An Evaluation of the Future War to Come

Breona Johnson

Critique

ENGL 1130-009

22 October 2017

An Evaluation of the Future War to Come

        The internet is still in new, infancy stages. As a species, humans have merely tapped into its power. Any and every piece of desired information is within our fingertips. ‘How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?’ and ‘who was the last dinosaur to breathe?’ are simple questions whose answers take seconds to unearth. In addition to the attainable, the internet comes with certain dim corners known as the dark web, where hackers and crime thrive. Amy Lifland, the author of “Cyberwar: The Future of Conflict”, takes an alarmist view in protecting the Land of the Free through the worldwide web from hackers whose sole purpose is to destroy it. Because online actions and unlawful acts are pristine, the government is unaware of how to effectively eliminate. Overall, I believe the compact writing was effective in its purpose.

        In the opening of her piece, Lifland tells of hackers; their doings and motivations. Having infiltrated the servers of the CIA and United States Senate as well as other federal groups, cybercriminals seem to all be after money. Even though it is possible to attack the CIA or other bureaus, more common is the hacking of the military in addition to the email accounts of highly ranked officials. Although the lot of onslaughts is occurring against the U.S., as a nation, they have become closer to arranging assaults of its own. Coming close to demolishing Libya’s air defense system, it was apparent changes were upon. The 44th President of the United States of America initiated policies, released publications on ‘cyberstrategy’, and even designated a Director of Cybersecurity to be better suited in defending the nation. Barack Obama and his administration also gave Congress the ability to draft and pass legislation, which was met with bipartisan welcoming. The problem that had not been solved by these moves, was the simple fact that the government was not the only target. Exclusive corporations are attacked by thieves online just as often. With that in the mix, the age-old role of the government in personal companies becomes a glaring issue. Moreover, other countries, such as China or Russia, seem to be unnerved without the tampering of information flow across nation lines. Their leaders are certain free-flowing information would be detrimental to their realms, whilst Americans and citizens of the UK are homed in on allowing the current flow of information and simply taking out its perpetrators. The two views are poles apart, stopping a national treaty from becoming a reality in the near future. A following issue, is if cyber attacking should be allotted as a weapon against another nation. The U.S. has set its own discrepancies that entice retribution, and yet nothing has been set in stone with the rest of the world. Keyloggers, also being a hassle to catch, make it onerous to create legislation. Even if caught, it is hard to prove alliances and such so the real enforcers could be reprimanded. A key example Lifland shares was of the Chinese government and the United States. The search engine, Google, found exactly what and who they were looking for. A lack of conclusive proof left China faultless. Amy Lifland has shown there are scores of steps to make before venturing out in this new type of war.

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