offensive capabilities within their new National Security Strategy, and British Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to “robustly” fight efforts by other countries to steal state secrets.

Whilst the US Prism programme throws up modern concerns around data privacy and a big brother state, the move to offensive cyber warfare strategies presents a new take on a far more traditional concern surrounding war – collateral damage.

See The Full Article – The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10135324/Cyber-warfare-Dont-get-caught-in-the-cross-hairs.html

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