The Future of Cyber Warfare

A new kind of warfare

In recent years, the nature of warfare in the United States has gone through a major shift from physical to online due to a major increase in state-sponsored cyber-attacks. Cyber warfare refers to the use of cyber-attacks by one country to disrupt the computer systems of another. Future wars will use cyber warfare alongside convention weapons like guns and tanks. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is starting to understand that the cyber battlefield can be just as lethal as a traditional battlefield. The United States must continue to invest in its cyber warfare capabilities to lead the world’s cyber arms race and protect their networks from hacking from foreign states. .

The Stuxnet computer worm changed the face of cyber warfare

Many individuals were unaware at how much damage cyber weapons could do until information was uncovered about creation of Stuxnet. After the creation of the Stuxnet, we now live in a world where a computer worm can put a halt to a country’s nuclear program. The Stuxnet was a highly sophisticated computer worm created by intelligence agencies from both the United States and Israel. The computer worm was intended to be used as a tool to derail or delay the Iranian nuclear program. It was believed by the United States that Israel would launch airstrikes against Iran to prevent them from developing nuclear weapons. This sort of attack on Iran would have likely caused a substantial amount of casualties and started a violent war between Israel and Iran. The Stuxnet worm was seen as a nonviolent alternative to a traditional military attack. The worm targeted specific industrial control systems used by the Iranians in their nuclear facilities. The worm was used to speed up and slow down the uranium enriching centrifuges found in Iranian nuclear facilities causing them to destroy themselves. Many individuals consider this attack to be the most sophisticated cyber-attack ever conducted.

China’s cyber espionage against the United States

The United States has repeatedly accused the China of committing acts of cyber warfare and cyber espionage against American military, commercial, and research organizations. Many people believe that China is the greatest threat to the security of United States technologies. Early 2018, it was reported that Chinese hackers broke in a U.S. Department of Navy contractor’s computer and stole a substantial amount of highly sensitive data. This sensitive data included plans to develop a secret supersonic anti-ship missile; it’s a missile that will be launched from United States submarines. Chinese cyber-attacks like this are part of China’s effort to gain an advantage in the arms race against more technologically advanced countries like the United States. The Chinese are currently investing in new platforms like undersea warfare in an attempt to build up their Navy. Chinese hackers have also managed to steal United States military designs for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Patriot PAC-3 missile system, and small surface naval vessel designs. These hacks have resulted China recreating similar United States military technologies. Several of these hacks were conducted by hackers working in the Chinese Ministry of State Security: a Chinese civilian spy agency. The United States must do a better job a protecting their information from cyber espionage by China to protect U.S. national security.

A look into the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM)

The United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) was founded on June 23, 2009. The United States Cyber Command is one of ten unified command of the United States’ Department of Defense. According to the U.S Cyber Command’s official website, “USCYBERCOM, has the mission to direct, synchronize, and coordinate cyberspace planning and operations to defend and advance national interests in collaboration with domestic and international partners” (U.S. Cyber Command, n.d.). Earlier this year, it was reported that the USCYBERCOM would be taking a more offensive approach against foreign states. Prior to the report, the USCYBERCOM had assumed more of defensive role, protecting the United States’ DoD networks from foreign hackers. In fact, The New York Times reported that in the spring of 2018, “the Pentagon elevated the command’s status, it opened the door to nearly daily raids on foreign networks, seeking to disable cyberweapons before they can be unleashed, according to strategy documents and military and intelligence officials” (Sanger, 2018).

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