Conflict Management in Cyberspace – An Analytical Study

Abstract

With the information revolution, a new form of power emerged, which is cyber power, where some countries use the capabilities provided by cyberspace for several considerations, foremost of which are security and military power. Here, a new dimension has emerged in international conflicts, which is the management of cyberspace conflicts, where one party to the conflict can inflict heavy losses on the other party and cause paralysis of its information and communication infrastructure, which causes military and economic losses. For example, by cutting off communication systems between military units and each other, misleading their information, stealing confidential information about them, manipulating and falsifying economic and financial data, or even erasing them from computers. In light of this transformation in cyberspace, as a new field of international interactions, the case of its work in civil uses and others of a military nature emerged, and violent, hostile activities crystallized in the phenomenon of cyber conflicts, which was characterized by the multiplicity of its manifestations, characteristics and actors, and its emergence through two main directions: a trend related to the work of Soft power in managing conflict through cyberspace, and the other direction is related to employing hard power in managing this conflict.