Cyberspace the fifth dimension of warfare
By Paul Smithson
06/10/2011
An industry blog has labelled cyberspace the fifth dimension of warfare after land, sea, air and space; highlighting the extent of the problem facing security teams.
The Economist's Charlemagne Notebook pointed out that the threat posed by this issue is steadily rising up the national priority lists in Britain and the US.
This could encourage professionals with remote systems management responsibilities to consider the safety of data before making any changes to networks.
It was suggested that a sophisticated attack could bring down electricity grids and logistical chains, potentially causing huge problems for all involved. What makes the challenge even more complex is the scale of it, since cyberspace encompasses so much and it is not clear just how problematic it would be if parts of the system were taken out.
"More and more people, and more and more devices are being hooked up to the internet. One debate concerns the future governance of the internet: should it be directed by governments, or should it be left to the private sector to develop inventively and somewhat anarchically?" asked the blogger.
In a speech at the Conservative Party conference reported by politics.co.uk, William Hague noted that next month he will host the first meeting of governments to discuss the issue of cyber security.
The Tory politician, who is due to field questions on Twitter on the topic today (October 6th), pointed out that it is important that the internet remains open to all, while at the same time protecting the security of web users.
