Rumors of War

Germany acknowledges cyberattacks on defense, foreign ministries - UPI.com
UPI reports: "The German Interior Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the country's defense and foreign ministry databases were hacked, with information stolen. The statement followed news from the German Press Agency, citing anonymous sources, that a Russian hacking group called APT28 successfully retrieved data from the German federal data network. The cyberattack was first noticed by security officials in December and may have been in place for a year. It is unclear how much government data was stolen."

Comment: The time is coming when two things will happen that will change the game. First, a significant loss of life due to cyberattacks. Second, a growing frustration in the defense community over the inadequacy of any potential counter-attack, leading to the use of traditional armed forces for that purpose. This is inevitable because great powers have internalized the notion that cyberattacks are part of the normal background noise of international relations and that given the complexity of these kinds of activities, one can never really be sure who initiated the attack therefore restraint is warranted. This kind of attitude will persists until an event of such magnitude occurs that governments are required to act to restore public trust, thereby defaulting to more traditional methods and striking out at the usual suspects. I think we are approaching the time when cyberwar quickly becomes actual war.