Cyberwar or Cyberharassment?

The specter of a cyberwar is not so bad. At least that's view of John Schwartz's article that appeared in the Sunday New York Times. Written with the backdrop of the computer attacks on Estonian government computers (which turned out to not be perpetuated by the Russian government but rather so-called "hactavists," political activists using cyberattacks to make a point), Schwartz's basic point is this: We find ways to make business processes work when computers are down. The economy doesn't (or seemingly, won't) come to a screeching halt if and when computer networks are brought down.

"People, after all, are not computers," Schwartz wrote. "When something goes wrong, we do not crash. Instead, we find another way: we improvise; we fix."

Besides, cyberwar is high risk if carried out to a level that threatens national security rather than just inconveniencing consumers, including escalating tensions to full-scale military actions, Schwartz points out.

Is the hype over a cyberwar, just that, or is it a real threat we need to take seriously? Let us know.