What is a cyberwar and why it is more feasbile?

New Delhi, Aug 8: Cyberwar is the next big threat from Pakistan to India. An advisory issued by the Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry for Home Affairs states that Pakistan will look to launch a cyberwar on India and several government websites are under threat.

Pakistan and China have been India's main threats on the cyberwars and in the past as well several such wars have been launched. With wars on the ground becoming increasingly difficult to carry out several nations have relied on cyberwars to gain an advantage.

A cyberwar is one that takes place on the internet. With wars on the ground no longer being feasible, countries have relied heavily on cyberwars. Moreover almost every nation has become extremely reliant on the internet.

Right from managing a national grid to ordering supplies for the armed forces, everything today takes place on the internet. The Ministry of Defence sites and the emails of the personnel in particular is what has interested nations such as Pakistan and China. Any attack on such a website would mean that the same would be down and it would stall important work a great deal.

In a war that takes place on the cyber space, the use of technology is the main weapon. The army comprises a group of hackers who enter into websites of enemy nations and practically shut them down. The shutting down of websites leads to denial of services and disrupts the functioning of a government.

Who is a cyberwarrior:

Unlike the conventional battle with soldiers, a cyberwar is fought with cyberwarriors. Countries have appointed such cyberwarriors to keep tabs on important websites of enemy nations. The job of the cyberwarrior would be to hack into networks and websites and interrupt services.

While disrupting services is one job that the cyberwarrior performs, he or she would also deploy tactics in which systems would be created to continuously gather classified information. There have also been instances where a cyberwarrior has gained control over an important website and managed not only to gather data but also transmit false information.

The job of the cyberwarrior is not always a destructive one. There are countries such as the United States of America and China which offer courses for defence personnel in cyberwar. The job of these persons would be to guard against attacks from other nations on the cyber space.

The Pakistan Cyber Army:

The Pakistan Cyber Army (PCA) after the Chinese Cyber Army is considered to be one of the most destructive forces on the cyber space. The Pakistan Cyber Army had a major role to play in the huge North East exodus which took place in the year 2012.

The PCA had set up a team which sent out messages and mails by hacking into networks aimed at creating fear and panic among the people from the North East. This led to several people from the North East settled in various cities of India leaving for their home town and it was probably one of the biggest exodus in recent times.

The PCA's cyberwarriors hacked into social media accounts of Indians and use it to send out messages stating that residents of North East would be attacked. They also used these accounts to put up fake images of North Eastern people being attacked which also added to the panic. They had hacked into 70 different Indian accounts through which they sent out fake information.

The other major instance was when the PCA hacked into the website of the Central Bureau of Investigation and shut it down for a week. This caused a great deal of problems as the wanted list referred to by the Interpol is available on the website of the CBI. However this attack was not meant to destruct, but to cause embarrassment to India's premier investigating agency.

India too have their own cyber army. However several members have complained that unlike Pakistan, the Indian establishment does not offer a full time job. In the case of Pakistan there is a fixed budget allocated to hackers. However in India it is not a full time job and ethical hackers are called only on a case to case basis.

OneIndia News