Headline, September 04 2021/ ''' '' CYBERWAR CARE CALENDAR '' '''

''' '' CYBERWAR CARE

 CALENDAR '' '''

WILL THE WORLD STUDENTS SOCIETY make the world safer? Could cyberwar make the world safer? And can The World Students Society survive a cyberwar? :

With wisdom I pose this question to the Heroic Global Founder Framers of The World Students Society:

Genius Engineer  Rabo, Dee, Engineer Haleema, Engineer Saima, Sahar, Engineer Hussain, Engineer  Shahzaib, Engineer-in-making  Salar, Engineer Sannan [Germany], Engineer Vishnu [India]  Lawyer Hamza and then the technologist students the entire world over.

Are we vigilant? Are we ready? Do we have fail-safe systems.

HACKING - LIKE WAR - IS THE CONTINUATION of politics by other means, but without the inevitable sacrifice of precious, very precious lives.

Could cyberwar make the world safer? The battles in a global cyberwar are visible only through periodic glances in the rear view mirror : Indra, Colonial Pipeline, SolarWinds, WannaCry.

Such an episodic view obscures the fact that this jousting by nation-states, criminal networks and private actors is happening constantly - right now - without foreseeable end.

It's hard to wrap our minds around that. It's a departure from thousands of years of conventional  warfare that leaves us wondering how exactly to categorize cyberattacks. Are they espionage? Sabotage? Acts of war? Some cyberattacks, like North Korea's targeting of Sony Pictures, entail central involvement from the states.

Others, like ransomware, are simply criminal. But the spy and the hacker have a lot in common : They both trespass into others' information.

During the Cold War, the United States, China and Russia sat on stock piles of world-ending weapons. Now these same countries routinely employ an array of offensive cyber weapons, though not quite to their full power grid-zapping, water system clogging, society crippling potential.

Indeed, despite its many consequences and dangers, there is no documented instance in which cyberwarfare has directly killed anyone [although it has come close ].

As the post Sept 11 conflicts come to an abrupt end, we are now at an important crossroads when it comes to determining just how far we are willing to take cyberwar. One possible avenue points to perilous conflict escalation between great powers further enabled by digital technologies.

But an alternative perspective sees cyberwar as an opportunity to decrease global violence. Could such tactics shift war's focus away from human casaulaties?

In other words, can nations settle for slugging it out online, rather than with guns and missiles?

Fighting digitally offers a unique opportunity : the continuation of politics by other means, without the physical invasion of a sovereign territory or the inevitable sacrifice of lives. Tempered by responsible use and appropriate controls, cyberwarfare is safer and more flexible strategic alternative, one critical step between sanctions and bombs.

Consider Nitro Zeus. In the late 2000s, as The Times reported, the U.S. government developed a detailed plan for cyberattacks that would disable sections of Iran air defenses, communication systems and power grid.

The plan provided Barack Obama with a nonlethal means to neutralize Iranian military assets in case negotiations to halt the country's rogue nuclear enrichment program failed and Tehran sought to retaliate.

The Nitro Zeus contingency plan remained active until the fulfillment of terms in the nuclear deal signed in 2015, ready to offer phased escalations short of all-out war if diplomatic and economic pressures proved ineffective.

Since Nitro Zeus was ultimately shelved, it is difficult to assess the scope and the likelihood of the collateral damage it could have caused.

The integration of cyberweapons into a national security strategy points to a certain reluctance to default to the conventional - and more lethal - option. But whether it's a drone strike or the hacking of a telecommunications network, a cyberattack will always have harmful repercussions for civilians and private enterprises.

Counterintuitively, however, cyberweapons can also increase geopolitical stability.

Cyberattacks have helped nations achieve nuclear nonproliferation in a way that, in the past, would have required physical force and increased risk to personnel, said Vipin Narang, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who specializes in nuclear strategy.

The Honor and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on great observations, ideas, and writings, continues. The World Students Society thanks author Cybele C. Greenberg, the Editorial Observer, The New York Times.

With respectful dedication to the Heroic Global Founder Framers, Mankind, Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world.

See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society, for every subject in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless