Cyber 'cold' war may have started

The federal government better keep its eyes peeled and its defenses up because a cyber cold war is next up on the radar, according to a new report by former White House security adviser Paul Kurtz. Countries, including the U.S., are well aware of the coming threat, and are seeing increased intelligence gathering and building of sophisticated cyberattack capabilities, according to Kurtz's report, "Virtually Here: The Age of Cyber Warfare."

"While we have not yet seen a 'hot cyberwar' between major powers, the efforts of nation-states to build increasingly sophisticated cyberattack capabilities, and in some cases demonstrate a willingness to use them, suggest that a 'Cyber Cold War' may have already begun," the report said.

There have already been some attacks that could be considered cyberwarfare, according to the article in cnet.com. The July 4 denial-of-service attacks could have been a test to see if U.S. military communications in South Korean could have disrupted communications with military leaders in Washington, D.C., and the Pacific Command in Hawaii, according to Dmitri Alperovitch, vice president of threat research at McAfee.

"The ability of the North Koreans to disable cybercommunications between the U.S. and South Korea would give them a huge advantage" if they attacked South Korea, Alperovitch said.

Earlier attacks may have been cases of cyberwarfare, too, according to the report. It pointed to denial-of-service attacks in Estonia in 2007, and last year when sites in Georgia where attacked during the South Ossetia War.

Seasoned military leaders didn't come of age in the digital world so they are skeptical of the idea of computerized attacks, according to an article [1] in National Journal Magazine. But younger officers are more familiar with digital weapons--having come of age with video games and early combat education--and are picking up the slack.

For more on the cold cyber warfare:
- see this cnet.com article [2]

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Time for a public debate on cyber warfare [3]
China fingered on cyber attacks on U.S. government [4]
Pentagon to get handle on cyber warfare [5]
Cyber warfare training replaces traditional combat [6]