hackers
May 28, 2021

Microsoft announced new cyber attacks on US state agencies.

Microsoft announced new cyber attacks on US state agencies. Hackers infected computers with malware. More than 100 state police vehicles in Maryland were hacked and radio communication systems disabled. The threats were connected to the Russian intelligence services. The attacks were backed by state sponsors such as North Korea. The US intelligence committee reported a month ago that Russia was behind the cyber attacks on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during the 2016 US election campaign, which brought Donald Trump to power. Russia has denied any involvement in the attacks. In the following analysis we draw the lessons from the events and present a framework of cyber warfare and cyber war that can contribute to enhancing our understanding of the concept.

The digital battlefield and cyber war both refer to a combination of electromagnetic warfare and conventional military operations. The concept was formalised in 1992 in the work of John Mauldin.

The Digital battlefield requires the use of electromagnetic and computer-mediated weapons. The primary objectives are the destruction of, and information control of, the adversary's armed forces and supporting infrastructure. The secondary objectives are to disable or degrade the adversary's telecommunications systems, air defences, command and control networks, and strategic objectives.

The Digital War allows either sides to attack each other's computer systems and networks. The primary objective of the Digital War is the disruption or destruction of the adversary's computer systems.

Typically, cyber conflict refers to the cyber attack on one side against another. Cyber conflict and digital warfare are not the same, but the former can be understood as a part of conventional operations. This relationship between cyber and conventional operations is highlighted in the following section.

The primary objectives of cyber attacks are always the same: the destruction of the computer systems of the adversary. This destruction is done either by a direct physical attack or by more subtle methods such as disabling or disrupting the computer systems through an electronic attack. In the cyber battlefield, the emphasis is on disruption rather than on destruction.