Cyberwarfare – associated technologies and countermeasures

Abstract

With the development of automated and AI technology permeating into all sectors of public, private and industry life, the interconnectivity of once remote, siloed and air gapped systems is on the increase. Whilst this affords productive, streamlined and efficient ways of working, monitoring and maximise the effectivity of these systems, it is the connectivity, that can create a critical vulnerability. This vulnerability, is the source of exploitative measures that we refer to in the context of cyberwarfare. Where state and or adversarial threat actors can, utilising mechanisms on the internet, infiltrate, manipulate and attack these systems, to great and potentially devasting effect. It is paramount that the appropriate measures are taken to minimise the risk of these threats and vulnerabilities, through the review and security of internal systems, but also understanding where the vulnerabilities in the systems could lie, and to what effect they would cause should they be exploited. It is also important to understand not only the capabilities of how to respond should such an attack take place, but also the proportionality and legal of such responses.