The Next World War: Computers Are the Weapons & the Front Line Is Everywhere [Hardcover]

James Adams (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0684834529 | ISBN-13: 978-0684834528 | Publication Date: August 10, 1998 | Edition: 1

It is a silent, invisible, and deadly weapons system. It can paralyze an entire nation without a single soldier being sent to war. We glimpsed its potential on television when surgical strikes on radar sites, electrical power plants, and command networks crippled Iraqi forces during the Gulf War. Now, in The Next World War, James Adams shows how a new chapter in military history is being written as the Information Age comes to the battlefield: to bigger and stronger, now add smarter. As increasingly sophisticated computers and microtechnology have become available, the concept of "conventional" warfare has changed. Technology has already made its way to the front lines: soldiers are now equipped, for example, with new "smart" technologies such as handheld computers that allow them to e-mail their commanders. There are devices that can sense an enemy's presence before the enemy is visible, by detecting body heat or by communication with satellites overhead. Robotic "bugs" can even be sent in swarms to sabotage weapons or subdue enemy soldiers. But the most significant and important use of information warfare won't be on the battlefield. The most devastating weapons will be those that target an enemy's infrastructure -- air-control systems, electrical grids, and communication networks, to name just a few potential targets. "Trojan horse" chips or viruses designed to accept and respond to commands from U.S. military intelligence can be installed in computers being sold overseas, making them vulnerable to attack. By hacking into computer systems, the United States could override programmed commands and thus shut down air traffic control systems, and open floodgates and bridges. Misinformation could even be broadcast, for example, by using imaging technology to simulate a television appearance by an enemy nation's leaders. This type of combat puts civilians at more risk than ever, as financial, communication, transportation, and other infrastructure systems become prime military targets. And information warfare puts the United States -- a nation increasingly dependent on technology -- in a position of both definite advantage and extreme vulnerability. In The Next World War, James Adams draws on impressive research as well as his lifetime of reporting on intelligence and military affairs to give us a chilling scenario of how wars will be fought in the new millennium -- and how much closer to home they might strike.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Has the computer chip changed the nature of warfare? Will it eventually change war beyond current recognition? Adams, the former defense correspondent and Washington bureau chief for the London Sunday Times, believes that information will become the ultimate weapon and that future battlegrounds will be everywhere we live and work. While the weapons and technology of war will improve beyond even technofiction's expectations, it's the "information warfare" that will be critical in foreign wars and in the war against domestic crime.

We've already seen some of what is to come in the Gulf War's camera-equipped smart bombs. Soldiers can now be equipped with hand-held computers that can send messages and information back to superiors. And among the weapons to come: microwave cannons; plasma guns; devices that can see, smell, and hear; and even robotic "ants" that can swarm and explode around the enemy. Soldiers will wear uniforms powered by body heat that automatically relay important information back to their base camp. Helmets will be able to locate incoming fire, help a soldier see under all kinds of conditions, and locate others in a patrol.

The ability to attack an enemy's civilian infrastructure, such as communication networks, air traffic control, bridges and dams, and electric grids, will be part of the new era of war. With the advanced state of digital imaging, misinformation campaigns in enemy countries can take on a much more convincing role. All it takes is for one country to have a few skilled hackers, and suddenly the number of troops, the hardware, and the nuclear devices don't matter. Could there be an "electronic Pearl Harbor?"

Adams's research and journalism experience has made him aware of how much information warfare is being planned for and how much is already in place. His concern, in part, is that there has been little public debate about this, even though it affects our future so dramatically. Adams says "As David proved against Goliath, strength can be beaten. America today looks uncomfortably like Goliath, arrogant in its power, armed to the teeth, ignorant of its weakness." --Elizabeth Lewis

From Publishers Weekly

In the Information Age, information has emerged as the ultimate weapon. Adams (Sellout, Hard Target, etc.), CEO of United Press International, argues strongly that the "revolution" in war making is occurring in the "virtual world" of "commerce, conversation, and connectivity." Adams surpasses even the Tofflers in his depiction of a Third Wave whose battlefields will be dominated by bytes, not bullets. It began with Desert Storm, when control of the electronic spectrum created an insurmountable imbalance between combatants. Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia demonstrated the power of information not merely as a force multiplier but as a paradigm shifter. In a country obsessed with minimizing casualties, information warfare seemed an ideal combination of mission facilitator and appropriations guarantor. Adams takes his readers on a comprehensive and enlightening tour of research establishments focusing on micro-electro-mechanical systems, non-lethal weapons and instantaneous communications. He then embarks on a darker journey into the world of high-level computer hacking and its implications for "cyberterrorism" with the potential not merely to threaten information security but, for example, to poison a nation's children through accessing the process control systems of cereal manufacturers. Less apocalyptic but equally important is the growing potential of information as a manipulative tool affecting governments and societies alike. In the cybernetic era, Adams contends, the offense outpaces the defense in both methods and principles. Adams's conclusion, that the U.S. is developing its information-warfare capacities while ignoring its vulnerabilities to the same techniques, is a strong reminder that technology depends for effect on matrices of insight, flexibility and will power?none of which can be generated by computers.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (August 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684834529
• ISBN-13: 978-0684834528
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,055,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read but not very accurate, April 14, 2001

By 

Vandevenne "Pierre Vandevenne" (Liège Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Next World War: Computers Are the Weapons & the Front Line Is Everywhere (Hardcover)

This book is entertaining and, as other reviewers have pointed out, Mr Adams does not hesitate voicing his opinions.

Unfortunately there are several problems with the overall thesis :

1) Accuracy and fact checking are obviously not very high on the author's priority list. Somalia is given a given a 250 millions square miles area on page 61( in reality 256.000 ), 56 bit encryption is supposedly 250.000 times harder to break than 40 bit encryption ( in reality 65536 or 2^16 ) (page 219), PGP is described as having a vague backdoor when the local PC where it is used is accessible (it does not) (p 222), etc... I could provide a dozen other examples. While not necessarily critical those mistakes cast a shadow of doubt over the whole book. "If this guy is so wrong on what I know, how can I trust him about what I don't know..." was the question I kept asking myself.

2) while the author seems to criticize the position of the upper level of hierarchy as far as Info War is concerned, he basically echoes their misinformed opinions in many occasions. For example, he mentions on several occasions that computer viruses were used and could be used meaningfully to fight an info-war. He repeats the meaningless "virus insertion" sentence but notes that "launching computer bombs that would destroy the offending computer or software is currently illegal" - not only is it illegal, but it is also technically impossible at least in the context where this comes up, the hacker's PCs... According to the author, most PCs sold to Russia are bugged : "the technology does the work, sending back a steady stream of bits and bytes from the computers that have been purchased in good faith". Of course, this is hilarious : it is technically impossible to export data out of a PC without its informed user at least noticing it. Clearly, in this case, the data has to be exported either by a kind of wireless network - hard to hide - or leaked on a cabled network - even harder to hide, freely downloadable network sniffers and protocol analyzers abound... "Independence Day", the movie, wasn't much worse than this.

Mr Adams, when you want to insert a virus or a trojan to wage an info war, the devil is in the details...

3) this book was written in the midst of the euphorical dot.com boom and it shows that time's bias for a new "information age" that was going to wipe the world as we know it. This is understandable, but doesn't help the long term viability of the ideas presented in the book. Now that we know that brick and mortar businesses still have a future, we could come to a similar conclusion about sweat and blood armies.

4) the author is, at times, incoherent. For example, after explaining how the NSA helped Boeing fight Airbus in Saudi Arabia, after convincingly demonstrating that everyone is spying on everyone, he goes on saying that the US wouldn't use the CIA for economic intelligence because of moral and legal hurdles (and also because they would probably fail spectacularly).

Yet, for all its shortcomings the book is entertaining, mainly because the author's interesting political analyses are cleverly exposed.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Infrastructure beware, August 6, 2000

By 

G. Mitchell "photons_electrons" (Woodinville, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Next World War: Computers Are the Weapons & the Front Line Is Everywhere (Hardcover)

My shelves are littered with books that pretend to describe the threats in cyberspace. Recent lightweights take an apocalyptic approach - perhaps to scare readers into buying their books. Most of these cyber-scare books blur the line between fact and fantasy; they lose track of the difference between information in warfare and Information Warfare. This book is substantially different, however. It provides factual information and well grounded opinions.

Ever since Charles Colson wrote Kingdoms in Conflict we have become familiar with fictional White House dramas in the first chapter of nonfiction books. The first pages of Adams' book are very different, however. His White House sketch describes something that could very well happen next week in international cyberspace.

The book's setting is international; every chapter presents thoughtful issues that affect the global environment that security managers operate in. Using conventional wars as a background the author describes our defeat in Somalia, messy involvement in Haiti and limited victory in Iraq.

It transitions to next generation warfare by describing non-lethal weaponry. This isn't cyberspace but it will be of general interest to thoughtful managers.

According to Adams corporate security can expect little cybercop help from the government. "As a rule they have almost no computer security experience". The political forces that assign responsibility for detection of computer crimes have also dropped the ball. The presidential decision directive centralizing responsibility for defending gave responsibility to the "Neanderthal" FBI and Department of Justice.

The author's first hand sources in the US and foreign intelligence services make this book an interesting read. His clearheaded view of encryption technology and politics frame factual discussions. I strongly recommend it for security managers who would like to see the future threat to their organizations as well as the national infrastructure.

[adapted from a review published in Security Management. All rights reserved by the author]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Full of misinformation, September 26, 2005

By 

Carolyn P. Meinel (Cedar Crest, NM United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Next World War: Computers Are the Weapons & the Front Line Is Everywhere (Hardcover)

Adams is either a liar or too gullible to be allowed in public without his nanny. The most laughable mistake of "Next World War" is Adams' story of a printer virus supposedly used in the first Gulf War. He got the story from an April's Fool joke printed in InfoWorld magazine. Duh! For a detailed analysis of the wildly false stories of this book, complete with references, see http://www.soci.niu.edu/~crypt/other/adams.htm