World War III – Warfare in Cyberspace
Einstein once said that World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones
But what is likely is that the next World War will be fought using disks and codes
And the most dangerous threats won’t be nuclear attacks
But a sophisticated shut-down of major cities worldwide by a series of computer hacks
The click of a mouse will inevitably lead to much more damage done
Than pulling the trigger of any machine gun
With unmanned drones hovering over homes, there will be nowhere to run
Instead of having tanks on the flanks
There will be apprehensive investors queuing up at banks after banks
After hearing about an enemy hack, trying to get their money back but all hopes dashed
Then nations left in financial ruins as their economies and stock markets crash
And in keeping with the changing nature of World Politics and its modernized ideas
World Leaders with take to social media to use Soft Power Diplomacy
To negotiate peace treaties and to advocate for a return to normalcy
In the hopes of preventing civil wars and mutinies
Just because a group of computer whizz brought the International community to its knees
And just so you don’t picture these mercenaries as terrorists or thugs in the streets
The likely image of Public Enemy #1 is probably a pyjamas-wearing computer geek
With square glasses, coffee-addicted suffering from video game fatigue after weeks without sleep
But he, himself, singlehandedly will reveal more State secrets than Wiki leaks
Come on let’s face it, the protection of ICT databases will be a higher priority than military bases
The warning signs of the times are here, and it’s seen in the increase in cyber crimes
In this digital age, really how secure is our digital infrastructure?
Encryption, firewalls and passwords are virtually useless against State-sponsored intrusions
Cyber espionage, eavesdropping, tampering and unauthorized surveillance of everyone’s
Whereabouts through their smart devices breaching our privacy to record our conversations
And it doesn’t matter if it’s a Windows or a Mac, your OS will still come under attack
From theft of hardware to worms, viruses, malware, spyware even Trojans
There will be relentless fights over bits and bytes resulting in the freezing of websites
And caching of your online personal details and all of the emails you’ve ever typed
Everyone will be affected and everyone will be a victim of this crisis
Whether it is the grounding of the public transportation across the nation
Or it’s the computerized electronics in our homes and the ones in our possession
Cyber-attacks relies on the element of surprise and come in different shapes and sizes
Computer security or the lack thereof will be the primary cause of World War 3
It is important to remember that war is still war whether or not it is in binary
The aim is still the same, and that is to cause people pain
The only thing that would change is a cyberspace terrain
Is this another conspiracy theory or a not-so farfetched actuality?
What is it worse to be, informed and paranoid or gullible and naive?
“I fear the day that technology will surpass our Human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots” – Albert Einstein
(c) A.Williams, 2016.