In all relevant senses of the word "change," the rise of the internet has changed the world. The nature of the world, and the way we view and respond to it. From the oldest stodgiest members of society to its youngest barely-mature-but-mature-enough-to-rap-on-a-keyboard constituents, the presence of vast amounts of information and data is an accepted part of the modern experience. It's changed, quite literally, the face and nature of society.
Including warfare, and the way societies wage it.
One can immediately point out that there doesn't seem to be a vast difference now between what we did a number of years ago in terms of waging war. We still have soldiers in the field. We still have men with guns and men in planes with bombs.
To this, one also has to remember that the availability of mass communications is still a relatively young, having only come to mass usage by the public in MY lifetime (which says something, because admittedly I am pretty young). Given the youth of the use of computer technology for a variety of different purposes, the prevalence of the technology in our daily lives truly is a phenomenal happening, and someday I can say with certainty historians will look back on this point in time and say "those were the days that everything we thought about the world shifted."
I predict that we are indeed witness the beginning of the way humans wage warfare, much the same way that the successful utilization of gunpowder revolutionized the art of killing in (relatively) ancient history. I predict that any form of military operation will presuppose the existence of technology "scouts" and "soldiers" pushing on a cyber frontier, invading borders of owned components of cyberspace. These cyber frontiers will be considered just as important as any countries physical borders, and perhaps even more so, as while a single intruder who proceeds a few miles past a border is not a cause for major, but a trained individual who can penetrate a cyber border is a potential storm of destruction and chaos. An individual, with the right know how, motivation, and resources, can potentially destroy not only the capabilities for an otherwise well equipped military to react and respond to threats, but also attack a nation's economy, infrastructure, capability for mass telecommunications, disrupt trade routes, or any number of sinister and/or subtle plans of varying levels of maliciousness.
I predict that countries with any reliance on technology will begin the setting up of these cyber borders and frontiers, jealously guarded by each nation's security personnel. The exact definition and what marks these boundaries will need to be established early on, and that will be the first sign of the major transition in warfare. When borders are established, it firmly establishes the distinction that is necessary for wars to be fought: this is what I own, that is what you own. If you touch what I own, it is an affront to me and my sense of autonomy. Do not touch what is mine.
When cyberspace is divided up among countries with power and influence in that same space, cyberspace ceases to simply be an avenue of communication, a plain where ideas are shared, and people are free to roam and interact...
It becomes a battlefield, where each civilian potentially holds a key to something of value to someone somewhere. Warfare will change. Conflict will change. Its soldiers will change as well.
What kind of soldiers will arise? I have my theories...and I have a feeling that at some point in the future, I will be helping to build an army. Problem is, I wonder if I ever did sign up for this kind of new war.
Including warfare, and the way societies wage it.
One can immediately point out that there doesn't seem to be a vast difference now between what we did a number of years ago in terms of waging war. We still have soldiers in the field. We still have men with guns and men in planes with bombs.
To this, one also has to remember that the availability of mass communications is still a relatively young, having only come to mass usage by the public in MY lifetime (which says something, because admittedly I am pretty young). Given the youth of the use of computer technology for a variety of different purposes, the prevalence of the technology in our daily lives truly is a phenomenal happening, and someday I can say with certainty historians will look back on this point in time and say "those were the days that everything we thought about the world shifted."
I predict that we are indeed witness the beginning of the way humans wage warfare, much the same way that the successful utilization of gunpowder revolutionized the art of killing in (relatively) ancient history. I predict that any form of military operation will presuppose the existence of technology "scouts" and "soldiers" pushing on a cyber frontier, invading borders of owned components of cyberspace. These cyber frontiers will be considered just as important as any countries physical borders, and perhaps even more so, as while a single intruder who proceeds a few miles past a border is not a cause for major, but a trained individual who can penetrate a cyber border is a potential storm of destruction and chaos. An individual, with the right know how, motivation, and resources, can potentially destroy not only the capabilities for an otherwise well equipped military to react and respond to threats, but also attack a nation's economy, infrastructure, capability for mass telecommunications, disrupt trade routes, or any number of sinister and/or subtle plans of varying levels of maliciousness.
I predict that countries with any reliance on technology will begin the setting up of these cyber borders and frontiers, jealously guarded by each nation's security personnel. The exact definition and what marks these boundaries will need to be established early on, and that will be the first sign of the major transition in warfare. When borders are established, it firmly establishes the distinction that is necessary for wars to be fought: this is what I own, that is what you own. If you touch what I own, it is an affront to me and my sense of autonomy. Do not touch what is mine.
When cyberspace is divided up among countries with power and influence in that same space, cyberspace ceases to simply be an avenue of communication, a plain where ideas are shared, and people are free to roam and interact...
It becomes a battlefield, where each civilian potentially holds a key to something of value to someone somewhere. Warfare will change. Conflict will change. Its soldiers will change as well.
What kind of soldiers will arise? I have my theories...and I have a feeling that at some point in the future, I will be helping to build an army. Problem is, I wonder if I ever did sign up for this kind of new war.
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