The rise of social media and cyber warfare today is a ‘soft’ method of coercion. This method has a network of interconnected devices, sensors and interfaces that are beyond governance and control. This exposes national networks and internal systems to threats and opportunities for offensive manoeuvre. It can shape, disrupt and disable conventional military and civilian capabilities, most notably infrastructure.
Nowadays, cyber capabilities offer the promise of achieving political effects without the need to resort to violent clashes, thereby reducing aggression. Cyber tools are a double-edged sword that is now threatening our internal and external security. Cybercrimes that earlier focused on targeting individuals are now taking on the entire State and its support systems.
An alliance between States and capitalists isn’t a new thing; such a relationship has existed since the days of the East India Company. However, the companies never brazenly challenged the state authority the way big tech companies are doing today. And more so, since they know that they control the society more subtly and in a sophisticated manner than the government. Their huge penetration power with AI tools and algorithms makes it tough to counter a programme that is designed to make people addicted and steal their data secretly. Social media firms have billions of dollars of investment to manipulate the public mindsets.
This has become the new weapon of mass destruction. Social media instigated riots are living evidence of this. Job loss is just one aspect of this; the real game lies in controlling the mind. It’s strange that this land of consciousness and spirituality has failed to understand this aspect.
We need a dedicated task force to keep an eye on emerging tech and its impacts since a volatile society like ours are more vulnerable to these threats. Creators of such giants definitely have a long-term game plan that we don’t understand yet. Billions of people are using this addictive technology and the user base of these giants is more than the entire population of many small countries.
Their mind-boggling revenues surpass the GDP of many small economies. Powerful AI tools and algorithms are used to monitor us privately all the time, creating patterns of individual behaviours and mental profiles. Psychological models are then created by studying our choices, opinions, products we buy etc. But as is said, “when you get something for free, you are the product being sold out there.”
Social media has become the new tool for manipulative identity and impersonation. It has made privacy a big bad joke, just like democracy. Technology is not neutral. Tech companies want you to use their products in a particular manner and for longer periods of time because that’s how they make their money and ensure that you get addicted to their product. This goal was unintentional initially, but now, the game has levelled up.
Tech giants reach out to governments and other State actors to sell their user data and other products like Trojans, surveillance tools and AI models that gather targeted data without the user’s knowledge. Examples of these are the Russian hackings during the US elections, the Stuxnet developed by US and Israel, and so on. They are a bigger threat to the people than surveillance States as the private companies operate outside the democratic system with the sole aim of profiteering.
Cyber attacks and cyber espionage are regularly practised by adversaries as offensive and effective tools of policy. The cyber danger is crystal clear for India as it seeks a seat on the high table in the new world order. The population’s privacy needs to be protected by robust systems in traditional and digital domains.
Recent cases of the Chinese virus attacks on our power grids and cases of honey-trapping military personnel luring them to pass on secret information through social media apps underline the threats to our internal and external security. A hostile organisation possessing details about a government is not a welcome proposition.
Cyber assaults are thus a more potent weapon than military action as the source is unknown and accountability cannot be directly fixed to constrain direct action.
The above examples are a convincing case of what hybrid warfare could achieve for hegemonic power. The IT expertise that we have developed over so many years needs to be leveraged more strongly to rise up to the challenges to national security created by cyber threats. For a country such as India, this is of utmost importance.
Thus, war will remain an interactive and human endeavour, regardless of the means by which it is conducted. This point then leads to a broader discussion: is war purely about physical destruction and death or is it more about achieving effective outcomes?