In the age of cyber society, when the entire world is going digital and people prefer talking to each other via social network rather than having a traditional conversation, the issue of cyber security seems to be at the top of the foreign affairs agenda in the U.S. Despite the fact that the dreaded war between human and artificial intelligence never erupted, there are bigger concerns to deal with, the security of the digital data and the vulnerability of the digital databases being the most topical one. However, the latest technologies not only contribute to the emergence of vulnerabilities, but also allow for a number of opportunities concerning such force multipliers as insurgents and counterinsurgents.
One of the most common mistakes made by a number of states when deciding on the choice of weapons in the cyber warfare is the choice of “defense in layers” (Sharma 2). The key problem here is that the people in charge of organization and control of military actions draw parallels between the traditional warfare and cyberwar – which is rather legitimate – and then transfer the traditional approaches of attack and defense into the cyberspace, which is a big mistake. It must be taken into account that the traditional warfare and cyberwar environment are difficult in that the latter requires outstanding use of computing skills.
When it comes to insurgents, the title of the most effective cyberwar force multiplier should definitely go to the means that allow for an efficient use of the existing information, as well as for the acquisition of new data as fast as possible. Primarily, the goal is to acquire the information before the enemy does, which is why Network Centric Warfare, Information Operations and C4I2SR Systems seem to be the most obvious choices as the key state insurgents.
The choice of counter insurgents is also crucial for the efficiency of the operations and the provision of safety for the state and its citizens. As a matter of fact, cyberwar itself can be considered a powerful force multiplier in a conflict between two or more states, as the conflict between Georgia and Russia has shown (Simmers).Indeed, when it comes to defending the existing sources of information from the invasion of the enemies, the use of specifics defenses that cyber universe offers seems the moist reasonable step.
However, apart from the concept of cyberwar, there is another powerful tool that can help develop a well thought-out strategy for counter insurgence. To be more exact, it is a good idea to try creating such a military unit as Cyber Operational Planning Team (Stallard 91). As Squadron Leader Craig Stallard explains, the given unit will be able to shape the existing strategies so that they could be used properly in the cyberspace.
With that being said, one must admit that the U.S. military force could definitely use new force multipliers that would be able to resist the attacks within the cyber reality. As long as the military actions are going to be adapted towards the new environment in which a specific political or military process takes place, it can be assumed that the U.S. and its citizens are safe. However, it is still worth keeping in mind that, with every new step to enhance the cyber security and the improvement of force multipliers, new threats emerge, since the opponents also update their weapons. Thus, it can be assumed that the process of perfecting force multipliers will never end. While the given idea might seem somewhat troublesome, one still must admit that it also gives a number of opportunities for improving the military strength, therefore, contributing to the security of the state and its population.
Works Cited
Sharma, Amit. Cyber Wars: A Paradigm Shift from Means to Ends. n. d. Web.
Simmers, Eric. Weaponized Culture. 2008. Web.
Stallard, Craig. At the Crossroads of Cyber Warfare: Signposts for the Royal Australian Air Force. n. d. Web.