Throughout history, mankind has waged war, seeking to further national agendas in an ever-changing international game of power. From the sword battles of the past to the unmanned drone strikes of today, this game of power is constantly driven to shift and evolve by technology. The development of armoured vehicles, aircraft, ships and the use of electronics and telecommunications have all expanded the battle space and introduced new and innovative ways to gain an advantage over opponents. Just as the technological innovation of flight triggered a race to dominate the skies, the emergence of cyberspace has opened up new strategic possibilities and threats, causing a scramble to secure a dominant position inside of it. Increasing media coverage of cyber warfare has only served to heighten public awareness that cyberspace is becoming an arena of warfare. Governments, too, are fully aware of the need to take action in response to threats from cyberspace. Conflict and war in any form has the potential to touch every person, whether as a combatant, relative of a combatant, civilian, business entity or nation state. Cyberwar refers to conducting, and preparing to conduct, military operations according to information-related principles. It means disrupting if not destroying the information and communications systems, broadly defined to include even military culture, on which an adversary relies in order to know itself: who it is, where it is, what it can do when, why it is fighting, which threats to counter first. Cyber warfare can be a conflict between states, but it could also involve non-state actors in various ways. In cyber warfare it is extremely difficult to direct precise and proportionate force; the target could be military, industrial or civilian or it could be a server room that hosts a wide variety of clients, with only one among them the intended target.
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