ABSTRACT
Cyberweapons are digital objects that can be used to achieve military objectives by disabling key functions of computer systems and networks. They can be malicious software installed secretly through concealed downloads or deliberate plants by human agents, or they can be malicious data or maliciously delivered data as in denial-of-service attacks. Cyberweapons are a growing component in military arsenals. Increasingly countries are instituting "cyberattack corps" with capabilities to launch attacks in cyberspace on other countries as an instrument of war, either alone or combined with attacks by conventional military forces. Cyberattacks appeal to many military commanders. The cyberweapon infrastructure needs to be increasingly complex because target software, systems, and networks are increasingly hardened and complex, and because vulnerabilities are being found and fixed faster than ever. Some techniques central for criminal cyberattacks such as code obfuscation have little legitimate use and are good indicators of cyberattack development and hence, in the right context, cyberweapons.
