Rockin' the World with Web War I?

Did MJ see ‘signs of the times' in cyberspace?

November 18, 2010

Although Michael Joseph Jackson didn't have in mind cyberspace crimes when he wrote You Rock My World, he believed that World War I (WWI) triggered the composite sign of the end times that Jesus foretold. (Matt 24:3-14) Initially, it was called the Great War. When what came to be known as World War II (WWII) occurred, the Great War was renamed WWI.

Now, with the advent of the Internet and cyberspace, the unthinkable--the unimaginable--is taking place: @Web War I (@WWI). As one authoritative source states: "Cyberspace has become the fifth domain of warfare, after land, sea, air and space."  Some see @WWI masquerading as World War III.

V-Chip Veterans?: On last Thursday Americans celebrated Veteran's Day. My father, Oscar J. Carr, and my uncle, Edward Luster, were WWII veterans. Mom's younger brother, Uncle Bow (retired Army Colonel Albert Luster), and a host of other relatives have served and are currently serving in various branches of the military.

Childhood friend Eddie Stephan Ray, serving as a Marine Corp Colonel in Bagdad, Iraq (we attended junior high and high school together) is no doubt a soon-to-be veteran.

However, some future veterans may never traverse the traditional battlefield. Instead, these V-Chip Veterans will navigate through a digital jungle, and hopefully never get Lost In Cyberspace. Is it really that serious?

Consider Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7. It states: "The Secretary will continue to maintain an organization to serve as a focal point for the security of cyberspace."

Cyberspace Characteristics: This is what the experts are saying: "Nuclear warheads can be counted and missiles traced. Cyber-weapons are more like biological agents; they can be made just about anywhere."

"Even as computerized weapons systems and wired infantry have blown away some of the fog of war from the battlefield, they have covered cyberspace in a thick, menacing blanket of uncertainty." "NATO is debating the extent to which it should count cyberwar as a form of ‘armed attack' that would oblige its members to come to the aid of an ally."

"Europe Simulates Total Cyber War": This was a headline earlier this month. The article reads in part: "The first-ever cross-European simulation of an all out cyber attack was planned to test how well nations cope as the attacks slow connections. The simulation steadily reduced access to critical services to gauge how nations react.

"The exercise also tested how nations work together to avoid a complete shut-down of international links....Overseeing the exercise was the European Network Security Agency which has been given new powers to help member states handle cyber security incidents. In all, 22 member states plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland took part."

One expert source reports: "NATO and the European Union could make it clear that attacks in cyberspace, as in the real world, will provoke a response; the UN or signatories of the Geneva Conventions could declare that cyber-attacks on civilian facilities are, like physical attacks with bomb and bullet, out of bounds."

But with all the suggestions made, the source soberly concludes: "None of this will eradicate crime, espionage or wars in cyberspace." A few days ago the Internet giant register.com, a ‘civilian facility,' was a victim of a cyber-attack.

Cyber Bomb Dropped on Burma?: "An ongoing computer attack has knocked Burma off the internet, just days ahead of its first election in 20 years. ...The Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, as it is known, works by flooding a target with too much data for it to handle. The ‘distributed' element of it means that it involves PCs spread all over the world.

"These networks of enslaved computers ---known as ‘botnets'---are typically hijacked home computers that have been compromised by a virus. They are typically rented out by cyber criminals for various means, including web attacks. They can be called into action and controlled from across the internet."

One expert said that motives for cyber-attacks can run the gambit "from politically motivated DDoS, government censorship, extortion and stock manipulation." In the case of Burma, "he also noted that the current wave of traffic was ‘significantly larger' than high-profile attacks against Georgia and Estonia in 2007."

Conclusion: "[God] is making wars [even cyber wars] to cease to the extremity of the earth. The bow he breaks apart and does cut the spear in pieces. The wagons he burns in the fire." (Ps. 46:9, New World Translation) Peace and blessings to all. Amen.