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Cyber Warfare

In: Computers and Technology

Submitted By scotty2301
Words 571
Pages 3
For over a decade, the concept of cyber warfare (computer warfare) has bee embedded i military doctrine. I 2000 the Defece white paper stated a ambition to repond to cyber warfare attacks. The 2007 Defence Update went further by calling for a focus on 'cyber warfare' to protect 'national networks and deny information'. The most recent Defence White Paper in 2009 also announced a 'major enhancement of Defence's cyber warfare capability...to maximise Australia's strategic capacity and reach in this field'.

Given the rate of technological change and the number of system vulnerabilities discovered every day, the ADF's cyber capabilities will require dedicated and constant attention. This will be difficult to achieve and sustain if the ADF has not fully defined what it means by cyber warfare and how it will be used to serve Australia's interests.

There are several definitions of cyber warfare, one of which was provided earlier this year by Defence Signals Directorate's (DSD) Deputy Director of Cyber and Information Security Mike Burgess in a speech to the Old Crows Association. He defined cyber warfare as 'an act...intended to degrade, destroy or deny computer accesses and systems' and added 'a true act of cyber warfare would have to be potentially lethal, instrumental and political'.

Information stored on computers has become a key national asset and an element of our national power. Our ability to create information, store it, secure it, analyse it and harness it to make decisions has to be a strategic objective for the ADF that transcends the traditional boundaries of strategic and national security.

The ADF's ability to respond to cyber security events has matured since the 2009 launch of DSD's Cyber Security Operations Centre, which is Australia's senior cyber security agency, tasked with identifying and responding to cyber threats of national

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