War by Computer

In 1993, Alvin and Heidi Toffler wrote a book called War and Anti-War, in which they suggested that an electronic Pearl Harbor (EPH) was just waiting to happen. (1) Since then, the possibility of EPH has been debated by many and is regarded as a certainty by some. Admiral Herbert Brown, Deputy Commander of U.S. Space Command, Unified Command with responsibility for cyber war, said on the April 9, 2000 "60 Minutes" program's Cyber War segment, "Virtually any country that has a computer has an opportunity to enter into cyberspace and be disruptive�.[The ability to bring down a power grid] is absolutely real." (2) Richard Clarke, Director of Cyber Security on the Homeland Defense Council, stated on November 4, 1999, "We could wake up one morning and find a city, or a sector of the country, or the whole country have an electric power problem�because there was a surprise attack using information warfare." (3)

Clearly, experts believe that an electronic Pearl Harbor is within the realm of possibility. The question, then, is whether it is likely. Interestingly, many other experts believe not. David Isenberg, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, states

The problem is that we have been inundated by inaccurate and misleading reporting about the information warfare (which is usually encapsulated by the phrase "Electronic Pearl Harbor." This, we take as a given that which has yet to be shown as a true threat. In fact, the reporting is so exaggerated that now there are Web si

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Category: Science - W