FULLY BOOKED Will the internet be the battleground of the 21st Century?

“Whether we like it or not, cyber is going to be part of future warfare, just as tanks and aircraft are today. It’s a cultural change.” These were the words of General Sir David Richards, chief of the defence staff in a recent interview in which he called for a cyber command to deal with online strikes and to launch attacks. The 2010 Strategic Defense Review listed cyber attacks as among the biggest emerging threat to the UK.

Join us at the Frontline Club where we will be examining the claims about what has been described as the “fifth domain of warfare” and assessing the threats posed by states launching attacks against another’s military infrastructure, government and communications systems, and financial markets.

We’ll be looking at who will be the key players, the threats posed and what policies might be put in place to protect against them. We will also be discussing the  impact of the increasing militarisation of the internet and where online activists such as Anonymous fit in.

Chaired by Ben Hammersley, editor at large of WIRED UK.

With:

Dr Rex Hughes, visiting fellow in Cyber Security at Wolfson College, Cambridge University;

Peter Sommer, visiting professor in the Information Systems Integrity Group in the Department of Management at the London School of Economics and co author of the OECD study “Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk“;

Carl Leonard, senior security research manager (EMEA), Websense;

Claire Yorke, manager of the International Security Programme at Chatham House and co-author of the Chatham House Report ‘On Cyber Warfare’.