As societies, governments and militaries around the world become increasingly dependent on computer based technologies the importance of cyber related capabilities will dramatically rise. The applications of cyber techniques in intelligence, command and control, infrastructure and general warfare become more pronounced as various weapon systems, strategies and necessary services operate through the use of information systems.
Cyber techniques in relation to intelligence collection and analysis is an important aspect of the cyber domain as the opportunities for these types of activities continues to rise in direct proportion to the number of information systems being used by an organization. The more widespread an organization’s computer network the higher the risk that it will be successfully targeted through cyber techniques. This can be seen in the use of defense contractors and other third party organizations that provide technology based services to the government who have experienced an increasing number of attacks from nations such as China.
Additionally, command and control mechanisms that rely on computer networks are susceptible to cyber attacks such as denial of service or passive surveillance. Security techniques and the used of advanced encryption algorithms must be leveraged to avoid situations such as this. This issue gets extrapolated when every echelon of an organization is relying on various information systems to conduct daily operations.
Destruction of infrastructure is another possibility that can arise throng the use of cyber weapons. Many modern technologies such as HVAC, SCADA and industrial equipment uses some form of computer based technology to function properly. This infrastructure can be targeted through cyber techniques to disrupt or sabotage equipment and cause great damage. An example of this would be the STUXNET incident in Iran or the Colonial Pipeline cyber attack in the United States.