Welcome to the Era of Cyberwarfare

Up until Friday, it was a well-informed rumor. Now after a New York Times exposé, it has been confirmed: The computer worm Stuxnet, which attacked the mainframe of the Iranian uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, was a U.S. government project, to which Israel also contributed. The Americans have ignited the first digital bomb in history.

The Times article’s author seems to have obtained privileged access to high-ranking sources in the U.S. government. When it comes to national security interests, the White House obviously has an interest for this election in portraying Barack Obama as a president who acts decidedly and unconventionally.

Cyber warfare is the weapon of the 21st century and one can assume that Russia, China and other nations have long been involved in this shadow warfare. However, the U.S. is the first – though without naming names – to use a digital bomb in this war, because such a sophisticated virus, used for damaging critical infrastructure, has not existed until now.

More Time for Diplomacy

Stuxnet is also the first virus that not only spies on and incapacitates computers, but also wreaks physical destruction because it caused uranium centrifuges to explode. Unfortunately, the virus has only slowed Iran’s nuclear program. It hasn’t been decidedly impeded.

There are good, justifiable reasons for employing Stuxnet. The virus should provide Obama with more time for diplomacy. It was directed against the control of a facility that Tehran acquired illegally, and it damaged part of the nuclear program that Iran started illegally, in secret, and continued to operate against the will of the UN Security Council after its existence was brought to light.

It is also certainly better to attack a country that threatens freedom with a computer virus than with an actual bomb, but it is still a quasi-belligerent act.

A New Era in Cyber Warfare

Thus, the employment of Stuxnet marks the moment in which the world actually entered the era of cyber warfare. This is comparable with technological leaps like the first use of gunpowder, the invention of the tank or the dropping of the first atomic bomb. A new Pandora’s Box has been opened.

Now the U.S. government must ask itself if it wouldn’t have been better to be vague about the details instead of bragging about them. Perhaps this would have done less for Obama’s image, but it would have been more beneficial to America’s security.

Since America has now been revealed as a cyber attacker, the inhibitions of the country’s enemies to attempt cyber attacks against America will lower. Obama has torn down the cyber dam. Now, after the quasi-confession in the New York Times, it will be hard to set it up again.

The astoundingly detailed leaks are also dangerous in terms of content. They will help Iran reconstruct what actually happened in Natanz, in order to better brace itself for future attacks, and they can also serve as a blueprint for other nations on how to implement a successful cyber attack, against whomever.

With these revelations, the U.S. government had wanted to stress Obama’s merits as a security policy hardliner. Instead, they showed that the president’s image is, if necessary, more important than the country’s security interests.