New Eelam war- no guns fired no blood spilled

It’s been close to four years since the separatist war, which dragged for 30 long years, was ended in Nandikadal lagoon with the death of LTTE leader Prabaharan.  The majority of Sri Lankans and the government believe that the Eelam war is no more and it is virtually impossible for the terrorist group to re- organize.  How can the youth in the North and East re- arm themselves when there are security personal standing almost next to every door-step, and countless numbers of CID agents working in silence?  Let that be the fact it is even harder for any other communal or youth group in any part of the country to gather as a movement. Perpetrators of  any kind of aggression, be it non-violent or violent, will be forced to surrender either through money or will be traumatized to the extent that they flee the country in fear of life or become dumb for the rest of their lives. This is the reality of post war Sri Lanka.

Although people sigh with relief that the war is no more; no more casualties, no more bomb blasts, no more bloodshed, is this the reality? Is Sri Lanka is free from war in reality? The ground situation must support the claim of the government that the terrorist are no more, that there is no more war.  

In reality it does not. Sri Lanka has already started fighting the Fourth Eelam war. It may sound a surprise and absurd to say. But, it is true.  The war is not fought with guns and bullets but with computers.  Sri Lanka is fighting a virtual war. A Cyber-war. 

Not many people are aware that almost 1952 Sri Lankan websites are being hacked or defaced by the cyber terrorists, out of these 22 are government websites.  Newspaper reports during the last few months have claimed that the Ministry of Mass media and communication, Department of Health, Department of Irrigation, Ports Authority and the North Central governor’s websites are among them. The Foreign Employment Bureau, Sri Lanka Customs, Rupavahini, One Sri Lanka television channel and Uva Provincial Council websites are among others that were recently hacked.

Although this phenomenon may sound new to many Sri Lankans. not many know that Sri Lanka faced the first known attack by terrorists against a country's computer systems in 1998. In 1998, ethnic Tamil guerrillas swamped Sri Lankan embassies with 800 e-mails a day over a two-week period. The messages read "We are the Internet Black Tigers and we're doing this to disrupt your communications." Intelligence authorities characterized it as the first known attack by terrorists against a country's computer systems.  

So what is this cyber-terrorism?  According to Wikipedia, “Cyber terrorism is the use of Internet based attacks in terrorist activities, including acts of deliberate, large-scale disruption of computer networks, especially of personal computers attached to the Internet, by the means of tools such as computer viruses”.  Cyber terrorism can be also defined as the intentional use of computer, networks, and internet to cause destruction and harm for objectives that may be political, personal or ideological. 

In the western world mainstream media coverage often discusses the possibility of a large attack making use of computer networks to damage critical infrastructures with the aim of putting human lives in danger or causing disturbance on a national scale either directly or by disruption of the national economy. This became much more prominent after the September 11, 2001 attack on the USA.  Something that the western world was witnessing only on Hollywood movies became a reality. Another example of the cyber-attack on government website is the famous “Wikileaks” scandal, which exposed sensitive and confidential USA government security information. 

During the second stage to Eelam war in Sri Lanka the LTTE used cyber-attack as a weapon to destabilize the Sri Lankan government computer network. The present cyber attackers claim that the government should take responsibility for the war crimes committed at the Third Eelam war.  This sounds the alarming signal that we have entered in to the Fourth stage of Eelam war.

The significance of this form of war is that the enemy is not visible and cannot be readily identified. More to that don’t know you are under attack at all.  An operation can be done by anyone anywhere in the world, for it can be performed thousands of miles away from a target. An attack can cause serious damage to critical infrastructure, which may result in casualties. Vulnerable infrastructure could include power grids, banking systems, dams, media, and personal information. Hacking is not only defacing the frontal view of the website. It can be done by using malware, viruses, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, leaking information and admin user name or password, and using information in the site to commit fraud, hate or threat mail etc.

Since the 1998 attack the Eelam struggle has transformed into an event that attracts international concern. This is very clearly evident with the UNHRC allegation on war crimes and Channel 4 documentaries also with the Tamil diaspora propaganda against the Sri Lankan Government. 

The cyber-attacks on the Sri Lankan websites are just the initial steps for much bigger attacks to follow. The question of the hour is, how prepared are we for this kind of terrorism? Does the government have computer security capable of averting further cyber-attacks?  Anyone can develop a website and feed details, but securing it is the most important part, unfortunately this side has been neglected in Government sites. Hackers usually hack to obtain information or to promote their own ideologies, and sabotage the state security network and take control of the government. 

Installing trusted software, using strong passwords and keeping them secret, having regularly updated virus guard, maintaining firewalls, updating software and Operating Systems regularly and refraining from clicking hostile or suspicious links in emails or on the web, are some measures to secure sites. 

One should not forget that when Prabaharan first started LTTE he did not even have a gun on his own but he managed to build up an army that could fight a war for three decades.  Albert Einstein once said “I do not know how the Third World War will be fought, but I can tell you what they will use in the Fourth — rocks!”  We have already fought the third Eelam war now fighting the fourth and there is no weapon or visible enemy, but the enemy is much stronger and more powerful than its predecessor. As a nation we should be educated on how to face this new form of terror before it’s too late.