Citation

Carr J. Bull. Atom. Sci. (1974) 2013; 69(5): 32-37.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0096340213501373

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The potential effect of a digital, or cyber, weapon used against a network is directly proportional to how much a given population relies upon that network. The widespread denial of essential services caused by a network attack, the author writes, could lead indirectly to bodily harm and loss of life, through rioting or other violence. As of now, however, a cyber weapon cannot directly injure or kill human beings as efficiently as guns or bombs, and there is no evidence to support a claim that cyber weapons meet the legal and historical definitions of weapons of mass destruction.

Language: en