A column which takes a second look at some of the items that have occurred in the current and recent news; an opportunity to pause and ... reflect

It’s War Jim but not as we know it
I think I have talked before about the changing nature of warfare, but that was in relation to terrorism, comparing the ‘good old days’ when two groups of men with arms used to face up to each other and whoever was left standing at the and of the day was declared the winner and went off with all the spoils. Now of course we have the terrorist, the enemy within, often armed with bombs, often aimed at softer civilian targets. The old style of war is still being fought and probably will for at least some time to come but some experts believe the wars of the future will be fought over information and knowledge. Those that have it will win the day. This war will be and currently is being fought on the internet because it is cyberwar, the struggle to gain access to another country’s secrets be they of intelligence or commercial and scientific data. For some time a number of countries ,notably the United States, have not just been warning of this but complaining that they have been and continue to be the subject of a considerable number of attacks each year. Official figures recently released in America state that Government agencies have been subjected to an estimated 1.6 billion attacks each month during last year and that the number of attacks has increased exponentially over the past 12 months. The finger has been repeatedly pointed in China’s direction for a significant part of the activity, something they have strenuously denied. Cyber attacks have led to restrictions being placed on the flow of sensitive information in the EU and NATO where it is believed that security against such attacks is nowhere near as tight and sophisticated as that surrounding British and American systems. The reason being given for that is the ‘special’ relationship’ which means that, with British and American services working closely together, the British systems have been subjected to the same rigorous cover as those Stateside.