If you thought the cold war was over, you might just have to think again. If it returns, then some of it might will almost certainly be fought on a cyber level. According to a Department of Defense report, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) already has “information warfare” units set up, whose aim is to usesviruses to attack enemy systems and networks. The PLA first began using strategies like this two years ago, and now they’re an integral part of any battle plan, called the IntegratedNetwork Electronic War strategy. “The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is pursuing comprehensive transformation from a mass army designed for protracted wars of attrition on its territoryto one capable of fighting and winning short-duration, high-intensity conflicts against high-tech adversaries – which China refers to as ‘local wars under conditions ofinformatization,’” according to the report. To be fair, this type of preparation isn’t exactly new – China has been updating its defense systems for several years, witha prime focus on Taiwan, although the country’s strategists have also looked far beyond there. What makes all this worrying, the report says, is that China “has the greatestpotential to compete militarily with the United States and field disruptive military technologies that could over time offset traditional U.S. military advantages.” For those worriedabout U.S. security, defenses have been greatly heightened since 9/11 as America has foreseen the possibility of this type of attack.
