VX Heavens

The war metaphor seems to establish itself as soon as we deal with computer viruses. The concept of war is a central topic of political philosophy. The relationships between ”hackers” and ”crackers” and information technology world are based on power relations, whose issues are politic, economic and epistemological. We wonder whether the computer disease phenomenon is a modern representation of the war and the relationships of power, as it is suggested in Foucault from Les Mots et Les Choses. So, it is legitimate to compare the aspects of this war with the classical analyses of war, which in the literature are founded by the classical Greco-Roman philosophers, or the modern ones such as Machiavelli or Clausewitz.

This paper discusses information warfare and ethical issues by providing an overview to the subject of information warfare, and a brief discussion of warfare and historical notions of just war. Following this, issues are discussed which describe significant areas of interest to both the “underdog” and the “fat cat,” those either seeking or holding power, respectively, through the use of information warfare. A brief guide follows recommending how an organization (small or large) may defend itself in light of the material presented, along with an appropriate conclusion.

I looked into the heart of the beast, and saw myself looking back. Laughing merrily, I took the beast by the hand and walked into the bright, brave new world. Today we are in a new age, an age of wires and silicon, an age of technology and data. In this new world, a new weapon has emerged, a bomb that can spread silently and harmlessly, a quiet agent that moves along the wires of the internet and in the pockets of the everyday populace. This weapon is capable of destroying a country’s infrastructure, killing a company or just turning a light on or off, as well as just…existing. It is the ultimate in a subtle weapon but has the potential to become as obvious as a nuclear fleet. This weapon is the computer program, and it is the beginning of a new age of information warfare.

Computer virus (computer organism) movement may be one of the most important  phenomena of computer viruses, but there was almost no study and no interest on this issue. So this subject is very much unknown, and especially about the self-movement.

Cyber soldiers, ones who engage in cyber conflicts, wars, or espionage with hackers' skill and knowledge, are comparable to soldiers or cavalry soldiers with lances, swords, or guns. The capabilities and threat of cyber soldiers have well been known, however, the capabilities, threat, vulnerabilities, and opportunities of the autonomous mobile cyber weapons are yet unknown. Autonomous mobile cyber weapons are a type of computer viruses or other computer organisms that are capable of effectively moving from a source to a specifically defined destination and designed for or usable in cyber wars, conflicts, or espionage. Autonomous mobile cyber weapons are capable of cruising to specific destinations where aimed information or information systems are located and capable of carrying out missions and certain tasks more effectively than the way in which cyber soldiers manually carry out the tasks, and is purchasable, untraceable and multiplying. Implication of the appearance of autonomous mobile cyber weapons is vulnerabilities and opportunities.