Bits and Bytes vs. Bullets and Bombs: A New Form of Warfare

Abstract

This chapter examines briefly the history of warfare, and addresses the likelihood that in the future wars may well be fought, and won or lost not so much by traditional armies and/or throw weights; but rather based upon digital offenses and defenses that are not constrained by geographic limitations or necessarily having overwhelming national resources. This changing landscape may well alter how nations or groups heretofore not a major threat to world powers, soon may pose an even larger threat than that posed by conventional weapons, including weapons of mass destruction (WMD), or at least approach parity with the destructive power of such weapons.