Other Considerations

When a government agency or corporate computer system is attacked, the response to such an attack will be based on the attacker. Will the attacker be a hacker, phreaker, cracker, or just someone breaking in for fun? Will the attacker be an employee of a business competitor, in the case of an attack on a business system, or will it be a terrorist, or a government agency-sponsored attack for economic reasons? Will the attacker be a foreign soldier attacking the system as a prelude to war?

These questions require serious consideration when information systems are being attacked, because the answers dictate the response. Would we attack a country because of what a terrorist or economic spy did to a business or government system?

To complicate the matter, what if the terrorist was in a third country but only made it look like he/she was coming from your potential adversary? How do you know?

The key to the future is in information systems security for defense and information warfare weapons. As with nuclear weapons used as a form of deterrent, in the future, information weapons systems will be the basis of the information warfare deterrent.

Each nation must begin now to prepare for 21st-century warfare by establishing a program to ensure the protection of information assets in the 21st century.

Remember, it is bad enough to be attacked, but it is worse to be attacked and not know it until it is too late!