By Cliff W. Gilmore
In Tom Gjelten's September 23 NPR story titled "Seeing The Internet As An 'Information Weapon'" Gjelten asks, "...why is there no arms control measure that would apply to the use of cyber weapons?" One obvious answer is that geography-based legal frameworks are ill-adapted to deal with a domain that is unconstrained by geography and subject to numerous competing interests. The situation is complicated further by an environment that changes at the speed of Moore's Law.
Perhaps the most significant challenge however may be the information-centric mindset highlighted by Gjelten and prevalent among leaders, planners and communication practitioners alike. Part of the reason we have yet to develop applicable arms control measures for cyber weapons is a continued treatment of communications and communication (sans "s") as a singular activity rather than as two distinct fields of practice, the former grounded in technical science and the latter in social science.
Send an Email
Guest Authors