When it comes to warfare, it’s is believed that, we are in a different time period. An arena beyond the traditionally designated war definitions land, sea, air, and space has arrived, Cyber-space. For the past few decades this arena has developed and evolved, undoubtedly to become one of the main subjects as a new domain of war. Driven by the introduction of internet and technology in to the traditionally electronic and electromagnetic dominated operations of traditional war, cyber-space will essentially aid to expand the scope and method of traditional wars. Here, integration of physical world and cyber world is bringing other avenues to the already existed war science.
Even though these two war-fares are both wars, which their objective is to defeat an adversary, they are also different in many ways. For-example traditional wars have a physically defined boundaries and locations of engagement. Cyber-warfare in-contrast does not necessarily constitute these characteristics. It is a quickly-changing domain. For-example IP addresses which we use to identify a user or system may not be found in the same location. Techniques like spoofing which impersonates an authorized device can be used for cyber war-fare. The changing landscape of continuous system updates, patching vulnerabilities and newly found vulnerabilities, etc.; which is not steady is the source of unpredictability of cyber war-fare. With this in mind it’s also hard to evaluate or analyze cyber-space parallel to traditional war and craft international war rules like the Geneva Convention.
Cyber war-fare can’t be taken lightly as only computer to computer hacks. A Computer is a quantified and computed device, therefore can easily be considered as algorithmically driven, perfectly maneuvered device, with no outflows. In-contrast however physical devices (computers) through internet, in a cyber-war act can put cyber-space as unknown and unpredictable area of operation. Beside rigorous preparation and planning, cyber operations can easily go wrong for it involves many sophisticated and unknown calculus and therefore one mistake or unknown subject/vulnerability which is known to adversary can cost a breach of a system.
Unlike tradition war-fare, cyber-war-fare or cyber-operation is a process of rigorously looking for vulnerability if you are in an offensive side and actively watching your systems from attacker if you are in the defensive side, for which one task in operation done better from your adversary can cost a breach to your system. Therefore it’s a delicate and always standing in a high position requiring matter. And that can’t always be the case. And for this reason, there is a possible surprise. A failure in one task of the four components of cyber operation, for example, in the case of cyber –operational awareness, inadequately assessed ‘’ availability of cyber capabilities necessary for the effective planning, and execution of cyber operations ‘’or ‘’ not having enough knowledge that the adversary is buying products from a well-known vendor’’ may cause uncertainty in operational decision under attack. The complexity of cyber operational components can define the surprising nature of cyber –space.
Citation: