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"World War III: The Cyber War" offered for open access for the month of October

The Weapons of World War III

By IGI Global on Oct 6, 2014
The Weapons of World War III
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” - Albert Einstein


War has changed a lot since World War II. Technology has enabled militia to inflict greater and more widespread damage while having less and less engagement with the actual enemy. Most modern weapons are designed to use from another location or a protected distance, making hand-to-hand combat essentially obsolete. Now the enemy can be targeted from thousands of miles away using drones and programmed missiles.

As the world becomes progressively digitized, it's hard to predict how technology will be leveraged and utilized in the future. According to Bruce Berkowitz's book, The New Face of War, future wars will not be won by having more atoms (troops, weapons, territory) than an opponent, but by having more bits of information.

A senior analyst at RAND and a former intelligence officer, Berkowitz argues that the atoms that used to win wars will become losers to information technology. Reconnaissance sensors will quickly find massed troops, enabling adversaries to target those troops with precision-guided weapons. Fortifications will tie armies down to fixed locations, making them sitting ducks for smart bombs. Cheap cyber weapons (e.g., computer viruses) will neutralize expensive kinetic weapons (e.g., missile defenses). (Eric Hasseltine, Intelligence in Recent Public Literature)

Berkowitz’ theories are becoming evident with the rising power of ISIS. On Aug. 7, after President Obama authorized airstrikes in Iraq, ISIS responded with a hashtag campaign, #AMessageFromISIStoUS, threatening Americans with retribution for the airstrikes. By using social media, ISIS is lengthening their terroristic reach, causing worldwide awareness and fear. ISIS is using social media as a weapon to support their cause. It's the non-atomic bits Berkowitz refers to, the weapons that Einstein mentioned in his statement over sixty years ago; a grim reflection on the path of humanity and how it could be our eventual demise.

The IGI Global article, World War III: The Cyber War, discusses the possibility of this idea: “Increased commercial use of the Internet has heightened security and privacy concerns. This paper shows the extent of risk that cyber crime and cyber warfare can have on the life of an individual, the country, and the world, which may lead eventually to a cyber war. World War III would be a cyber war with cyber viruses implemented by cyber attackers. Further, this paper shows a comparison of cyber and traditional war with the after affects of both types of wars.”

This article, by Mandeep Singh Bhatia (Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, India), is from the International Journal of Cyber Warfare and Terrorism (IJCWT), which publishes original innovative findings on ethical, political, legal, and social issues relating to security and cybernetic wars. This journal focuses on cyber warfare and terrorism using examples from around the world. IJCWT journal covers technical aspects, management issues, social issues, and government issues that relate to cyber warfare and terrorism. Access World War III: The Cyber War here.

This article is one of the thousands available on IGI Global's InfoSci®-OnDemand, which allows full-text searching through IGI Global's entire collection of research articles, book chapters, and teaching cases. Refer to the previous link for additional information, or contact cust@igi-global.com. Some of IGI Global’s other publications discussing global security, terrorism, and technology include the following:




Contributed by Ann Lupold, Promotions Coordinator
alupold@igi-global.com
(717) 533-8845, ext. 132
www.igi-global.com
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Computer Science and Information TechnologySecurity and ForensicsSocial Sciences and HumanitiesCyber Warfare & TerrorismInformation TrustSocial ComputingArticlesBooks & E-BooksInfoSci-JournalsJournalsFree ContentIndia

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