Before the most recent technological developments, states used to establish neighborly relations largely for geographical reasons. In the 21st Century however, technology has become a requisite for the governance of states. All the technological systems have been connected to one another through networks. This being the case, each state has become a bordering neighbor in the cyber sphere.
Public offices have started to use the Internet in every field in order to give more systematic and rapid service to their citizens. Institutional services such as banking can be offered through Internet and mobile equipment. Meanwhile states, institutions and corporations have become vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Shadow governments or radical organizations have started to do harm to their opponents and use the Internet as a means of propaganda.
The harm caused by shadow governments and radical groups using these methods is said to amount to billions of dollars. In the year 2015, the money lost by companies alone due to cyber attacks was $400 billion dollars.i
In order to prevent this loss, the cyber security sector is rapidly expanding. By the year 2016, the figure that will be spent on cyber security has been estimated to be around $100 billion dollars; this figure is estimated to rise to $170 billion dollars by 2017.ii In a world where conflicts and wars persist, the money unnecessarily spent on this sector will continue to increase. Given the exponential increase in the pace of technological developments, it is not difficult to estimate that the harm countries are exposed to will multiply like significantly as a result of cyber attacks. To ensure the elimination of this environment of insecurity and the use of these wasted resources for the welfare of human beings, the ideology behind the cyber wars must be disclosed.
The groups responsible for the barnburner cyber attacks that have been carried out in recent years often present themselves as liberals and anti-capitalists. However, the methods employed by the groups in question and their practices in the cyber sphere openly reveal that their views are of a radical communist nature. While these groups claim that they advocate peace and freedom, they do not avoid doing harm to precious resources that can be used for peace. As in the case of the words of Vladamir Lenin about communist guerillas, their activities do focus on doing harm.
“The phenomenon in which we are interested is the armed struggle. It is conducted by individuals and by small groups… Armed struggle pursues two different aims, which must be strictly distinguished: In the first place, this struggle aims at assassinating individuals, chiefs and subordinates in the army and police; in the second place, it aims at the confiscation of monetary funds both from the government and from private persons.” (Vladimir I. Lenin, 30 September, 1906, Pro)
Cyber pirates threaten people with disclosing the secret information of states and citizens and steal money in people’s bank accounts through cyber attacks. The target of Internet pirates is to spread fear and fortify their power.
The communist groups who follow the methods of Lenin teach cyber warfare methods on the Internet. Furthermore, they offer ready-made programs to their group members. This situation brings the teachings of Lenin to mind:
“The propagandists must supply each group with brief and simple recipes for making bombs… Squads must at once begin military training by launching operations immediately, at once. Some may at once undertake to kill a spy or blow up a police station, others to raid a bank to confiscate funds for the insurrection…” (V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Moscow, Volume 9, p. 346)
As is clearly seen, cyber pirates adapted the communist terror methods employed in the time of Lenin to our day and they are using them. They do harm to states, banks and other financial firms via the Internet and they cause a great deal of public indignation and misdirect people.
However, the Internet has rendered sharing of information very easy and has become a way that reconnects people. Messages of peace and love can reach people all over the world instantaneously. Unfortunately, an environment of insecurity has made people aggressive and deeply suspicious towards one another.
With this purpose, the ideology behind the cyber attacks must be disclosed and Internet users must struggle against such threats with messages of love and peace. If an environment of peace is established on the Internet, the resources that are currently being wasted can be used for the benefit of humanity. If we consider that the hunger problem in Africa could be all but eliminated with $10 billion dollars, it can easily be seen that the total loss for cyber security, which is around $1 trillion dollars, is a gargantuan figure. For this reason, it is everyone’s responsibility to use the Internet to establish an environment of love and peace.
i http://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/cyberattacks-cost-companies-400-billion-each year.html
ii http://www.alixpartners.com/en/Publications/AllArticles/tabid/635/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/815/Cybersecurity-A-compelling-growth-area-for-defense-companies.aspx#sthash.nbbFnr8Z.dpbs
Adnan Oktar's piece in EKurd Daily: