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20 August 2024

The growing menace of cyber warfare

Maryum Khalid

Cyber warfare refers to the use of digital attacks to harm a nation, organization, or individual by damaging or disrupting their computer systems, networks, or information. It can range from espionage and data theft to sabotage and even physical damage through hacking critical infrastructure.

Cyber warfare typically involves a state perpetrating cyber attacks on another. However, in some cases, the attacks are carried out by terrorist organizations and non-state actors seeking to further the goal of a hostile nation. There are several examples of alleged cyber warfare in recent history, but there is no universal and formal definition for how a cyber attack may constitute an act of war.

Types of cyber warfare attacks

Below are given some of the main types of cyber attacks.

Espionage

Refers to monitoring other countries to steal secrets. In cyber warfare, this can involve using botnets or spear phishing attacks To compromise sensitive computer systems before exfiltrating sensitive information. Usually, governments and organizations engage in cyber espionage to steal confidential information like military secrets, trade secrets, intellectual property, etc.

Cyber sabotage

This can involve sabotaging or disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids, transportation systems, or financial networks. This can cause widespread chaos and damage to a state's economy and security.

Distributed denial of service (DoS attacks)

The use of botnets to bombard websites with fake requests is known as a DoS and it is designed to overwhelm systems and take critical operations or services offline.
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