Invisibility is Invincibility

A sniper, a submarine, a spy, a stealth aircraft, a hacker... What do they all have in common ?

They tend to be invisible to the untrained eyes and can cause a great deal of damage. In today's modern battlefield, the attention given to an asset to make it less visible will have pronounced effect on it's survivability. The race to make equipment and soldiers less detectable to the opposition was started centuries ago. Surprising an unsuspecting opposition provides an enormous advantage. "All warfare is based on deception", the quote from 'The Art of War' puts it very elegantly. One could cite the case of Trojan horse ( not the computer virus even though the latter is also valid ) as a prominent example.

A recent push in technologies like SONAR absorbing padding, radar absorbent material, reduction of optical and electrical signatures that concentrates on the aspect of stealth, all lends credit to the above mentioned school of thought.

But one thing we Indians tend to overlook is the role of state sponsored hackers. Cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructure, intellectual properties, industrial and military secrets is the next generation of warfare, one reeking of deception which can bring the nation to its knees. Our not so friendly and powerful neighbor China specializes in this and even has taken on the world heavy weight, that is the US of A.

"Well as a matter of fact I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pajamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field 007". Even the Q ( for quartermaster, if you didn't know ) from Skyfall ( of James Bond movie series ) reinvented himself from a gadgets man to a computer wizard. Times have changed indeed.

India should take cue from 'Q' and should start incorporating cyber warfare capabilities into its doctrine and should also tap into its vast pool of human resources. 'Everything is fair in love and war' and it is always better to be prepared than to be sorry.

( I know... I have stuffed this one with proverbs and quotes.. LOL ).