MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - The Georgian- Ossetian war, which began overnight August 8, is being conducted not only with tanks, cannons and aircraft, and not only with diplomacy and information attacks, but.

Reflecting today's technology, the war instantly spread onto cyberspace as well. Since the war's first day, the leading information and state agency websites in Russia and in Georgia became the targets of massive hacking attacks.

State owned RIA Novosti news agency's website was affected by cyber assaults resulting in website loading problems and network function issues for several days.

To understand these attacks, one must remember the significance of information in today's world. By manipulating information, whether credible or not, it is possible to indoctrinate readers into different ideas about events to evoke in them a desired point of view. Hacking a website could destroy or fully block communication, which could potentially damage a rival's success in a battle.

However, hacking into the websites of civilian, non-military news agencies is only part of a new strategic approach known as "cyber war," or actions aimed at an opponent's digital networks and websites. Cyberspace, which is an integral part of a modern nation's infrastructure, is a vulnerable area where attacks are aimed not so much at hardware but the information it contains. The attackers can be safely located thousands of kilometers from the assault target. Not only can they destroy information, but possibly steal it to obtain classified data in a way one could not imagine back in the "paper days."

The first cyber wars started in the mid 1980s. The most widely known case is that of Mathias Speer, a German programmer working for East Germany's intelligence services who managed to damage U.S. security in 1986-1987 by attacking computers and stealing a large amount of classified information from the U.S. government-owned military network.

The importance of cyber security is widely understood. Special centers for network hacker protection have been developed at NATO; specialized departments within security services have been established in Russia, as well as centers around the world, including those involved in developing weapons able to knock out electronic equipment, such as electromagnetic bombs.

Many consider cyber wars more humane than military operations. After all, hacking into a network does not kill anyone, and an electromagnetic shock wave radiator shell can kill a person only in a direct hit. However, this is a false impression. Economic and transportation paralysis in a large country can potentially lead to as many victims as a military conflict, especially where possible responses can involve the destructive power of nuclear weapons.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.