Beyond Data-Breach: The Future Of Cyber Warfare

A new documentary looks at the brief history and future prospects of “The Perfect Weapon,” the title of both the documentary and the book on which it is based. It’s perfect because it’s “global, inexpensive, invisible and supremely available to small groups,” as NPR correspondent Scott Simon puts it, in his interview with the documentary director. Arguably, it was the United States that fired cyberwar’s first shot with an attack on Iran’s nuclear program in 2007, according to the documentary’s director, “and we’ve been paying for it ever since.” Actually, as he then clarifies, it’s been private actors – like  Sheldon Adelson’s casino and hotel operation, the Sands Corporation, and Sony Pictures Entertainment – that have paid the price, as far as we know. But that’s likely to change, he says, with the advent of 5G, driverless cars, and other products and additional infrastructure that will be connected to the internet.