@War

Electronic book text

The United States military now considers cyberspace as the 'fifth domain' of warfare (alongside land, air, sea and space). The Department of Defense, the NSA and CIA all field teams of hackers who can, and do, launch computer virus strikes against enemy targets. In fact, U.S. military hackers played a crucial role in the war in Iraq. Two successive presidents have called the Internet 'a strategic national asset', and as such are committed to defending it - even to the extent of trying to acquire the power to turn off the internet in the face of a major attack. The resulting global struggle to control cyberspace is defining Western security policy in the 21st Century, just as the nuclear arms race did in the 20th.

Recent revelations from Edward Snowden, Wikileaks and others have shown the extent to which national governments are using the internet to collect vast amount of information about their citizens, but, as @War will show, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The internet is now integral to controlling our banks, railways, airspace, hospitals and nuclear reactors. It is also the place where modern warfare, terrorism and espionage are being played out. As western governments, and the US in particular, seek to police the internet and fight their enemies on-line, where does that leave us?

@War reveals a hidden war that is going on all around us - a war where our privacy, liberties and security risk being caught in the crossfire.

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