6th European Conference - Academic Conferences

Karim Hamza and Van Dalen
Cyber-War: actions by a nation-state to penetrate another nation's computers or networks for the
purposes of causing damage or disruption. (Clarke, 2010)
Cyber Crime: refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network, where the computers
may or may not have played an instrumental part in the commission of a crime
Espionage or spying: involves individuals obtaining information that is considered secret or
confidential without the permission of the holder of this information.
5. Types of threats internal / external and state / non state
Critical to the success of any eGovernance framework, is its security. Since such governance
frameworks somehow will be open to interactions with different “stakeholders”, who may, by making
use of eGovernance frameworks, influence the decision making process in the government, create
political pressure or even start a cyber-war.
A. Internal Stakeholders [Domestic] (within the boundaries of the state) as
Pressure groups,
Political parties,
Business,
Citizens
Organized crime .. etc
or
B. External Stakeholders [Foreign] (outside boundaries of the state) as
Other states,
Multinational businesses,
Worldwide operating malicious organizations,.. etc
Given the wide array of possible opponents, weapons, and strategies, it becomes increasingly difficult
to distinguish between foreign and domestic sources of IW threats and actions. You may not know
who’s under attack by whom, or who’s in charge of the attack. This greatly complicates the traditional
role distinction between domestic law enforcement, on the one hand, and national security and
intelligence entities on the other. Another consequence of this blurring phenomenon is the
disappearance of clear distinctions between different levels of anti-state activity, ranging from crime to
warfare. (Roger, Molander, Riddile, Wilson, 1996)
6. Importance of eGovernance national security and the need to be covered in
information warfare strategies
Presence of threats, like: terrorists, competitors, state enemies and malicious organizations makes
the threat of information warfare very important to governments and private sector attached to
eGovernance frameworks. It will raise a high attention to develop strategic information warfare to
protect dimensions as: Military, Physical, Economic, Political, And Social (Roger, Molander, Riddile, Wilson,
1996).
7. Non military response: Policies, laws, diplomacies, awareness and media
Governments have to develop military as well as non-military tools and mechanisms that can
supplement dynamic eGovernance frameworks. Application domains encompass fields like Political,
Legal and Diplomatic. Interaction between agencies inside and outside the government, in addition to
international affairs will be needed to define international legal regulations and political channels to
control relevant threats. In the end, it will certainly require a (re)definition of the distribution of
responsibilities for international legal arrangements in case of legal disputes, as that’s taking place in
the United Nations or NATO.
The appropriate role for the government in responding to the strategic Information Warfare threat
impacting the eGovernance framework needs to be addressed, this role to be part leadership and part
partnership with the domestic sector. In addition to being the performer of certain basic functions such
as; organizing, equipping, training, and sustaining military forces, the government may play a more
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