Showing posts with label disarmament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disarmament. Show all posts

Monday, June 07, 2010

Cyberwar is fiction

I'm reading various articles about the Russia's proposal, with support from the UN, for a "cyberwarfare arms limitation treaty". What astounds me is that nobody seems to realize that "cyberwarfare" is a fictional story, and that "arms" in cyberspace don't exist.

"Cyberwar" and "cyberweapons" are fiction. The conflicts between nation states in cyberspace are nothing like warfare, and the tools hackers use are nothing like weapons. Putting "cyber" in front a something is just way for people to grasp technical concepts, the analogies quickly break down, and are useless when taken too far (such as a "cyber disarmament treaty"). Unfortunately, it's the clueless people who believe in these analogies that are driving national policy.