DATAWAR

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06764835
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: April 5, 2021
• Case Number: F-2018-02353
• Publication Date: July 9, 2018

Datawar- I ntellipedia
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(UHF-0.15-0) Datawar
From Intellipedia
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This topic is of one of many emerging issues identified by
issues are grouped in a category that describes New Weapons.
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This and several other emerging
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Datawar
Issue
How might networked databases become a new theater of conflict?
Discussion
Networked databases are exploding in cyberspace, underwritten by orders-of-magnitude increases in:
a Storage. The cost of data storage is dropping to the point where it is practically free. Databases even retain voice communications, which are even easier
to store given VolP (Voice Over IP)protocols. Many large organizations no longer limit the size of email boxes. Increasingly, whatever goes into a
database stays there � or in some other database� indefinitely.
^ Search. Search engines are fundamental to everyday life in knowledge economies such as the US. Europe and the upper echelons of industrial and
developing economies. They allow access to the 400 million host sites now on the web (which increases by 20% a year). Reflecting their value, the most
advanced search engine, Google, rose from nothing to a $100 billion a year corporation in less than a decade.
� Identity. Personal interactions are increasingly traceable. We leave digital trails when using technologies ranging from biometric scanners to web browser
cookies to the "electronic money" of debit and credit cards. These electronic trails capture what we used to do anonymously. For example, when we
commute to work, from the credit card we swipe to buy gas, to the transponder that collects our loll, to the cell phone record of our calls and location
along the way, to the Rl'ID-embedded pass card we use to enter our building � all of these actions routinely leave a detailed electronic trail of our specific
activities.
a Mining. XML (Extensible Mark-Up Language, a programming language similar to ifrmi., that provides a common frame of reference for databases),
makes it easier to mine across databases. While public initiatives like TIA (DARPA's Total Information Awareness program) were slowed by political
pressure, the underlying technologies are speeding ahead. Even when access to data is restricted, advanced algorithms can infer information by combining
data from multiple sources.
� Routine use. Even elementary school report cards arc stored in networked databases. Medical records, manufacturing orders, census data � practically
every major interaction in business and government � are now available via networked databases (to those with access, of course). Data that was once
protected simply by its paper nature, is now accessible due to its digital nature and its inclusion in networked databases. These networks or databases are
not mere technological toys. Businesses and governments do not build and maintain huge databases and then network them for fun. Rather, these
networks are modern fulcrums of competitive advantage. Take the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, for example. Wal-Mart leverages a global network
of databases to produce its competitive advantage. Wal-Mart integrates logistics networks with financial databases through a proprietary information
network. The end result is a retail colossus.
Wal-Mart is America's largest private truck fleet operator, energy consumer and real estate developer. It has over one million employees, thousands of suppliers,
hundreds ofdistribution centers and annual revenues equal to the GDP of Australia. Not only is Wal-Mart the largest customer for giants such as Disney, Kraft,
Revlon and Procter & Gamble, all these firms (and many others) manage their inventories through Wal-Mart's networks; all of their purchase, inventory and
shipping data exist within Wal-Mart's continuous replenishment program. These suppliers � plus Wal-Mart -- leverage their combined networks to produce a
combined competitive advantage. They all place their databases on the same network, which lowers overhead costs for everyone. It also cuts indirect costs by
giving sellers and buyers visibility into each other's data. They compare their plans, problems, schedules and opportunities with everyone else in the network.
By owning this common network, Wal-Mart gains a competitive leverage over prices and suppliers. If anyone wanted to destroy Wal-Mart, blowing up a
distribution center or superstore would do little strategic damage. Corrupting its network of databases, however, would ruin the corporation. Wal-Mart simply
could not operate if forced to rely on paper and telephones for every transaction. In the same vein, an explosives attack on the United States (e.g., the World
Trade Center), despite the human toll, would not destroy the US economy. A successful attack on our networks of databases. however, would be devastating.
Even an attack that brought into question the validity of data would have significant and potentially devastating consequences. A "bug" that was developed for
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Datawar - Intellipedia
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example that could undermine the validity of the banking or financial industries would have serious worldwide impact. While many people have looked at
targeting and defending stand-alone databases in the past and others have looked at network warfare, the growth of networked databases, crucial to the economy
and government of every advanced society, may be an area of underserved examination. It is more than the sum of networks and data; it is a new "animal" that
requires lbcused examination.
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