What is hybrid warfare and why is it such a threat?
The Global Ransom ware Crisis is as much a strategic phenomenon as it is an IT security crisis. The vast majority of affected organisations and individuals are caught in the crossfire between Washington and Moscow – two leading powers engaged in hybrid warfare using cyber-attacks to weaken each other's economies, force regime change by ousting governments they view as unfriendly, and gain political leverage over their neighbours. As a result, this small but growing problem has the potential to significantly disrupt global commerce. "Hybrid warfare" is a type of war that combines conventional warfare with other means, such as terrorism, political subversion and intelligence operations. The term was first used by the US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter in 2016 to describe actions carried out by Russia against Ukraine. In recent years Russia has been accused of mounting a major cyber-attack against the US electricity grid, with fears it also targeted election systems. The prospect of cyber-attacks causing widespread disruption could be used as a trigger for "hybrid warfare “In a nutshell; hybrid warfare is the use of both conventional and non-
conventional methods of war in a consistent and complementary way to achieve political objectives. It may include actions that range from subversion and terrorism to large-scale conventional operations, and irregular activities such as cyber-attacks. It may employ tactics used during peacetime, such as economic pressure or disinformation campaigns, or may be characterised by a high level of violence. “Hybrid” refers to the ways in which belligerents combine traditional with unconventional warfare components: it is an umbrella term embracing both hybrid war and hybrid conflict. Simply put, hybrid and Unlike conventional warfare where large numbers of troops are used, in hybrid war the adversary tries to inferior numbers and uses irregular techniques, tactics and combat units in order to achieve military objectives in addition to their political objectives. Unlike conventional warfare where large cities are usually the targets of attack in order to demoralize the civilian population and cause fear among them, in hybrid war the adversary tries to target your cultural icons; your highest value symbols so that they can spread this fear among people and make them feel like they are under constant threat of attack. This way your society will be more susceptible to any future political initiatives that the adversary wants to implement. In hybrid warfare the state responsible for the actions will often use non-state actors, which allows it to deny responsibility. But over the past two decades, many cyber-attacks targeting western state institutions and businesses have been far more sophisticated than a couple of tech-savvy individuals operating as hacktivists. Part of this development is because of the increasing interconnectedness between society and the economy. The chances are that you are part of a system that has been attacked; whether it be an individual company or government organisation and hybrid warfare is a form of asymmetric warfare whereby the fighting is carried out by violent means that are not necessarily military in nature, such as sabotage, political and economic harassment, disinformation campaigns, cyber-warfare and information operations. The protagonists use military tactics and weapons; however, they are not a part of a recognized state's military establishment. In this way, hybrid warfare operates outside the accepted rules of war and attempts to impose one's
agenda using unconventional tactics within another country. Hybrid Warfare is a concept that looks at the combination of conventional and unconventional warfare. The main aim with Hybrid Warfare is to blur the lines between war and politics in order to achieve military objectives without fighting or deploying troops directly. It is a concept used by nation states and groups to generate enough pressure on their opponent by using tactics such as cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns, proxy forces and information operations that can be seen as unconventional yet they are combined with other conventional tactics to present an appearance of normality. The attackers will often use non-state actors, which allows them to deny responsibility when carrying out their attacks and Hybrid wars combine conventional and non-conventional tactics to create a lethal mix of deterrents, threats, and attacks. A hybrid war involves more than just cyber-attacks— it can take on a range of forms including cyber-espionage, disinformation campaigns, economic sanctions and blockades, and even military action. We have seen a significant increase in the number of these attacks over recent years.