Basic Concepts in Cyber Warfare

by Lior Tabansky
INSS – Cyber Warfare Program

Introduction Developments in computers have made possible far reaching changes in all areas of life, and the rapid progress in computing, communications, and software has led to a dramatic reduction in the cost of producing, processing, and disseminating information. The scientific-technological developments of recent decades gave rise to “the information revolution,” which involves the processing and dissemination of information.

Information technologies continue to develop at an accelerated pace, and a new era has arisen in the information revolution. The rapid growth in the fields of computing and communications and the ongoing improvement in the performance of computerized systems have created a new space in the world.2 Cyberspace, a space created not in nature but by human beings, has the potential for tremendous benefits as well as unknown risks. Since it has existed for forty years at most, an understanding of the phenomenon is just beginning. The interface between a new topic that enables unprecedented capabilities, a technical field that demands professional understanding, and mass media that compete for the consumer creates – perhaps predictably – the potential for obfuscation. National security has also been affected by the information revolution and the cyberspace phenomenon. In the national security context, the far reaching changes in information technology that have brought about a quantum leap in the availability and quality of intelligence, in the pace of information transfer, and in weapons precision3 spawned the notion of a “Revolution in Military Affairs” in the 1990s. Smart use of new technologies allows previously unknown capabilities, which together with new methods have generated a qualitative change in the military field. However, a public discussion on the issue of cyber security, as of other new hi-tech fields, is lacking in Israel. This essay focuses on the question of national security in light of the cyberspace phenomenon. It aims to survey the field and create a common language for a fruitful public discussion of the developing issue of cyber security, proposing operative definitions for the issues that can be applied in a discussion of Israel’s national security. The essay first addresses the properties of cyberspace, its inherent vulnerabilities, and possible threats within its realm, and then proceeds to related issues of defense, attack, and deterrence in cyberspace.

Lior Tabansky is a Neubauer research associate working on the Cyber Warfare Program at INSS, which is supported by the Philadelphia-based Joseph and Jeanetter Neubauer Foundation.

This article was first published in Military & Strategic Affairs journal. Volume 3, issue1.

To Read the full article, please press the following link:

Basic Concepts in Cyber Warfareby Lior Tabansky
INSS – Cyber Warfare Program

Introduction Developments in computers have made possible far reaching changes in all areas of life, and the rapid progress in computing, communications, and software has led to a dramatic reduction in the cost of producing, processing, and disseminating information. The scientific-technological developments of recent decades gave rise to “the information revolution,” which involves the processing and dissemination of information.

Information technologies continue to develop at an accelerated pace, and a new era has arisen in the information revolution. The rapid growth in the fields of computing and communications and the ongoing improvement in the performance of computerized systems have created a new space in the world.2 Cyberspace, a space created not in nature but by human beings, has the potential for tremendous benefits as well as unknown risks. Since it has existed for forty years at most, an understanding of the phenomenon is just beginning. The interface between a new topic that enables unprecedented capabilities, a technical field that demands professional understanding, and mass media that compete for the consumer creates – perhaps predictably – the potential for obfuscation. National security has also been affected by the information revolution and the cyberspace phenomenon. In the national security context, the far reaching changes in information technology that have brought about a quantum leap in the availability and quality of intelligence, in the pace of information transfer, and in weapons precision3 spawned the notion of a “Revolution in Military Affairs” in the 1990s. Smart use of new technologies allows previously unknown capabilities, which together with new methods have generated a qualitative change in the military field. However, a public discussion on the issue of cyber security, as of other new hi-tech fields, is lacking in Israel. This essay focuses on the question of national security in light of the cyberspace phenomenon. It aims to survey the field and create a common language for a fruitful public discussion of the developing issue of cyber security, proposing operative definitions for the issues that can be applied in a discussion of Israel’s national security. The essay first addresses the properties of cyberspace, its inherent vulnerabilities, and possible threats within its realm, and then proceeds to related issues of defense, attack, and deterrence in cyberspace.

Lior Tabansky is a Neubauer research associate working on the Cyber Warfare Program at INSS, which is supported by the Philadelphia-based Joseph and Jeanetter Neubauer Foundation.

This article was first published in Military & Strategic Affairs journal. Volume 3, issue1.

To Read the full article, please press the following link:

Basic Concepts in Cyber Warfare