The New Battleground

For centuries war has been waged between armies, weapons and machinery. Their objective is not only to defeat the forces opposing them but to protect the integrity of their state. This includes the preservation of the life of that state's leader as well as that nation's people. In many instances war is waged for economic reasons and to ensure that the winning force will continue to live in peace and prosperity.

These are the same pawns on the new battlefield of the future. In fact, this battlefield has already seen so many skirmishes at present. The next battle ground, true to the history of its predecessors, Thermopylae, Waterloo, Gettysburg or the Bulge in the Ardennes, will not only dictate the fate of nations but will chart the lives of the population.

The next battle will not be between armies in the field but men behind computers. It will be battle of strategic thinking and ruthless efficiency. Analysts call this cyber warfare. Most of the industrialized nations of the world have silent armies in fortified buildings ensuring that communications and the state's information are protected. In the age of the Internet, satellite and fiber optics, the fate of so much and so many rely on communications. Financial documents, health records, defense communications, trade secrets and personal affairs are all on the Internet cloud.

Hackers, conmen and even nations are out to get another state's records and meddle in the affairs of its people to gain political, economic and military leverage. This is the strategic objective of this new modern battle.

The first line of defense in this kind of warfare is not the Air Force or Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles but intrusion detection software and analysis, vigilant security monitoring and log analysis. Also included in the list are firewalls, authentication systems and authorization systems. Any anomalies are quickly addressed and any hints of intruders are quickly addressed. As always, intelligence is important. Experts study what they should watch out for and from where.

Cyber warfare is based mostly on defense as it is on attack. Many of the protective systems in the world are based on a proactive mechanism that includes strengthening the mainframes. Source codes of many programs and platforms are always under review and formal functionality proving. Traffic is also continuously being analyzed while practice attacks are being simulated to check the system's own automatic and adaptable security measures.

The United States government has already established a Comprehensive National Cyber security Initiative in 2008 aimed at securing government networks from coordinated or isolated attacks. It also includes a government led coordination with critical systems like the power gird, telecommunications network, Internet service providers as well as the banking industry.

The system, creatively called the Einstein protocols call for intrusion detection systems at various levels. The highest level, Einstein 3 will support enhanced information sharing by federal departments and agencies to automate alerting of detected network intrusion attempts.

Many say the battle for cyber supremacy has already started. We see hackers getting into government websites and destroying private-run systems. The enemy is adapting and improving their capabilities every moment. Individuals with personal computers to companies with networks and even governments ensuring national survivability must be always on their toes and be one step ahead in all fronts.