Johnny Ryan predicts a new age of internet piracy

Coining the term 'iWar' to refer to hacker attacks on consumer and political websites, researcher Johnny Ryan argues that a period of sustained internet piracy is on the horizon. "The advent of iWar reflects the powerful trends that have dominated the first decade of the 21st century: the spread of the internet, its empowerment of individuals, and the relative decline of the power of the state to control the communications infrastructure. ... iWar might be used by powerful nations to apply pressure on weaker adversaries in a modern form of 'gunboat diplomacy', by non-state actors to leverage its convenience and potency in assaults on nation-state infrastructures, or by sovereign states using non-traceable, privateer-style 'outriders'. A new age of anarchy and piracy that will both serve and undermine the interests of power is in prospect. The need both for security counter-measures and adequate legal frameworks to meet this threat is pressing."

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Online media, » Global
All available articles from » Johnny Ryan

» To the complete press review of Monday, February 11, 2008