Basic Concepts in Cyber Warfare

Developments in computers have made possible far reaching changes in all areas of life, and the rapid progress in computing, communications, and software has led to a dramatic reduction in the cost of producing, processing, and disseminating information. Information technologies continue to develop at an accelerated pace, and a new era has arisen in the information revolution. The rapid growth in the elds of computing and communications and the ongoing improvement in the performance of computerized systems have created a new space in the world. Cyberspace, a space created not in nature but by human beings. The interface between a new topic that enables unprecedented capabilities, a technical eld that demands professional understanding, and mass media that compete for the consumer creates – perhaps predictably – the potential for obfuscation. National security has also been affected by the information revolution and the cyberspace phenomenon. Smart use of new technologies allows previously unknown capabilities, which together with new methods have generated a qualitative change in the military eld. However, a public discussion on the issue of cyber security, as of other new hi-tech elds, is lacking in Israel.This essay focuses on the question of national security in light of the cyberspace phenomenon. It aims to survey the eld and create a common language for a fruitful public discussion of the developing issue of cyber security, proposing operative de nitions for the issues that can be applied in a discussion of Israel’s national security. The essay rst addresses the properties of cyberspace, its inherent vulnerabilities, and possible threats within its realm, and then proceeds to related issues of defense, attack, and deterrence in cyberspace.