Technology Warfare: Another Modality in Unrestricted Warfare

Few people would dispute how significant a role technology plays in our lives and in defending a nation. Many believe that technology has become the foundation for our economic and military engine. Without a strong technology base we as a nation are extremely vulnerable. This brief will cover technology warfare as one of the 15 modalities of Unrestricted Warfare (URW).

The concept of technology warfare is to gain a technological or economic advantage over your adversary through the unlawful acquisition of technology, information about technology or information about the technical capabilities of an adversary.

Objectives:

• Define technology warfare
• Present a threat analysis of technology warfare
• Define offensive and defensive modes of technology warfare

The idea of technology warfare was first defined in the late 1990s in a book that defines Unrestricted Warfare. The use of technology warfare allows nations and corporations to avoid the high costs of research and development while exploiting the benefits of ill-gotten assets. Technology warfare is defined as the acquisition of technology or intellectual property that can create an economic or military advantage for the acquiring entity. Intellectual Property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce, which include patents, trademarks, service marks, trade dress, copyrights, and trade secrets.

Intellectual Property is an asset that has value just like other kinds of property. Intellectual property needs protection from theft and misuse. Intellectual Property theft is not new but it is easier than ever before to acquire IP illegally. The ever-increasing influence of technology in everyday life has made the “trade secrets” behind the new technologies highly valuable in today’s global marketplace.

Intellectual property theft costs the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars in losses every year. In one study, the estimate reaches $1.5 trillion in losses annually. Intellectual Property theft includes alleged theft of copyrighted, patented or registered ideas, proposals, working drafts or other specialized, technical, medical or business information.

Over the last several years, there has also been an increasing trend in the theft of physical assets, proprietary data, business information and intellectual property in general. Nearly half of the Fortune 1000 companies reported losses last year. This is not a new problem. But, what has changed is how valuable IP has become and how available it is because of computer and information networks. Organizations must decide upfront how much risk they are willing to take and then design a proper security program to protect their assets.