Cyber warfare strategy for India

Abstract

According to Dr. Duncan Earl, CTO of Qubitekk Inc., “cyber-warfare is likely to have the impact on global security that nuclear weapons did 50 years ago”. In the absence of any widely accepted definition of cyber warfare, RAND Corporation’s definition stands out, “Cyber warfare involves the actions by a nation-state or international organization to attack and attempt to damage another nation's computers or information networks through, for example, computer viruses or denial-of-service attacks. Thus, Cyber Warfare, in simple terms can be understood as activities involving the use of information systems as weapons against an enemy or opposing force. Sun Tzu in his book “The Art of War” said that the best form of warfare is to cripple and take down the enemy without having a real war with him. This has gained significance in the modern scenario with Cyber Warfare coming to the fore and replacing traditional warfare as the most favoured approach to follow Sun Tzu’s notion. As the critical infrastructure systems in developed nations are moving towards automation, from electricity grids, to oil and gas pipelines, to water systems, these infrastructural developments also open up these machine operated systems to attacks from opposing forces, army sponsored hackers, etc. With the traditional army response so dependent on these systems, hitting the crucial infrastructure can certainly cripple any country and the response needed to be carried out in the times of war.