The Bomb by Stephen M. Younger

Author:Stephen M. Younger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

THE DISASTROUS EFFECT of unauthorized entry into computer networks has been repeatedly demonstrated in the commercial sector as hackers have planted viruses, worms, and other network attack software on the Internet. Businesses have lost tens of millions of dollars through downtime, lost revenue, and the need to replace credit cards whose numbers have been compromised. Experts in computer security maintain that the advantage remains with the attacker and that defensive measures such as firewalls and virus scans are temporary at best. Data encryption can help, at the expense of speed, but few organizations or even countries have the sophistication to create an essentially unbreakable code.

There are three approaches to computer network attack: surveillance, modification, and destruction. Surveillance is intended to find out what the adversary is doing, such as what orders are being given to whom and where key targets are located. Skillfully conducted, computer surveillance can be performed without the adversary ever knowing that it is happening. The value of such clandestine surveillance can be immense—if you know that a given military unit is being sent to a given location, then you can deploy your own forces to counter it, eliminating the necessity of searching, keeping large numbers of your own troops in reserve, and so forth.

In addition to just listening, it is also possible to inject your own information into an adversary’s network, right up to the point of directing enemy troops into a trap or ordering them to stand down from attacking your own forces. The ability to mimic orders from central command requires considerably more skill than simple surveillance, since orders may be encrypted or may contain special authentication codes. However, amateur hackers have successfully inserted messages on the commercial Internet, despite security measures installed specifically to make it impossible for them to do so. Professionals can presumably do even better.

Destruction of computer networks can take the form of erasing data on storage media, disconnecting vital nodes, and inserting a virus that will propagate through and incapacitate the network. It is not necessary to physically destroy the equipment—it might be sufficient to make it inoperative during critical periods. Denying an enemy the opportunity to communicate with and control its forces can sometimes render them ineffective and accessible to attack.

The fundamental problem with electromagnetic weapons of all varieties is that they typically produce a “soft kill,” or one that is not always observable from a distance. Perhaps the microwave weapon or the computer attack was successful, and perhaps it was not—how much credence would a commander be willing to give a theoretical probability when lives are at stake? Also, microwave and other electromagnetic weapons more frequently result in “upset” rather than destruction. The equipment is not destroyed, but computers need to be rebooted and communication links reset. While this type of upset could be catastrophic in a modern fighter jet moving faster than the speed of sound, it might be only an annoyance in a field artillery unit that could rapidly rejoin the fight.

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