cyberwar
© www.thehindubusinessline.comWar by the numbers.
It's no secret now that the US has been actively carrying out massive offensive operations in cyberspace for over a decade now. It's been reported that by 2013, the US military and intelligence agencies have launched more than 200 cyberspace operations and ever since their number has been increasing exponentially. According to various media publication, by 2013 America's cyberspace warriors have successfully "infected" more than a million computers and networks around the globe and this is only the beginning, since once the NSA Center in Utah will be operational, US intelligence agencies will only enhance their cyberspace capabilities.

Therefore, one can safely assume that cyberspace world war has already started and battle are now being waged all across the globe as it has been confirmed by the revelations made by certain CIA agents and even US Congress members.

Thus, the prominent journalist of The Atlantic, Steve Clemons organized a public event last February, where US Congressman Will Hurd has publicly admitted that the US has been carrying out offensive cyberspace operations against Russia. Since Hurd has spent a decade of his life working for the CIA, once can safely assume that he knows what he's talking about. The Huffington Post would note that to date Western media sources wouldn't cover the aggressive US operations in cyberspace, while intentionally choosing to blame Russian hackers in alleged attacks on the US government sites, in order to present Russia as an aggressor.

In this context, one must get really concerned by the report "Electronic Warfare in the Information Age", that was prepared by the Association of Old Crows. It's no secret that this association enlists former defense ministers, former directors of intelligence agencies, including the CIA, the NSA, a along with the sitting consultants and advisers of the White House, senators and congressmen.

It's been announced that the report examines the main US military-strategic goals in cyberspace that would allow to ensure its primacy in the world, including the total electronic suppression of possible rivals. The absence of any natural or legal borders in cyberspace, the report says, means that cyberspace operations can be used against most any state actor. If you want to know who those state actors are, take a look at the recent Obama's statements and you would soon learn that it's Russia, Iran, North Korea and China. Moreover, the active offensive operations in cyberspace in the time of peace are officially allowed by a number of American laws that have recently been adopted US legislators.

It should be noted that information security experts have come to the conclusion that cyberweapons can inflict the same amount of damage as the weapons of mass destruction would do, including nuclear devices. Should such weapons be deployed they can provoke technological disasters and major system failures.

At the same time one should forget that the cyberwarfare is the type of warfare in which it is often impossible to determine who is the aggressor, when and from where the attack was launched, and it may be even more difficult to prove in many cases that a certain type of cyberweapons was used, not to mention the spy software. That is why everyone should be held accountable for its aggressive actions in cyberspace by the international community.

This is especially true in the case of Washington, which believes that it's above the law, even if the whole world begs to differ. It's no a coincidence that The New York Times has recently announced president Obama has now been at war longer than Mr. Bush, or any other American president.

Vladimir Platov, expert specialized on the Middle East region, exclusively for the online magazine New Eastern Outlook.