The Fog Of (Cyber) War

From Computer World:

Cybermilitias, black hat hackers and other non-nation-state bad guys blur the lines on the virtual battlefield.

April 27, 2009 (Computerworld) Analysts and strategists gathered at the Cyber Warfare 2009 conference in London last January were grappling with some thorny problems associated with the cyberaggression threat. One that proved particularly vexing was the matter of exactly what constitutes cyberwarfare under international law. There's no global agreement on the definitions of cyberwarfare or cyberterrorism, so how does a nation conform to the rule of law if it's compelled to respond to a cyberattack?

Back in the U.S. trenches, drawing up a legal battle plan is indeed proving to be extraordinarily complex. Those definitions are especially elusive when you consider that no one can even be sure who the potential combatants are.

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My Comment: As a person who was one of the first to grow with the internet .... my feelings are now mixed to see how it has evolved into the octopus that it is. Government control .... national security concerns and priorities .... a platform to be used in war .... censorship and the regulation of content .... sigh .... this was never envisioned 15 years ago when Netcape hit the scene with its cool browser and University students now had the opportunity to freely communicate and exchange information between each other.

I guess all good things always comes to an end, and we must accept this new reality. The World Wide web is now a piece of territory ... all be it a virtual one .... that can and is being used by Defense and national Security planners and their institutions. Wars and conflicts have always been a fact of life for mankind .... but now we have a new universe to fight over .... and one that can be even more bloodier and messier than the non-virtual one.

The "Fog of Cyber War" is very appropriate for what the internet is like today.